# Black snapper, mangos, or what ever



## Captdroot (Jan 18, 2012)

*Gentlemen/ladies too, do many of you target black snapper? *I believe they are plentiful in this area. I am certain that they can be tricky to catch.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Your best bet is to go to a hole and chum them up.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I have fished the rigs and shallow wrecks off of Ft Morgan for them with good success. I usually anchor upcurrent or tie off to the rig and chum heavily with a "homemade" mix. I downsize my hooks, leader and general tackle to increase my red snapper-to-mangrove snapper ratio. Slip floats are especially helpful in keeping baits well suspended. I've taken Mangrove snapper to 16lbs doing this.

You can also have good luck with smaller, but legal snaps around the passes from May onward. About half of them will be just undersized but you occasionally will get a 4lber around the rocks. Full moons in July and August increase your shots with bigger ones.


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## grey ghost (Jul 24, 2011)

I have never caught a mangrove snapper, but i will take this advice and run with it!! thks ( that homemade chum recipe would help me chris v!!??) LOL


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## jjam (Dec 9, 2007)

Chris V is once again spot on. You can also target BS inshore around rubble and bridges but the chum method works best for me over rubble/structure in the G.O.M. I prefer live shrimp but cut bait works fine too.

"I've taken Mangrove snapper to 16lbs doing this."

Chris, you may be missing out on a record as I believe the standing record is less than 15lbs.

Jimmy


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## snapperfan (Aug 30, 2009)

Some will tell you to use something like dry cat food but just know that anything that floats will attract nothing but seagulls.

My recipe
Quaker oats (not oatmeal or instant stuff)









cheap bag of grits
can of Jack Mackerel (in water or natural juice, not the one with tomato sauce)








Menhaden oil









Just experiment with the quantities. It's not critical. If you are married then do not mix in the house or in one of her pots. Fair warning.
Maybe half a box of oats, half that amount of grits, can of Jack Mackerel, pour in some menhaden oil and start stirring. This stuff stinks and is sticky so I make it just soupy enough to ladle it over the side. A friend makes it like peanut butter and rolls it into balls which will sink faster and deeper but you will regret handling the balls with bare hands. It keeps in the freezer in a sealed container if she will allow it.
It works good for me.


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## ClemsonTiger11 (Aug 12, 2010)

I love mangroves because you can catch them on top and can keep more than the ARS. We had great luck chumming them up this summer and numerous occasions. They seem to be leader shy so we always use smaller floro line (around 20 pound) and a small hook that we bury in the cut bait or whatever we are using as chum. Just let the current take it and disguise it as the chum. It's fun because many times you can watch them take the bait if the water is clear enough. This one my buddy caught was the biggest we caught this year and was caught on a live ruby red lip on some thick braid with a metal leader that we actually had free-lining for a king.


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## Crab Man (Oct 21, 2011)

Real light tackle around offshore wrecks can produce some monsters. My biggest so far was 12.25# off of orange beach. That one ate a live threadfin on an 80# grouper rig, so they aren't always leader shy, but usually light line and little or no weight is required.


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## Capt. Myles Colley (Mar 12, 2008)

Chum em up and use a jumbo live shrimp. They cant resist.


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

From a spearfishing perspective: I have not seen any other fish that can hide the way a mangrove can hide. They are masters at laying flat "up" against the deck of a wreck. They will point nose down in the corner of a wreck, leaving the top of their body as your only shot. They can be 3 ft from my spear tip and hard as hell to shoot. They've got skills!:notworthy:


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## PCfisher66 (Oct 13, 2010)

+1 on shooting them. I have dove on some of the pyramids over in Mexico Beach and they love to play hide and seek. With those pyramids some were loaded with red snapper and not a single mangrove, others where the exact opposite.


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## LITECATCH (Oct 2, 2007)

We target them also! They eat way better than red snapper. They are shy though.


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## Captdroot (Jan 18, 2012)

*pyramids*



PCfisher66 said:


> +1 on shooting them. I have dove on some of the pyramids over in Mexico Beach and they love to play hide and seek. With those pyramids some were loaded with red snapper and not a single mangrove, others where the exact opposite.


No surprise about the distribution. Fish species tend be territorial and those pyramids make that easy.

That's why moving the boat 50' can change your catch.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

jjam, that 16lber I caught would have been the state record if someone didn't catch a 18lb 2oz monster earlier that year. I called Alabama Marine Resources after we docked and after telling them the weight of my fish they burst my bubble.

I'm still proud as hell of that one though.


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## Seachaser 186 (Apr 9, 2009)

Mangrove snapper are some of my favorite to catch and eat. I like them much better than reds. Once you get them chummed up to the surface, it's a blast catching them on light spin tackle. Just like it was said earlier, use 20lb fluro leader and smal hooks embedded in a piece of cut bait to look just like the chum. Play the line out without any resistance so it looks natural drifting away from the boat.


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## specktackler57 (May 15, 2011)

++ on the chum recipe.works great.add a little sand.


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## slayerextreme (Jan 10, 2012)

where do you get the menhayden oil?????


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Most tackle shops sell menhaden oil.


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## slayerextreme (Jan 10, 2012)

figured it would be along the coast....never seen it here in atlanta


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## grey ghost (Jul 24, 2011)

THANKS for recipie!!!!!!!!!! Dang nice fish, clemsontiger11 & seachaser 186!!! I will try that chum for mangroves in a few months!! cant wait!!


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## Captdroot (Jan 18, 2012)

Chris V said:


> Most tackle shops sell menhaden oil.


search pogie oil, too


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## DreamWeaver21 (Oct 3, 2007)

You guys targeting them must know more than I do. We catch a few as every once in a while. I dive and shoot a few but have never even seen more than a few decent sized ones in one place.


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

Dreamweaver, I will see one and give chase (so to speak) and that's when I found out those suckers are hiding before you even see 'em. I'm not saying that's always the case, but once I found out their game, I find quite a few more than I used to.


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