Key West; Key West Fishing - A Sportfishing Guide to Key West and The
Florida Keys - Key-West-Fishing.com
Snook
Family:
Snook
Similar Fish:
Fat Snook, Tarpon Snook, Swordspine Snook
Habitat:
INSHORE - Snook prefer waters of no more than about 60 feet,
and they tend to gravitate toward shallow lagoons and estuaries where warm
saltwater mixes with fresh water, brackish creeks (especially in winter) and
beaches. They are highly sensitive to water temperatures, preferring very
warm waters; they can't survive for long in water temperatures below 60
degrees.
Size:
Up to50 lb.
Description:
Most snook caught fall between 18 and 30 inches, but large
specimens have pushed well beyond the 52-inch mark and weighed in at over 50
pounds. They're generally olive in color with silver sides and belly, though
ocean-going snook tend to be more silver, and backwater snook more dark.
Snook are protandric hermaphrodites, meaning that many change sex from male
to female at some point in their lives. This transition usually occurs
between two and seven years of age or when they reach a fork length of 17-30
inches. For this reason, most very large fish are females.