Red Snapper

Description: color pinkish red over entire body, whitish below; long triangular snout; anal fin sharply pointed; no dark lateral spot.*

Fishing Areas:
Offshore rocks, ledges and reef, typically out 40 ft or more. Over the last 10 years the red snapper populations have begun to increase and catches are on the rise.

Baits:
Red snappers have great eye sight so the bait presentations is very important. The most common bait is small live pin fish. But they do love whitebait and will take fresh dead bait, such as ballyhoo or ballyhoo plug (no head or tail). There are a few lures that work well with red snapper, like the Shimano Butterfly jig, but requires a lot of work and technique.

Tackle:
Light and small. No more than 20# class with 20# fluorocarbon leader (about 5-6ft) with a 1/0 short shank live bait hook. You will want to use a very small swivel (30-60#) with a small bead and the required weight above the swivel. Typically you will want to use as small as weight as you can. The best bet is to anchor up current and let the bait drift back to fish, so 1 – 2 oz sliding sinker will work. This will allow the bait to stay up off the bottom and which will reduce the number of break offs. Also snapper do not have a problem coming up off the bottom to feed.

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Gray Snapper

aka Mangrove Snapper, Mango Snapper
Description: color dark brown or gray with reddish or orange spots in rows along the sides; dark horizontal band from snout through eye (young only); two conspicuous canine teeth at front of upper jaw; dorsal fins have dark or reddish borders; no dark spot on side underneath dorsal fin.*

Fishing Areas:
Grey snapper are very plentiful, you can find them just about everywhere; in the residential channels, cuts, backwater, creeks, inshore rocks and reef and offshore rocks and reef.

Baits:
Snappers are very picky and have great eye sight. The most common bait is shrimp, it can be live or dead. But they do love small whitebait. Very few are caught on lures.

Tackle:
Very light and very small. The key to catching gray snapper is to downsize your rig. No more than 10# class with 10# fluorocarbon leader (about 3-4ft) with a #1 to 1/0 short shank live bait hook. You will want to blood knot the leader, so there is no swivel. If you need to use weight use a split shot 5 ft above the hook. Most of the time you will not need weight, unless you are offshore.

Snapper Pictures:
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If you have a picture(s) of snapper we would love to post it here. Please email any pictures and a brief story to zippyjr123 at gmail dot com or contact us using the Contact Form.

* Identification Information From: myFWC