By Capt. Greg Bowdish

It wasn't very long after I moved to Southwest Florida a decade ago that I discovered the amazing snook fishery that exists in the canals of this fast growing, yet already sprawling suburbia. Coming in late from fishing and idling by dock lights, you couldn't miss the explosive pops and swirls that are the telltale signs of feeding snook. There were not many fly anglers around here then, so a tiny fly was something new to the fish and you could always hook up on your first cast. Although the snook have gotten a bit wiser since then, I think the fishing has gotten to be more challenging and more fun.

If you have never fly fished a snook light, you may be asking what exactly a snook light is. A snook light is simply a floodlight pointed down in the water at the end of a dock to provide snook a good ambush point from which to attack their prey. Sometimes this light is put there

specifically for the snook; other times it is simply a light source that illuminates a portion of the water. Although the light does attract some creatures, the snook use it to see food sources like shrimp and glass minnows as they are swept along in a current.

Snook using light to spot their prey at night is not something that was invented by Thomas Edison. Snook use the light of the moon in mangrove creeks and shorelines in much the same manner and a good rule of thumb is that if there is a full moon out, the urban snook fishing will not be at it's best because the light of the moon will lessen the effects of the electric lights. On these nights, it would be better to head into the

mangroves and away from manmade light sources, but make sure you bring along a lot of bug spray! For urban snook fishing, I try to always fish the new moon or quarter moons, or at least concentrate my fishing before the moon rises or after it sets.

Current is probably the biggest determinant whether snook will be feeding under a given light. Without current, no food will be brought to the snook and although you may see a few sitting in the light, they are most likely waiting for a tide change and will be very difficult to entice. Other things to look for when you approach a lit dock with adequate current are shadow lines, current rips, and the physical structure around and beneath the dock. The most important thing to do when you approach a light is to not cast. Take a look at

what is going on and watch the fish feed a while before casting your fly. That patience will always pay off in the end.

Shadow lines are important to the snook because it is at this juncture that a food source will drift out of the darkness and become visible to the hungry fish. Imagine a shrimp drifting a long in the darkness practically undetectable to those that consider him food. All of a sudden the lights go on and he finds himself drifting toward twenty hungry snook! Snook will sometimes sit in the light and look at the edge of

the darkness, and other times sit in the darkness and look into the light.This is all dependent on factors such as the intensity of the light, how the shadow line crosses the current, and probably a slew of other factors you would have to be a snook to appreciate.

The way the current rushes around a dock will make a big difference on where the fish will sit and, more importantly, where you want to place your fly. This brand of fly fishing is probably as closest to freshwater trout fishing as you could ever get in the salt and many of the same factors and situations apply when presenting your fly. Obviously, the most important issue is making sure your fly crosses in front of where the fish are sitting, but sometimes it can be more complicated than that. Quite often, a big fish will sit off to the side of the light all by himself and if you are patient and

refrain from casting he will reveal himself to you. He will usually be sitting in an area closest to a piling where the current is the greatest.

One of my favorite snook light scenarios is when there is a boat tied to the dock or some solid structure beneath the dock that creates a shadow line deep beneath the surface. This is where the biggest fish will hang out and you may want to pull out a sinking line and a heaver fly and cast well up current so that your fly gets down to the correct depth. Obviously it is important to check for pilings, ropes, and other possible obstructions which could hang up your fly or cause some serious problems after the hook up. I tie my Soluble Minnow hook point up so that the hook is hidden and the materials help deflect snags and I will sometimes even add a weed guard.

light longer and you will be more likely to hook up. Another important thing to consider is that a small baitfish will rarely swim down stream. If you have ever piloted a small boat in heavy downstream current you will understand why.

What makes Cape Coral such a great place for snook light fly fishing is simply the great abundance of canals, docks, and lights. There are hundreds of miles of canals, which have yacht basins, freshwater spillways, bottlenecks, bridges, and other geographies that create good habitat for both fish and forage. A good rule of thumb is that if the canal is very long and has a number of yacht basins, there will be good current and good snook fishing. Shorter canals don't hold as much water and therefore don't have as much current. Tarpon also inhabit these waters and do sometimes roll beneath the lights in these more stagnant canals as well as the lights with current. You will also find plenty of jack cravelle and sometimes redfish and seatrout as you get closer to the Caloosahatchee River.

I learned the canal systems simply by exploring and putting the pieces together from road maps and nautical charts of the nearby open water, but fortunately, there is now a nautical chart of the Cape Coral canals themselves and this is an invaluable tool if you want to plan a nocturnal fly fishing weekend in the Cape.

For more information on fly fishing opportunities in Cape Coral or to get a nautical chart of the canal systems, call Angler's Outlet at (239) 549-7555.

Capt. Greg Bowdish is a fly fishing guide in Cape Coral, FL. He specializes in fly fishing and is an FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor. To book a night snook fishing trip with Capt. Greg, call 239-691-7284 or e-mail him at captgreg@barflyfish.com. You can learn more about fly fishing and kayaking in Southwest Florida at www.barflyfish.com and www.yakflyfish.com.

" Fly Fishing in Suburbia: The Snook Lights of Cape Coral" Copyright 2005 by Greg Bowdish. May not be reproduced or redistributed without author's permission. This article first appeared in Outdoor Florida Magazine. Republished with permission.