Snook are tropical fish living near the northern edge of their range, and water temperature decides almost everything they do. FWC's researchers describe Gulf coast snook as homebodies: adults don't travel far, they shuttle between the same winter refuges and the same spawning spots year after year. Sarasota Bay is built for that pattern, with creeks and canals on the mainland side and five openings to the Gulf on the other.
Winter: creeks and canals
Snook turn sluggish in water below about 65°F, and FWC says they can't tolerate water below about 60°F. When the cold fronts start, they move to the upper estuary: the deeper, warmer, less salty water of creeks, bayous and residential canals, which also keeps them away from sharks and barracuda.
Around Sarasota Bay, the biggest of those is Phillippi Creek, which drains about 57 square miles into Roberts Bay and is the largest tributary of the whole bay system. Smaller creeks and bayous feed the other segments: Bowlees Creek, Whitaker Bayou and Hudson Bayou into Sarasota Bay proper, and Matheny Creek, Elligraw Bayou, Clower Creek, Catfish Creek and North Creek into Little Sarasota Bay. The canals behind the keys and along the mainland add a lot more winter water.
Cold is a real danger to them. In the winter of 2010, a long cold spell killed tens of thousands of snook on both Florida coasts, and FWC extended the harvest closure by emergency order. If you find snook stacked up and barely moving during a hard freeze, leave them be.
FWC's snook researchers favor lures in winter, fished slowly and put right in front of the fish. On the coldest, windy days they suggest a bar or sandy bank on the northeast shore of a canal or bayou in the upper bays, and if you spook the fish, come back about 30 minutes later: winter snook don't move far.
Spring and summer: the passes and beaches
As the water warms in late spring and early summer, snook leave the creeks and spread out along mangroves, docks and grass edges on their way to the spawning grounds. In Florida they spawn from about April or May through September or October, at river mouths and major inlets, in the late afternoon and early evening. Here that means the passes and the beaches near them:
- Longboat Pass, between Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key
- New Pass, between Longboat Key and Lido Key
- Big Sarasota Pass, between Lido Key and Siesta Key
- Venice Inlet, between Casey Key and Venice
Midnight Pass, between Siesta Key and Casey Key, had been closed since 1983 until the 2024 hurricanes opened it again. Sarasota County is watching how it changes, and a new pass can shoal, move or close, so treat it with care if you run a boat there.
Spawning schools return to the same places each year, which is why the passes and beaches fish so well in summer. These are the big breeding fish, so keep them in the water when you can, support their weight if you lift one, and get them back quickly.
Fall: back into the bay
Sometime in late summer or early fall the fish drift back toward the creeks and canals, feeding along the way. Docks, mangrove shorelines and creek mouths between the passes and their winter spots are worth fishing until the first real cold fronts push them up the creeks.
Read the tide
Snook are ambush feeders. They hold facing into the current behind a piling, a mangrove point or a channel edge, and wait for food to wash past. FWC's researchers say they bite best on moving water, especially an outgoing tide, and that days with four tides fish better than days with two. They won't chase bait far, so cast past the spot and let the current carry the bait to them.
NOAA publishes tide predictions for stations around the bay, including Sarasota, Big Sarasota Pass and Venice Inlet. Our guide to fishing the passes explains which station to use where.
Hatchery snook
Mote Marine Laboratory has raised juvenile snook and released them into Sarasota County creeks, including Phillippi Creek, to study whether hatchery fish can boost wild stocks. Mote has also installed an antenna in the Phillippi Creek system to track the released fish, which carry internal tags the antennas read, so you won't see them.
FWC tags snook too. If you catch a snook with an outside tag, write down the tag number, the fish's length, and the date and place you caught it, and leave the tag in if you let the fish go. FWC's snook tag page explains how to report it.
Which rules apply
FWC sets snook rules by region, and Sarasota sits near a boundary:
- Sarasota Bay region: from State Road 64 in Manatee County south to a line near the Venice Municipal Airport. It includes Palma Sola Bay, Phillippi Creek, Cow Pen Slough Canal and Curry Creek, but not the Manatee or Braden rivers, which belong to the Tampa Bay region.
- Charlotte Harbor region: south of that line, which sits about 0.4 mile north of the Venice Fishing Pier, so the pier and Caspersen Beach are in it, along with Manasota Key and Lemon Bay. Its rules, including the closed months, can differ from the Sarasota Bay region's.
Either way you need a snook permit as well as a saltwater license to keep one, and harvest is closed for parts of the year. Check FWC's snook page for the current rules in the region you're fishing.
Before you go
- Check the conditions on our Sarasota page, including the water temperature.
- There's no separate marine forecast for Sarasota Bay. Read the coastal waters forecast (zone GMZ853), and see our guide to the marine forecast for Sarasota and Venice.
- The passes run hard on a strong tide. Wear a life jacket in a small boat or kayak there.