The Ultimate Snook Release (Over 2,000 Snook In A Day)!
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on
What a sight to see!
We had the opportunity to go behind the scenes with MOTE Marine and FWC for a huge snook release.
The best news is that we documented the entire thing so you can hear (and see) exactly how they reproduce fish and where we released them.
If you’ve ever been curious about snook and redfish farms, you’re going to love this!
Check it out below!
You can watch the video version of this podcast below (which I highly recommend), listen to the audio version by clicking the play button underneath it, or listen to it on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify.
P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify and leave us a review!
The Ultimate Snook Release [VIDEO]
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The Ultimate Snook Release [PODCAST]
Note: Don’t forget to subscribe to the Salt Strong podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify and leave us a review!
Click here to join the Insider Club
Related Podcasts:
- HOW TO QUICKLY FIND INSHORE FISHING SPOTS (BASED ON TIDES & WIND)
- WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN USING TOPWATER LURES (LIVE FISHING TRIP)
Here’s a timestamped table of contents:
- 1:58 – We’re at MOTE Marine to release 2,200 baby snook!
- 2:31 – The size of snook that they like to release
- 3:11 – Tag types that MOTE uses to track the snook
- 3:56 – Lifelong tags allow MOTE Marine scientists to pull data from snook they have released years ago
- 5:27 – Spawning efforts have helped produce 10,000 fish in this amount of time
- 6:07 – Watch the process of scanning tags
- 7:11 – The scanners pick up the behavioral patterns of the tagged snook
- 9:32 – Snook like calm, still water (remember that)
- 10:42 – Why spaghetti noodles are in the snook water…
- 11:31 – Everything that happens at MOTE Marine
- 11:52 – MOTE Marine is creating sustainable fish for the dinner plate too
- 13:25 – What is photothermal manipulation? And how it sets the mood.
- 14:27 – Feeding monster redfish by hand
- 16:23 – Stock enhancements and genetics play into where they can be released
- 18:35 – The size of snook eggs is insane!
- 20:02 – A social hierarchy forms in the tanks
- 22:06 – The cost of the research and the issues that will need to be addressed
- 22:50 – How MOTE Marine maximizes the chance of survival for released fish
- 27:06 – The Release!
Check out MOTE Marine & MOTE Aquaculture in Sarasota!
Conclusion
Understanding how MOTE Marine creates these new populations of snook and redfish gives us perspective on how precious our fisheries are.
And as an angler, this experience was so special to be part of!
Have you visited MOTE Marine before?
Let me know about your experience down in the comments!
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I agree with Rob S. let’s spend more time following research and efforts like Mote’s to help increase and maintain these beautiful fish, it is our responsibility as fishermen and fisherwomen to conserve these environments and species so that years to come they will be available for all fishing.
Excellent info, highly educational. The discussion about Snook genetics and having to be released in concentrated areas was new info for me since these are often referred to as migratory fish. I wish Salt Strong would focus some of its efforts in following this type research (not just when red tide/fish kills triggers curiosity), and doing a small part in educating anglers and the general public. Catching fish is the end result, and thinking more about fish populations, habitat, and related issues might possibly help more people understand the importance of this work, and help these organizations prosper. While recognizing SS is a FL west coast company and the membership is concentrated in that area, there are Insiders in other areas of Florida and other states so bringing videos/podcasts for other other organizations outside of the FL west coast doing similar work would be helpful too. I stumbled across this video by an Insider’s comment on the forum, and then doing a search of Mote Marine in Fishing Tips to find it. A year or more ago, an email would be sent announcing a new video/podcast and with that gone, viewing of new content is easily missed – – even setting up a web page showing all new content posted would be a way to more easily find it.
Much more of this to come, Rob. Are you getting our Sunday newsletter where we show ALL of the new tips, reports, and updates for the week? Also, this page shows everything we create all in one place – https://saltstrongdev.wpengine.com/fishing-tips/
Good morning Joe. I don’t get the Sunday newsletter by email – first I’ve heard of it. I now get (i) The Weekend Game Plan Lesson Is Live, and (ii) Inner Circle Call Agenda & Link. Sporadically, I’ll get an email from you (Joe from Salt Strong) which will have a Fishing Tips link – – last one was dated July 2, “Summer Topwater Tips: How To Catch Big Trout, Redfish, & Snook”; 3 in June (June 1 & 2). They used to come frequently, almost every day. So I’m not sure if far fewer videos are being produced or maybe emailing them has changed. There are 15 posts on the first page of Fishing Tips, and 2 were sent to me by email.
When I went to look for an article about Mote Marine, nothing showed up on the first Fishing Tips page, and it wasn’t until I searched “Mote Marine” did the article “The Ultimate Snook Release (Over 2,000 Snook In A Day)!” highlight Mote Marine in yellow. Nothing about Mote Marine was visible from the Fishing Tips page. Are these always arranged in chronological order?
Oh wow! That’s not good. I wonder if you accidentally opted out of normal emails (it’s happened before with a few members). We’re actually created TWO (2) new pieces of content per day (more than ever) and we email out the top tip of the day (so at least a daily email with a new tip). Then on Sunday we email everyone our newsletter with all of the tips for the week.
I’ll have Luke look into why you aren’t receiving this (or perhaps some are going into your spam).
Yes, the tips are arranged in chronological order (we’ve already created quite a few new tips since we posted the Mote article)
Okay, I’ll wait a response from Luke or Nick. They’re definitely not going to spam. Thanks for helping out, Joe!
Hey Rob, I found the problem and it has been fixed, so you should be on the full email delivery list going forward. The issue was caused by our system thinking that you only wanted to be on the 1 or 2 emails per week plan. Let me know if you somehow don’t get an email this evening.
Hey Luke, I appreciate you taking time to diagnose and fix this issue. This evening I received “2 Ways To Increase Your Casting Distance To Catch More Fish”. It appears the reset corrected the problem . . . many thanks! Rob
Finally, we definitely don’t consider ourselves a west coast of Florida company. That happens to be where it all started but our membership base is all over (from Texas to Florida to Virginia and everywhere in between) and we even moved our office to Winter Haven so we could be more central in regards to shipping.
Thanks for the reply, Joe. Mote Marine is west coast, and that is their focus given Snook DNA causes them to only release their raised fish in local areas nearby where they were caught. Other Insiders like me don’t reside or frequently fish the west coast. We too are impacted by unclean water, red tide, etc. When possible, doing a video/podcast about other organizations doing work similar to Mote would create broader awareness amongst Insiders. Even asking the Mote rep if similar work is being done in other parts of Florida (other states) by other organizations would be helpful and narrow down where to go to maybe find out more info. Just my 2 cents, and may be other Insiders are only interested in fish catching videos, but a 1 hour video/podcast every 6 months or so, focused entirely on what’s being done to improve our fisheries by those actually making it happen would be a welcome addition to the overall great collection of work you and Luke have done. The leagacy left behind by the legendary anglers is not about how many fish they caught but what they did for the industry and our fisheries. With 25,000+ members, SS could help educate and influence Insider views that, in turn, help these struggling organizations with volunteer help, money, and just adding more voices for politicians to hear. Keep up the fight, Joe, as hopefully the little ones coming behind us have it nearly as good or better than we found it.
I concur! This was a great learning experience for me. I know in my area in SC, the SC DNR and the SC government constantly work projects for conversation. It is the one reason I always buy the “full monty” license and wildlife magazine subscription even though I only use the fishing license and read the magazine. I’d love to get into bird hunting. I am also proud to support the SC DNR through their vehicle license plate (sports their logo, a Red Drum, and “Gone Fishing” at the top) that I give an extra gift for the opportunity to mount on my truck. I’d be surprised, if other states do not have similar programs. I really enjoyed the video and again agree with Rob S., conservation and this type of content/learning is a God send!
Great educational video !
Question : How many and what species do they release in Charlotte Harbor ?
Do they have a future plan to open a 2nd facility or to expand the present facility ?
Do they except donations and if so what percentage of that goes to admin., research,
and/or facility ?
Thank you again for a spectacular informative video !
Hey William! Yes, they are expanding and have already doubled the size of this facility. They do amazing work and I encourage everyone to support them – https://mote.org/support/membership
Very!!! cool!! Love to see the science behind the fishery. A good case for buying a fishing license to support the research – even after you get old and eligible for a free license. Thanks for sharing this!!
Amen! They are also working on a clay-based solution to eliminate red tide
I remember back when I was a kid in the early to late 70’s. Catching snook off the stickney rd bridge in Sarasota near CB’s bait shop. They were so plentiful. We went there every summer till I went to college in 1979. Hadn’t been back until I moved my family to Florida in 2010 to fort Myers. That winter was the bad cold snap that decimated the snook. I went down to Sarasota that spring and stopped byCB’s and they said they are gone now. Very upsetting. Watching this video was very emotional. I am so glad there are people like the Mote Marine doing our environment good. They are hero’s in my eyes. Thank guys for that video.
Thank you for sharing this, Brian. Yes, we are so thrilled that groups like Mote are doing everything in their power to bring back our amazing fisheries.
Awesome content. Great video and hoping for ongoing success of the program!!!
Thank you, Pablo!
I hope Luke, Joe and Justin stay away from that area that the snook were released. I know you could catch them all.LOL
Haha. Trust me, we have the coordinates written down but we’ll give the snook a bit longer to grow up before we fish it…
Fantastic podcast! thanks guys
Thank you, Bill!
Really enjoyed watching the video thanks for sharing. Will definitely help support MOTE and plan a visit. Awesome content and so very interesting. Great Job!!
It’s definitely a must-visit place. My daughter Shauna (9) loved it!
wonderful story.my father,brother and i fished boca grande in the early 1970’s.we were guided by tom hathcock,a native floridian.we caught 16 tarpon over 2 days.tom had fished snook commercially while in high school.artificials only and caught and sold enough snook to buy a new boat!so glad florida is taking care of her resources.
Good stuff, Jules!