They’re fortunate they can chase these silver bullets for ten months out of the year close to home, and they’ve developed an angling strategy that depends on distinctive cadences to taunt Snook into striking, even under the most adverse circumstances.

No matter what season it is, they depend on moving water to catch fish: “The heavier the flow, the better the bite will be,” Bryan said. That’s because Snook, like bass, are ambush feeders. They may roam a little under optimal conditions, but when things are even slightly off, or worse yet during cold front conditions, they’ll hunker down in heavy cover and only respond to the most naturalistic lures.

Greg agreed about the importance of the tide: “I love the incoming tide, particularly in the cooler months, but as long as there’s good water movement, they’ll bite.”

Snook spend the cooler months, both spring and fall, inside the mouths of rivers. In south Florida, they head up into the Everglades. But by summertime, they’re outside, and they’re easy pickings in the major passes into the Gulf and the Atlantic.

“They migrate out to the big passes and the saltwater beaches because there’s more salinity there, which floats their eggs better,” Bryan said.

Once the fish are out there, the brothers depend on a one-two punch of Lucky Craft lures that may seem dissimilar at first, although their actions have key similarities. Those lures are the Sammy topwater bait and the Pointer jerkbait. What they have in common is they both can be made to “walk the dog” even by a novice. In the hands of an expert, each can be made to sashay like a model on the catwalk. The results can be devastating.

“I’ll fish topwater on the flats if I’m targeting them in 2-1/2 to 3 feet of water or less,” Bryan said. “The Sammy 100, in red and white or chrome and black, which looks like a mullet, are the colors I like. When the tide is halfway out to dead low, you can catch them, even under bluebird skies.”

For Greg, the topwater presentation is a key way to capitalize on low light conditions in the first hour or so of the morning, and typically he dotes on it on the beaches, but not so much on the inside passes.

When it really gets tough, or when the fish move deeper, the brothers are convinced there’s no better way to dredge up big Snook than with the Pointer. It works whether the fish are out on the passes or further into the interior waters.

“When they move up and hole up for a couple of days in the residential canals and the deeper passes, I’ll throw it around docks and wood in about 2 to 6 feet of water,” Bryan said. “Throw it up current and jerk it back. It’s just plop-plop-plop-plop. You’re not speed fishing, but you’re not slowing down, either.”

Greg depends on the Pointer’s perfect suspending qualities to eke out as many bites as he can – he likes to jerk it down 3 or 4 feet and then kill it. Often the strikes will come on the pause, but if they don’t, he brings it back the rest of the way quickly, keeping it moving from side to side.

The Pointer is less tide-specific than the Sammy. Usually, they say, it’s more a matter of putting it in front of an inactive fish and goading him to strike rather than taunting an already attack-oriented fish. Accordingly, when that bite is on, they’re less likely to chase an ideal tide than they are to focus on high-percentage areas.

“They lay under those undercut mangroves or on an oyster bar, and when the Pointer goes by, they ambush it,” Bryan said.

The Pointer 100 is their go-to lure, but they won’t hesitate to upsize to the 128 version when the Snook are aggressive, especially during the summer when they depend on a diet of oily fish like pogies and sardines to float their eggs.

With respect to colors, Greg said they use Ghost Minnow in the Pointer 100 and often switch to Misty Shad when they upsize to the bigger 128. However, he noted that Snook in south Florida tend to prefer “anything with a touch of gold. In that tannin stained water, it really shines down there.”

While both lures come with quality hooks, the Snook’s destructive tendencies call for beefing up these critical links between man and fish. Accordingly, they swap out the factory-provided models for 4X Gamakatsu hooks. Not only do they keep big fish secured, but they’re also a little bit heavier than the stock hooks and allow the bait to run a little deeper.

Since a powerful Snook will exploit the weakest link in any chain, line is also a critical decision. If it’s too heavy, it will hinder the bait’s walking action; too light, and you’re asking for a break-off. Accordingly, the Watts brothers most frequently use a mainline of 30 lb. braided line coupled with a 40 lb. test fluorocarbon leader, dropping down to 30 lb. test when the bite gets tough.

“And be sure you tie a loop knot,” Bryan said. “That’s imperative. I use it for 90 percent of everything I do.” Tied properly, it maintains a high percentage of strength while maximizing the side-to-side walking action of their favorite lures.

A lightweight rod with backbone suitable for moving a teen-class fish away from heavy cover is necessary for both of these presentations, and the brothers dote on their signature series Lucky Craft rods, most frequently a seven foot medium-heavy action model with a fast tip. They pair the rods with an Abu-Garcia Revo Inshore reel for most of these applications. Around the mangroves, lay downs and rock piles, anglers who rely on anything less sturdy will likely find themselves with stripped out gears or a handful of fiberglass shards. But when the fish are on the sand bars, away from the gnarly cover, lighter tackle can come into play, particularly when the fish are finicky. Then the brothers sometimes turn to a medium heavy spinning rod with 15 lb. line.

The major problem with Snook, the brothers said, is they’re so addictive that they often distract them from their more lucrative endeavors.

“They’re just so aggressive and explosive, very much like a bass,” Greg said. “But they can be maddening, too. When you can see hundreds of them out there, and they won’t bite until the tide is perfect, they look like logs lying on the bottom facing the current. The key is to keep up a steady pace, walk the dog hard, and keep on working them. It’s only a matter of time until your two-pronged attack gets them fired up enough to react.