# Stressless and Scaly Neck Mess-o-Red Snappers... 07/07



## Stressless (Oct 2, 2007)

Figured the season is snapping (Ok - that's a good pun) to a close soon so back from Ohio and needed to put some filets in the skillet. Weather guesser was on target and we got there early so we could hit our morning meetings at work. Off loaded, Loaded up and headed out -










The heat was up and made a nice ride out - averaged 4.2mph for the trip out to the bottom spot. Picked up a decent Spanish right off the second sand bar and then nothing until I got to the first drop.

Used some bait frogs and could see the fish on the FF but no takers fiddled with the weights and went to a lighter Stradic 5000 and WHAM on the first drop with that one. Tug and go on the light pole, I absolutely love the Stradic 5000 on the Half-Hitch Med/Heavy Spinning rod. Nothing like beating down a fat Red Snapper at sunrise. 










You can see the snappers in the FF waiting for their turn in the ice bath after a workout with the stradic! 

Got him tucked into the ice and laid into #2 about 10 mins later. 









I call Dean on the radio and tell him I'm done at 0623 in the morning... :shifty: That felt good! Well he had some issues with the Humminbird transducer so I talked him onto a spot (the same one) and got a nice series of snaps... (Ok I'm wearing that pun out..)

Dean knowing a big snapper is watching his bait... wait for it, wait for it...










Wham - they hit like a ton of bricks not real tap- tap just inhale and head for the line cutting edges on the bottom.









Everything worked out for the Dean, the snapper - Not So Much. A nice Fattie in the Yak!









With Yak fishing there is a chance of escape until and even sometimes once they hit the ice but we got this one lipped and he's almost in the skillet.









We chatted and with his FF on the fritz and some nice snappers on ice - work looming in the foreground we decided to head in hitting some spots - right then I picked up #3 so the forth nice snapper off the same little spot.









We headed in and I thought I'd put a jig on - looked for my tacklebox and went - :001_huh: nothing there - then I realized I didn't PACK it. So I went with a hook on each line and no extra weight other then the couple I have in the mesh in the pic above.... LUCKY!! didn't get cut off or broken off.

On the way in we come across two other newbie Yak fishers having a HUGE day. They caught their first red snapper and just as we're pulling away from chatting with them one starts hollering and gets his very first Gulf Coas_t Sleigh_ride...









you can see the wake above as he's getting pulled quickly through the water -- fun to watch and REAL fun for your first time. The smile below says it all...










We thought it was a nice Red Snapper but turned out to be a AJ - nice sized at that. I came around and it tried to get under my yak so I get a nice pic of it as well.










We headed in and combat showered at the public rinse station and changed in the public facility - at work a few mins later with fresh fish on ice and another glorious day on the Gulf of Mexico behind us. 

One last pic heading out yesterday morning... beautiful sunrise and great water conditions. Get out there - they are still in season and biting!









Peace/Out
Stressless


----------



## bigrick (Sep 29, 2010)

Nice fish, it's crazy to see yakkers catching nice snapper a mile off the beach.


----------



## bbarton13 (May 4, 2009)

nice report


----------



## shkad14 (Apr 26, 2008)

That wake tells the story! Awesome report.


----------



## Wilbur (Jan 17, 2011)

Awesome! Good job. I hope they have a fall snapper season so I can try again.


----------



## Robin (Mar 22, 2011)

Nice fish........had to be alotta fun.

Robin


----------



## pompanopete (Aug 5, 2009)

Nice report.. thanks fella's..


----------



## Kayak Rookie (Mar 15, 2011)

Nice report look's like a good idea those pink floats on thr rod's.


----------



## need2fish (Oct 2, 2007)

another great report - aren't you running out of freezer space yet? I can help.


----------



## Gravy Jones (Jun 5, 2011)

We're coming down next week for vacation. Can you share some info on where/how far out you went to get into some snapper? What were you using for bait/rigging? I have a fish finder but no gps. Any pointers y'all can offer would be great.


----------



## dpenzone (Mar 9, 2011)

Nice job and great report! A good story line!


----------



## Stressless (Oct 2, 2007)

Gravy Jones said:


> We're coming down next week for vacation. Can you share some info on where/how far out you went to get into some snapper? What were you using for bait/rigging? I have a fish finder but no gps. Any pointers y'all can offer would be great.


Almost all the pointers I have will be useless until you get a GPS (aka bottom fishing).

Good luck and be safe.

Stressless


----------



## Gravy Jones (Jun 5, 2011)

I agree, finding any sort of known bottom structure without a gps will be impossible. So, I've found a marine gps app for my iphone and plan on carrying it in a clear pelican case. I know coordinates for 3 barges, uss mass, etc are available online, but if you have any advice on other good locations, that would be great. Also, what do you recomend for bait/rigging for snapper? We'll only have two mornings to try for them until the season closes, so we need to make it count. Thanks for the help.


----------



## Stressless (Oct 2, 2007)

GravyJ

PM sent.


----------



## Reel Wins (Jun 4, 2009)

Stressless what's a bait frog?


----------



## Stressless (Oct 2, 2007)

or







or









http://www.google.com/search?q=bait...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCIQ_AUoAQ&biw=1252&bih=779

You (or course) cut it out of whatever bait you have at hand to resemble the Bait Frog.


----------

