Saltwater Experience Tackle Zone - Season 16 - Episode 10: Afternoon in the Neighborhood

Catching Florida gamefish like the sought-after snook doesn't mean you have to take your boat deep into the Everglades. In this episode of the Saltwater Experience fishing show, Capt. Tom Rowland and Capt. Rich Tudor catch snook practically in their backyard a short run from their home port at Hawks Key Resort on Duck Key.

No Place Like Home

Saltwater Experience episodes like these can give you a new angle on your fishing. You don't have to spend a lot of time or fuel journeying far for fun fishing. Sometimes the best fishing is right in your neighborhood.

After leaving the dock, the captains cast-net for live bait, which is crucial for daytime snook fishing success. Chumming and baiting up with the live pilchards they've caught, they fish off the bridges and rocks barely more than a stone's throw from Hawks Cay.

Like all the best saltwater fishing shows online or on cable, this episode provides the unvarnished truth. It may be exciting to explore remote back-country fishing spots, but you can often do just as well or better right around the corner from where you launch or dock your boat.

Fish Honking

Forty-two bridges connect the Florida Keys from Key Largo to Key West. The bridges and highways are protected by rock riprap, which provides perfect cover for salty predators like snook, redfish and grouper. The captains fish barely a long cast from the highway, getting the occasional "fish honk" from passing motorists.

They land plenty of linesiders on live pilchard, including a few lunkers. All are released.

Then they head on to Long Key Bridge, hoping to scare up a tarpon or two. They hook a big one but - spoiler alert! - it breaks off after dragging them and their skiff back and forth under the bridge a few times.

Saltwater fishing TV shows like this prove that great fishing is within practically anyone's reach. Great fishing gear is too from Saltwater Experience outfitters like TackleDirect.