While guiding in the Low Country of South Carolina, I made a lot of great friends in the hunting and fishing community, Mandy Mobley just happens to be one of them. She is a true sportswoman, avid duck hunter, and one of those girls known for always knocking down a nice deer or Turkey during season. When Mandy found out I was back home in the Tampa Bay, she took a few days off and brought her daughter Bristol to spend a couple of days in the crystal clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the upper Tampa Bay, to fish with me. I wish we had photos from day one but long story short, we ventured out to the beach to find Permit, and ended up finding a few giant eagle rays loaded with Cobia. We poled around the beach, chasing the rays and site casting live pilchards to the Cobia but did not land one. They were all in the 40-50 lb class and we ended up breaking all of them off, it was still exciting, but we were under-gunned when it came to our tackle. On Sunday morning we loaded the skiff up with ice, snacks and drinks and got on the water pretty early since this was their day to travel back home to Georgetown South Carolina. Catching Snook in the summer months in the Tampa Bay can be tougher on hot days but I have a few tricks and secrets to get them to eat, which I can not publish but when you fish with me you will see how productive they are! I would usually use live pilchards, but on the super hot days in the Tampa Bay where the water temps are sky high, the last thing a snook wants to do is chase bait. Once we arrived to our spots the only thing I had to do was instruct Mandy and Bristol on where to cast and where the Snook we were targeting are hanging out. On the hot days in the Tampa Bay I still fish around the Mangroves but try to position my boat close to the large shadow lines on the front side of the Mangroves, these areas provide much cooler water and shade for Snook. While there were a few other inshore charter boats in the general area scattering white bait everywhere, I noticed they were not catching and didn’t see any Snook blowing up on baits behind their boat. Once our baits for soaking for ten or so minutes without a bite, I decided to switch the technique up and we immediately got bit and landed the first Snook. We kept the bite going and ended up boating over a dozen Snook in just a short period of time until the tide slacked out and the bite stopped. The Snook ranged from the low 20 inch range to the upper 20’s and we lost a handful of big Snook to the Mangroves. Although Mandy is a great saltwater angler and has caught thousands of Redfish, trout and Flounder, they do not have a Snook population in Georgetown South Carolina so this was a fish on her list to catch. Thank you Mandy for coming all the way to Tampa to enjoy this amazing fishery with Fin & Feather! 
