Myself, Ben Geroy, and Nick Hamilton decided to head out and see what was popping under some of the docklights in Naples. With myself and Ben armed with fly rods and Nick throwing a spinning rod , we found alot of lights with tons of snook in them but could only pull out a few fish in each light, with Nick not pulling out very many fish in the first place

G-Roy and I are still in a massive debate of which fly catches more fish, Nick Cardellas Feathered Friend or his D.T. Minnow. Anyways, here are the pictures.

One of my Jack's


Ben's Snook


Double Header


Another Snook


Ben got another one


And another


And another


Another one of my snooklets


And Nick's only little jack


Ben's Jack


I think that Nick finally realized that tossing flies under the lights can be alot more productive than using a spinning reel.....

Nice work. Lets see what those flies look like. I could use a few.
Any word on your boat that was stolen???

Aron

Hey Gatorbait,

I'm new to the nightime snook fishing and had some questions. Went out this last Staurday night and got a few jacks but no snook. We saw a bunch but they just wouldn't eat. We were throwing small white flashy EP flies with 9ft leaders. Any suggestions as it looks like you've got it down! Thanks!

-Will

Here's the Feathered Friend



Tie two feathers in on each side toward the rear of the hook with a couple strands of flash with red thread. I know Nick, the creator, epoxys them but since they're so easy to tie, I tie up about a dozen and don't worry about losing them or them getting torn up from mulitple fish.

And here is the D.T. Minnow


It's the one on the bottom left hand side, it's also known as the DT Special I believe. It's tied much like the Feathered Friend, 2 feather tied in on each side near the bend of the hook with some flash, then you palmer 2 or 3 hackles. And finish with a chartreuse or orange thread until you reach the eye of the hook.

Will, there are many things that you can do to even the odds of catching snook under the lights. Firstly, I like to cast the fly so I bring it through the light with the current, this presentation I believe is key to success. A snook doesn't want a little minnow coming after him, it's just not natural.
Another thing is your leader. I usually fish a 8 to 10 ft. leader with the bite tipped being made of 30 lb. flourocarbon. We don't usually get into big fish so the 30 is plenty, just snip of the frayed end and retie after each fish. I usually like to throw a 6 wt. but all of the above fish were caught on 8 wts.
Also, when you get to your light, use the trolling motor to get within range, then quietly drop the anchor. You want to be as close as you can comfortably make a cast, usually around 40 to 60 ft.

Hope this all helps, please feel free to ask more questions.

Wow great advice.

Thanks Gatorbait! That should really help.

yea, well its all gonna change now that im fly fishin! this is Nick by the way