| | Thrillist Miami Thursday August 27, 2009 Night Fishing
Snook season opens Monday, Sept 1: Book Capt. Bouncer Smith; Miami Beach Marina, pier E, 300 Alton Rd, South Beach; 305.439.2475
Sometimes, doing stuff you'd only normally do in the day can be even more fun at night, like taking a dip in the ocean, or drinking. See how well the dark jives with fishing as snook season opens, thanks to Capt. Bouncer Smith.
Although he could probably charge way more 'cause his name's so cool, for a reasonable price, warrior-fisherman Bouncer'll boat you and your buddies to shadowy hotspots in Government Cut, Haulover Inlet, and various bridges within Biscayne Bay, so you can hook into snook and 80-pound tarpon, both of which do most of their hunting after dark, meaning that's the prime time to catch them, and no, that cougar joke's not coming. All you gotta do is show up with beer and hop on Bouncer's 33ft Dusky, big enough to handle you and three of your chums; you'll be provided with snook rigs (spinning gear with 20lb braided line, 50lb leader, and a circle hook), bait, which includes threadfin herring, pinfish, and (as the weather cools) shrimp, as well as instruction on hooking these baits so they attract snook by staying active in the water, which is how your Grandma Lorianne keeps her grandma-ish figure. Fish catching techniques include drifting live bait into the darkness under bridges, dropping the bait into current breaks in one of the inlets, and trolling plugs, or, if you're a more experienced angler, creating the appearance of injured bait by working an artificial jig -- or, if you're Michael Flatley, just jumping in there and doing the real thing yourself.
Snook are delicious (slightly sweet, big striations) and limited to one per person, and Cappy'll clean them for you if you snare one. If you want to mix things up, Bouncer's boat is big enough that you can head off shore first and hook into a sailfish before sunset, or head really really off shore and do some night fishing for swordfish -- thoroughly enjoyable, even though the movie version is definitely not, at any hour.
See what Capt. Bouncer can do for you at CaptainBouncer.com
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