New "Snooky" Print

If you could design a perfect inshore game fish, I'm convinced it would closely resemble a snook. Their long, lithe bodies, thick shoulders, and underslung jaws are a study in aggression. Perfectly suited to the sweltering haunts in which they thrive, they're equally at ease stalking open-water flats or sliding through tight mangrove roots like snakes. Efficient ambush predators, they have a mercurial makeup, shying away from noise and movement one moment, violently attacking anything that moves the next. Snook are renowned for violent, "pant-filler" hits on flies and topwater lures. Like I say, the perfect inshore game fish.

Renowned tackle busters, a big snook's ability to accelerate away and snare lines in nearby structure is unmatched; every snook angler will eventually endure the sound of a wailing drag punctuated by the pitiless "pop" of their line parting -- and all of the resultant heartbreak. The waiting rooms of therapists are chock full of depressed snookers.

These enigmatic missiles long ago sparked a lifelong passion in me. I've defied schedules, jobs, ill health, bad weather, ex-wives, and even common sense in their pursuit, primarily within the deeper reaches of the wild Florida Everglades. This latest print, "Snooky", is a nod to their profound impact on this past-his-prime angler.