This is my post for #freewriters 2627 prompt peel the skin off hosted by
For many years people would not eat a snook, they were thought of as a trash fish, no better than a saltwater catfish. People tried to eat them but found they tasted soapy, some said they tasted like iodine.
I do not know when it was and neither does google, but sometime many years ago someone decided to peel the skin off and found that with its white flaky meat, it was one of the best tasting fish in the river. Now there needed to be laws passed and they needed someone to blame for the laws.
In 1957, the Florida legislature banned the sale of snook to protect the species from commercial overfishing.
With us out of the picture, they have done nothing but pass more laws against keeping one. But wait, wasn't it commercial overfishing the reason they closed them, so why do they keep passing more and more laws making it harder for anyone to keep one? It has been 68 years and they now have closed seasons for sport fishermen, and they only give them a 4 inch slot to keep one, they have to be between 28 and 32 inches, you can keep nothing smaller and nothing bigger.
Here are the closed seasons for Florida.
December 15–January 31: In the Southeast, Indian River Lagoon, and Northeast regions
June 1–August 31: In the Southeast, Indian River Lagoon, and Northeast regions
December 1–end of February: In the Southwest region
May 1–September 30: In the Southwest region
December 1–end of February and May 1–August 31: In the Panhandle, Big Bend, Tampa Bay, and Sarasota Bay regions
Florida wants big catch and release fish, take a picture, and bragging rights. The problem with having all big fish is, they feed on pretty much any finfish, even trout. The bigger the fish, the more they eat. If you fish, it should be for food and the fish should be humanely killed.
I think catch and release fishing is horrible, you fight this fish to your boat, it is stressed and very tired, some people grab it with a rag, this removes its slime making it susceptible to disease and when they unhook it and throw it back there are sharks and dolphins or bigger fish waiting on it to hit the water, even their species will eat them.
The one my husband is holding was too big and he had to throw it back. For years the Marine Patrol told us if we possessed a commercial license we could not keep one to eat. But now they say if the season is open we can keep one if we only have a rod and reel on the boat, no cast net, which the sport fishermen are allowed to have on their boats.
https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/snook/
photos are mine