Snapper fishing heats up!

[bman]

Since lightning chased us off the other day, the I was determined to get my fishing fix. My wife and I went out after work and got setup with 5 dozen shrimp. The fishing was hotter than the weather. We only got a little over 2 hours of fishing in because we ran out of bait and it got windy as storm clouds were blowing through. I didn't want a repeat of getting shocked by our poles, so we packed up and left them biting.

We ended up taking home 6 and threw a few back that were just at 10".

I have to admit though, my wife schooled me. I was talkin smack to her and she proceeded to pull in the two largest ones of the night. LOL!! I think that last one is the biggest one we've gotten out there this year..

Lesson learned....

[Diresword]

Nice catches bman! Excited to get out there Friday!

[imac813]

Jul 12, 2017 21:00:44 GMT -5 bman said:

Since lightning chased us off the other day, the I was determined to get my fishing fix. My wife and I went out after work and got setup with 5 dozen shrimp. The fishing was hotter than the weather. We only got a little over 2 hours of fishing in because we ran out of bait and it got windy as storm clouds were blowing through. I didn't want a repeat of getting shocked by our poles, so we packed up and left them biting.

We ended up taking home 6 and threw a few back that were just at 10".

View Attachment

I have to admit though, my wife schooled me. I was talkin smack to her and she proceeded to pull in the two largest ones of the night. LOL!! I think that last one is the biggest one we've gotten out there this year..

View Attachment

Lesson learned....

Very nice! My wife has all the luck when we go, I just become her assistant!

[Mackerelman]

Bman:

Right On !
Nice Pics & Catch !      

[karneei]

Great catch! What size shrimp were you using?

[YeehaZing]

Nice fish!!

[bman]

Jul 12, 2017 22:55:59 GMT -5 karneei said:

Great catch! What size shrimp were you using?

Just normal bait shop shrimp.. Nothing special.

[karneei]

Cool. I was just wondering if buying jumbo shrimp was worth it. I was thinking bigger shrimp=bigger snapper, but you got some nice ones. I'll stick with the medium/regular then because I get more for the money and those bait stealers can go through them quick!

[tears143]

Jul 13, 2017 21:38:55 GMT -5 karneei said:

Cool. I was just wondering if buying jumbo shrimp was worth it. I was thinking bigger shrimp=bigger snapper, but you got some nice ones. I'll stick with the medium/regular then because I get more for the money and those bait stealers can go through them quick!

One time I was using large shrimp and were pulling in 15" snappers.. this when the shrimp were flushing. Bigger shrimp just make it a little harder for the pinfish to get to it. I rather just use cut greenies or buy the small shrimp.

[mufishin2017]

Nice catches!!! I think I met you a few days ago when we were sharing our electric poles stories.My pole sounded and felt like a taser but not as strong, thank God!

[shadowxmas]

Nice catches Bman and Mrs Bman.

[bman]

Jul 14, 2017 0:01:39 GMT -5 mufishin2017 said:

Nice catches!!! I think I met you a few days ago when we were sharing our electric poles stories.My pole sounded and felt like a taser but not as strong, thank God!

Yep. That was me. Hope I never get shocked like that again. See ya around.

[SkyJay]

you guys should try fishing your cut greenbacks
on a light florocarbon leader (20 or less)
with a lighter the better depending on current
and just enough to get your bait to slowly
trickle down naturally like a piece of chum,
white or chartreuse jighead (1/2-3/4 oz depending
on current)
not necessarily all the way to the bottom but
near to trick the larger more wary snappers.
an old timer showed me this trick recently,
and man does it work.
feed your line out slowly with the current
and let your bait drift back into the piling areas
or out to the rockpiles.
wait for the tap and reel.
everyone thinks Mangos are strictly bottom
fish but I recently learned other wise.
they'll hug the bottom but will come up
to greet a slow sinking, drifting bait.
might try chumming the area you are fishing as well
with cut greenback.
typically the bigger fish will come up and suspend.
hope this helps someone get a giant.
fish on.
ps. a really light knocker rig and a glow bead is also
deadly.
the trick it to abandon the traditional
straight to the bottom chunk of lead, and
using a more subtle, stealthy natural presentatation.
There are some real mogans roaming
around out there right now, but theyre
really smart too.
another thing to try is tiny pinfish or
grunts.
you have to wait longer between bites,
and its work but patience pays off.

[gnome]

Jul 14, 2017 17:56:16 GMT -5 SkyJay said:

you guys should try fishing your cut greenbacks
on a light florocarbon leader (20 or less)
with a lighter the better depending on current
and just enough to get your bait to slowly
trickle down naturally like a piece of chum,
white or chartreuse jighead (1/2-3/4 oz depending
on current)
not necessarily all the way to the bottom but
near to trick the larger more wary snappers.
an old timer showed me this trick recently,
and man does it work.
feed your line out slowly with the current
and let your bait drift back into the piling areas
or out to the rockpiles.
wait for the tap and reel.
everyone thinks Mangos are strictly bottom
fish but I recently learned other wise.
they'll hug the bottom but will come up
to greet a slow sinking, drifting bait.
might try chumming the area you are fishing as well
with cut greenback.
typically the bigger fish will come up and suspend.
hope this helps someone get a giant.
fish on.
ps. a really light knocker rig and a glow bead is also
deadly.
the trick it to abandon the traditional
straight to the bottom chunk of lead, and
using a more subtle, stealthy natural presentatation.
There are some real mogans roaming
around out there right now, but theyre
really smart too.
another thing to try is tiny pinfish or
grunts.
you have to wait longer between bites,
and its work but patience pays off.

Skyjay, Have you ever tried fishing a slip bobber, type of setup?
   
Next time I am down there I think I'll try drifting a small pinfish over the reef, at about 8-9'.

[SkyJay]

i have...
the problem with the slip bobbers out there,
is once you come tight on the line, the
current just pulls it right back down the line
and up comes the bait.
I have however caught several nice 25-30
inch Gag Grouper using a balloon as a float,
tied directly to my main line.The top of the guardrail to the waterline, is the
distance I used to measure how deep to fish.
You have to really tie it good and tight to your
line by wrapping snd knotting it two or three times.
Its basically freelining but some days the
balloon helps to control the bait better than
freelining.
Low current going out with a good breeze from behind
being the best example. Also the balloon will make it
way easier to keep track of where your bait is at night
Never tried this for Snapper though.
best of luck to ya!

[bman]

Definitely going to try some of these tips soon!

[montylfl]

If you want to chum for snapper try the brown bag technic. Works great and keeps the chum where you are fishing to turn on those snappers.

[SkyJay]

Google/youtube the sandball method also,
it works great during that magical time
about an hour before or after a slack tide.
sometimes on a calm quiet night, you can
bring em all the way to the surface.

[armiman]

Thanks for the tips, Guys! Only been out once since we went down to the piers. My son and I took out Kayaks to Homosassa and got skunked. We both want to come back to the pier again!