A spicy snook recipe that’s sure to be a hit.

Before: The authors son, Matthew Benecke, caught this beauty off Anna Maria Island on a Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow.

With all the rules and regulations on this species, catching a slot snook in season is a real treat. It cannot be bought at any restaurant or fish market, so it’s worth making something really special when you do catch a keeper. This recipe is great for a cozy night in with a glass of wine and a snuggie or for a formal dinner party. Whatever the occasion, this dish is sure to please the palate.

Pan Seared Snook with Jalapeno Cream Sauce and Seafood Risotto

Serves: 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Seafood Risotto
2 cups of Arborio rice
6-8 cups of chicken stock (kept warm)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion (chopped)
1 tsp garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 cup of white wine
12oz jumbo shrimp (can use raw or cooked, cut into chunks)
2 cups of bay scallops (small)
1/4 cup whole kernel corn
1/4 cup leeks (rinsed and sliced)
1 tsp dried tarragon
2 Tbsp fresh chives (chopped)
1 small tomato (diced)
2 Tbsp butter salt and pepper (to taste)

Jalapeno Cream Sauce
4 jalapenos, cored and finely diced
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tsp corn starch (mixed with a little water to make a paste for thickening)

Garnish
12 jumbo shrimp (grilled)
6 jalapenos (halved and grilled)
Lemon wedges
Chives

Snook
2 snook fillets, cut into 6 pieces
All purpose flour (just enough for a light dusting)
Light olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pan)
2 Tbsp butter
Salt
Ground black pepper
Fish spice of choice (optional)

After: This snook sure cleans up nicely.

Directions

Seafood Risotto
Add the oil to a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender. Add the Arborio rice and stir to coat the rice. Add the wine and cook until the wine has absorbed. Turn heat to medium-low. Add 1 to 2 ladles at a time of the warm chicken stock and stir constantly. Let simmer slowly until the liquid has absorbed. Keep adding 1 to 2 ladles at a time and keep stirring. Once you have used about 2/3 of the stock, add in the cut up shrimp, bay scallops, corn and leeks. Keep stirring and adding stock until the rice is creamy and tender. Add in the herbs and tomato and simmer until done. Add in the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm until ready to serve. Add a little warm stock if too thick before serving.

Jalapeno Cream Sauce
Core and remove the seeds from 4 jalapenos. Use 5 if you prefer a stronger jalapeno flavor. Add the butter to a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Once melted add the onion, jalapeno and garlic. Sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the heavy whipping cream and let simmer on medium-low for about 5 minutes. Mix the cornstarch with a little water, just to make a paste and add this to the cream mixture. Whisk until incorporated and thickened. You can always add a little more cream if too thick. Using an emersion blender, blend the sauce until smooth. Season with a little salt and pepper (to taste). Let simmer for another 2 minutes. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Snook
Once your snook is cleaned and filleted, cut into six pieces and pat dry with paper towel. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season with salt and pepper and lightly dust with flour. Place your pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter and oil. Once butter has melted and the oil is hot, add the snook and sear for two to three minutes on each side. You will need to do this in batches. Place the snook on a parchment lined baking dish and bake for about ten minutes, until cooked throughout. The cooking time will vary depending on thickness of the fillets. If a butter knife slides into the center of the fish with ease, it’s done. If there is some resistance, continue cooking time in two minute increments.

Plating
Place seafood risotto in the center of your plate. Top with a piece of snook. Garnish with two grilled shrimp, chives and lemon wedge. Drizzle sauce around the risotto and a little over the snook. Enjoy!!

Time saving tip: While the risotto is cooking, make the sauce and grill the shrimp. Cook the snook last, just before serving.

The post Pan Seared Snook and Seafood Risotto appeared first on Florida Sportsman.

Downtown Showdown Fishing Tournament benefits local activist group

This is a catch, photo, release SLAM Tournament. The overall aggregate may include one fish from each of the three eligible species, which is redfish, snook and trout. Up to three anglers per team, 100% payout!

Captain’s Meeting:

11/9 at 6:30pm

Downtown Bait Shop
Community Room
120 Laishley Ct,
Punta Gorda, FL 33950

Two meals provided by Leroy’s Southern Kitchen, two kegs of beer (free for anglers), tons of raffles, lots of fun!

Downtown Showdown Fishing Tournament Registration Form

Click the link for more details:
https://www.facebook.com/events/228726047776243/

The post Tournament Benefit for Captains for Clean Water appeared first on Florida Sportsman.

A sinking line helps maintain a direct connection to the fly in turbulent surf. Taking the fly down deep also improves chances for bites.

Remember summer? Calm, clear water and snook cruising down the trough. Enter fall storms churning up the surf. Those floating fly lines that worked just fine in the flat conditions of summer need to be replaced. Many of us land-based fly casters fish right through the winter using lines more commonly associated with deep water and fast currents. I’m talking about full sinking, type III to even type V fly lines.

Floating lines are certainly useful while fishing from shore but when the going gets rough, a sinking line helps keep your fly closer to the bottom in the surf zone where fish are feeding. It also makes casting into the wind, which usually accompanies rough surf, much easier. Sinking lines are thinner in diameter than their floating counterparts, so they cut through the wind easier. Their coating is infused with heavy tungsten powder to allow sink rates up to 7 inches per second. Now we aren’t talking about plummeting to the bottom like a 2-ounce jig will, but it’s a vast improvement over using just a weighted fly on a floating or intermediate line.

Sinking lines also provide another bonus; they collect far less seaweed than a floater will, as they quickly slip beneath the surface and away from where the weeds usually are. Imagine looking at a floating fly line lying on the ocean’s surface. It will ride up and over every wave that passes under it, making for an indirect connection to your fly. Now imagine what a sinking line does as it cuts below the surface, sinking in a straight path to your fly. The less slack between your hand and the fly, the fewer hits you’ll miss! When using a fast sinking line from shore, it’s generally better to use a leader of only about 4 to 5 feet. This will allow the fly to be more easily pulled down by the fly line, which keeps that direct path between you and the fly. In rougher conditions that warrant the use of sinking lines, the water is usually fairly churned up, so spooking fish because of a short leader is less of a concern.

If you’re using a weighted fly line, it should follow that you would use a weighted fly as well. Your typical lead dumbbell weighted flies, such as Clousers, are always a good pick but sometimes you may want a fly with a different look depending on what it is you’re trying to imitate. I’ve hooked a surprising amount of snook while throwing a small size 2 or 4 sandflea imitation in the winter surf while pompano fishing. I’ll often tweak some of my normally unweighted patterns that I tie by using lead wire along the hook shank before completing the pattern the normal way to add some weight without having to use dumbbell eyes. Deceivers, epoxy flies, and EP style flies round out a selection that should also include some crab, shrimp and the aforementioned sandflea flies.

There is one other piece of equipment that can make or break your rough surf fishing: a stripping basket. It’ll keep you sane as the waves would otherwise wrap your fly line around your feet, legs and any other debris in a 15-foot radius.

Blue fish, Spanish mackerel, snook, pompano, redfish and even bonefish are all fish you might encounter in the surf during fall and winter. They’re there for one reason: to eat! Arm yourself with a fast sinking line to cut through those waves and get your fly down where it needs to be. It will really extend your beach fishing season, and it’s a great time of year to hit the sand and see what grabs your fly. FS

First published Florida Sportsman December 2017

The post Sinking Fly Lines in the Surf appeared first on Florida Sportsman.

Fort De Soto, at the mouth of Tampa Bay, guards exceptional bay and beach fishing.

Bay Pier visitors tackle sheepshead, flounder, snapper and mackerel.

This 1,136-acre Pinellas County park comprises Madelaine, St. Jean, St. Christopher, Bonne Fortune and Mullet keys. The V-shaped Mullet Key largest of the bunch offers the secluded East Beach, the heralded North Beach and the park’s namesake military site strategically and centrally seated. On Mullet Key’s southwest corner, just below the fort, stands the 1,000-foot Gulf Pier. East of the fort, the Bay Pier extends 500 feet toward the mouth of Tampa Bay.

During the Civil War, Mullet Key and nearby Egmont Key served as Union blockade posts, but it was more than 30 years later when construction of a fort began, during the Spanish-American War. Serving as a sub-post to Fort Dade on Egmont Key, Fort De Soto saw U.S. military presence during WWI and WWII. Ultimately, the fort never fired on an enemy and Pinellas County bought the property in 1948. Dedication as a park came on May 1, 1963.

In 1978, Fort De Soto’s 12-inch mortar battery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. If you glance to the surf, near Bay Pier, you’ll see weathered remnants of a 3-inch gun battery destroyed by a 1921 hurricane. Waterfront markers indicate the original building locations.

To present matters, fishing: Fort De Soto has over seven miles of waterfront, three of which hold soft white sand beaches. Amenities include a large and well-maintained launch ramp, shower/restroom facilities, 7-mile asphalt multi-use trail, kayak rentals, a designated dog park and a 2,200-foot barrier-free trail with a wheel chair-friendly path and interpretive stations.

Daily ferry trips (weather permitting) run from Bay Pier to nearby Egmont Key. FS

Where

This largest of Pinellas County parks comprises a quintet of connected islands at the south end of Pinellas County just outside of the mouth of Tampa Bay.

What’s in a Name

Named for Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto, the fort was dedicated on April 4, 1890.

Gameplan

Sample beach, pier, kayak and wade-fishing opportunities. Also Pinellas County’s premier family picnic and camping destination.

When

Spring through fall finds mackerel buzzing both piers. Outstanding wade-fishing in the warmer months.

Bait & Tackle

Fort De Soto Gulf Pier Bait and Tackle (727-582-2267), The Bait Bucket on Tierra Verde (727-864-2108)

Lodging

Fort De Soto Park Campground (Tents, RV’s), Don Cesar on St. Petersburg Beach, Coconut Inn on historic Pass-A-Grille.

Eats

Billy’s Stone Crab on Tierra Verde or Rumfish Grill on St. Petersburg are good bets for fresh seafood.

Tips

Free-lined or floated shrimp is the pier favorite, although squid spoons (mackerel) and banana-shaped pompano jigs see lots of use. Local guide Rob Gotta says Fort De Soto’s East Beach offers some of the Tampa Bay area’s best wade fishing (also great kayak waters.) Cork live pilchards or cast jigs and topwaters over the 3-to4-foot depth range.

First published Florida Sportsman June 2018

The post Florida Waypoints – Fort De Soto appeared first on Florida Sportsman.

Snook harvest seasonal closure in most Gulf waters starts Dec. 1

The recreational harvest season for snook closes Dec. 1 in federal and most state waters of the Gulf, including all of Monroe County and Everglades National Park.

Snook, as well as redfish, remain catch-and-release only in state waters from the Hernando/Pasco county line through Gordon Pass in Collier County (includes Tampa Bay and Hillsborough County) through May 10, 2019, in response to the impacts of red tide.

Snook outside of that area will reopen to harvest March 1, 2019. Anglers may continue to catch and release snook during the closed season.

Season closures are designed to help conserve snook during vulnerable times such as cold weather. Atlantic state and federal waters, including Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River, will close Dec. 15 through Jan. 31, 2019, reopening to harvest Feb. 1, 2019.

Visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater Fishing,” “Recreational Regulations” and “Snook” for more information on snook. Improve data and report your catch on the Snook & Gamefish Foundation’s Angler Action iAngler app at SnookFoundation.org.

The post Snook Seasonal Closure Starts Dec. 1 in Most Gulf Waters appeared first on Florida Sportsman.

Snook harvest seasonal closure in the Atlantic starts December 15

The recreational harvest season for snook closes December 15 in Atlantic state and federal waters, including Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River, and will remain closed through Jan. 31, 2019, reopening to harvest Feb. 1. Anglers may continue to catch and release snook during the closed season.

Most state and all federal waters in the Gulf, including Monroe County and Everglades National Park, closed Dec. 1 and will reopen to harvest March 1, 2019.

Season closures are designed to help protect snook during vulnerable times such as cold weather.

Snook, as well as redfish, will remain catch-and-release only in state waters from the Hernando/Pasco county line through the Gordon Pass in Collier County (includes Tampa Bay and Hillsborough County) through May 10, 2019, in response to the impacts of red tide.

For more information on snook, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater Fishing,” “Recreational Regulations” and “Snook.” Improve data and report your catch on the Snook & Gamefish Foundation’s Angler Action iAngler app at SnookFoundation.org.

The post Atlantic Snook Seasonal Closure Starts December 15 appeared first on Florida Sportsman.

Gray triggerfish and snook open March 1 in Gulf state and federal waters

The recreational gray triggerfish and snook seasons will reopen to harvest in Gulf state and federal waters March 1. Snook remains catch-and-release only through May 10 in Gulf state waters from the Pasco – Hernando county line through Gordon Pass in Collier County due to impacts from red tide.

If you plan to fish for gray triggerfish in Gulf state or federal waters, excluding Monroe County, from a private recreational vessel, you must sign up as a Gulf Reef Fish Angler (annual renewal is required). To learn more, visit MyFWC.com/Marine and click on “Recreational Regulations” and “Gulf Reef Fish Survey” under “Reef Fish.” Sign up today at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com.

Learn more about gray triggerfish regulations at MyFWC.com/Marine by clicking on “Recreational Regulations” and “Triggerfish,” which is located under the “Reef Fish” tab.

Learn more about snook regulations at MyFWC.com/Marine by clicking on “Recreational Regulations” and “Snook,” which is located under the “General Species” tab.

The post Triggerfish and Snook Opening in Gulf appeared first on Florida Sportsman.

Florida Bay is the backbone of the Florida Keys economy and home to five of the most sought after gamefish on the planet. Captain Rob Fordyce joins Benny Blanco for a day fishing the backcountry and discusses the importance of this ecosystem. To see the full episode, be sure to catch it on Fox Sports Sun and Sportsman Channel.

Fox Sports Sun

Friday – 9:00 am
Saturday – 6:00 am
Sunday – 8:30 pm
Monday – 8:30 am

Sportsman Channel

Sunday – 8:30 am
Tuesday – 3:30 pm
Wednesday – 6:00 am
Thursday – 5:00 am

On the Conservation Front

David Conway sits down with Jennifer Rehage, Associate Professor at Florida International University, to discuss the Hypersalinity issues Florida Bay has adopted in recent years.

For more conservation documentaries visit: http://www.floridasportsman.com/florida-sportsman-watermen/documentaries/

Bonus Tips

Captain Benny Blanco explains why he prefers Yamaha as his choice of outboard when guiding.

Captain Benny Blanco touches on the reasons why SeaDek is essential when on the water.

The post Florida Sportsman Watermen – Florida Bay Snook with Rob Fordyce appeared first on Florida Sportsman.

Charlotte Harbor is ground zero for Lake Okeechobee discharges on the West Coast. This amazing fishery has a rich history and is thriving despite major water issues. Be sure to catch the full episode on Fox Sports Sun and Sportsman Channel at the times below.

Fox Sports Sun

Friday – 9:00 am
Saturday – 6:00 am
Sunday – 8:30 pm
Monday – 8:30 am

Sportsman Channel

Sunday – 8:30 am
Tuesday – 3:30 pm
Wednesday – 6:00 am
Thursday – 5:00 am

Conservation Front

Governor Ron DeSantis announces a blue-green algae task force to expedite nutrient reductions in Lake Okeechobee and downstream estuaries.

Newly named blue-green algae task force member Mike Parsons, a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, said “this has been going on for decades, and it’s not going to go away anytime soon. Nutrient reduction policies are a good idea but there are still legacy nutrients in the system and they are likely going to be there for decades.”

It seems evident to most that are studying the issue that stopping the discharges to the estuaries is key to stopping the coastal toxic blooms.

Bonus Tips

Captain Benny Blanco explains how a shallow water anchor can improve your fishing.

Captain Benny Blanco discusses why he prefers Engel when choosing a cooler.

The post Florida Sportsman Watermen – Charlotte Harbor Slam with Chris Wittman appeared first on Florida Sportsman.

Annual season closure for snook in Gulf state and federal waters starts May 1

Benny Blanco (R) and Rob Fordyce with a nice breeding-sized snook.

Snook will close to all harvest in Gulf state, federal and inland waters, including all of Monroe County and Everglades National Park, starting May 1.

Seasonal harvest closures conserve Florida’s valuable snook populations and help sustain and improve the fishery for the future.

Snook also remain catch and release only in waters from the Pasco-Hernando county line south to Gordon Pass in Collier County due to impacts from the previous red tide. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will discuss whether to extend the current red-tide related measures for this species, as well as red drum and spotted seatrout, for an additional year at its May 1-2 meeting near Tallahassee.

Snook are one of the many reasons Florida is the Fishing Capital of the World. While snook may be caught and released during the closed season, the FWC encourages anglers to handle their catch carefully to help the fish survive upon release. Proper handling methods can help ensure the species’ abundance for anglers today and generations to come. To learn more about fish handling, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater Fishing,” “Recreational Regulations” and “Fish Handling.”

Anglers can report their catch on the Snook & Gamefish Foundation’s website at SnookFoundation.org by clicking on the “Angler Action Program” link in the bar at the top of the page.

Learn more about recreational fishing at MyFWC.com/Fishing by clicking on “Saltwater Fishing” and “Recreational Regulations.”

The post Gulf Snook Season Closure Starts May 1 appeared first on Florida Sportsman.