A legendary double-up

A field report from Capt. Jarad “Dingo” Boshammer—

I fish a variety of styles, and my 5-hatch Snake Bight 100% carbon skiff delivers everything I need in a boat. When targeting large snook, silence is critical. These fish are extremely sensitive—especially in heavily pressured waters. The longer I can stay near a school without the boat alerting them, the better our chances of getting a bite. Since I don’t use live bait for snook, every bit of stealth and performance my skiff provides makes a difference.

It’s always an absolute honor to have Steve and Dustin Huff on my skiff. Every time Steve steps aboard, he says the same thing:
“I don’t care if we catch anything—I just want to go fishing.”

This time, we committed fully to the fly rod, trying to hook a big snook. We were among them, but as any snook angler knows, those giants can be incredibly temperamental. About three-quarters into the day, Dustin turned to his dad and said—
“Dad, are you done screwing around yet? Let’s get the Nomad Vibes out and catch one of these things.”
Steve gave the thumbs up, and just like that, they got to work.

Dustin hooked up first, landing a beauty that taped out at 43.5 inches, his biggest snook ever. Not long after, he hooked another one nearly the same size. Then Steve got a solid thump and just said, “Oh crap!” and just like that, we had a father-son double hookup, both fighting 42-inch snook at the same time.

Years ago, on another trip, about two hours in, Steve once told me:
“We’ve already caught two years’ worth of snook today.” I asked him what he meant, and he explained that fish like the one we had just released—well, you might see one that size once every two years in the Everglades.

So on the ride back to the ramp after this trip, I asked him, “How many years’ worth of snook did we just catch?” He looked at me and said, “I’ve never had a day like this, Dingo.”