# Offshore mangrove snapper questions



## SHANE704 (Feb 13, 2014)

If I was going to head offshore to specifically target mangrove snapper, what would be my best bet. Are there any natural bottom areas that hold any decent numbers of these fish? Ive figured out that chumming them up and freelining a live shrimp on light flouro seems to be one go-to tactic but ive also seen people further east in florida bottom fish for them with great success...


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

Curious about this as well. I fish a bit further east than P'cola. We used to catch them semi-regular while bottom fishing reefs in 50-70ft of water. There would usually be 1-5 caught on the boat per day. I dont think we have caught a single one since the BP spill. I dont know if they died off or moved, or maybe our tactics have evolved just enough to not get them anymore... They are one of my favs to eat. I'll take a Mangrove over a Red Snapper ANY day!


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## Lieutenant ZKO (Jan 19, 2015)

Save some money. I catch them consistently inshore while fishing for Reds and Trout. 10-14 inches. Not monsters but it only cost 6 bucks in gas instead of 100. Any deep docks or slips. Freeline shrimp will work. I catch them even on hard baits.


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

Nothing like that where I fish... Reds and trout are on the flats. In 25 years, never caught a Mangrove on the flats. There are no docks except in the canal. I've never caught anything bigger that about a 9 inch red in the canal.


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## Lieutenant ZKO (Jan 19, 2015)

Really? I fish Choctaw and the snapper are everywhere. I caught 4 keepers last night and 1 was on a Rapala twitching mullet I was throwing just before sunset. Reading other's posts from Pcola I believe they're over there as well. At the launch a few weeks ago I thought I spotted a school of pin fish so I threw the net on 'em and they were ALL snapper. Where do you usually fish?


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## SHANE704 (Feb 13, 2014)

I know that they are inshore, but I want to target the 5lb and up fish offshore...anyone know any tips or tricks?


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## Splittine (Nov 24, 2007)

SHANE704 said:


> I know that they are inshore, but I want to target the 5lb and up fish offshore...anyone know any tips or tricks?


Very light flouro leader, small hooks. We killed them last year by chumming them up to the top and sight fishing them. Here's one JohnB caught with us.


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## SHANE704 (Feb 13, 2014)

Nice!!! Was this on a wreck or natural bottom? How far out or how deep?


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## FleaBag (Oct 19, 2016)

some of the big ones are hybrids which means bag limit is 10. FWC could not disprove my theory.


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## FleaBag (Oct 19, 2016)

top water action


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## how2fish (Jan 21, 2008)

Very nice mangroves right there...


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

Lieutenant ZKO said:


> Really? I fish Choctaw and the snapper are everywhere. Where do you usually fish?


I fish Mexico Beach. Nothing there but beach front. No docks. There is a canal that goes to the boat ramp. But the biggest thing that I have ever caught in there was a 9 inch redfish. The lizard fish are so bad in there that you can barely catch anything. St Joe bay is a bit down the road, but there are very few docks there either. Most are only in a few ft of water. The bay is very shallow. There are a couple of Marinas that have deeper docks, but they are no fishing zones.

My boat doesn't take $100 in fuel to get to the wrecks. But it does take me $100 to get my boat to the water... And back... So at that point, the difference between $5 in boat fuel and $25 is negligible.. haha


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## FreeLine (Oct 5, 2007)

What size hooks are best for black snapper?


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## watergator (Apr 5, 2016)

The best tactic in my opinion is to chum them to the surface and then sight cast to them. This only works with a good crew and requires a sunny day with light current. With the number of aggressive red snapper I see on a lot of wrecks, this is the only way to avoid them and get the mangroves. To successful chum them up you'll need MINIMUM 20lbs frozen chum, 15lbs glass minnows, and some live bait. If you can black out a livewell with greenies then you'll be even better off. Anchor up current (water movement, not just how the boat swing on the anchor) and chum hard for at least an hour (two is better) before putting a bait in the water. A milk crate with pool noodles around the top is the best chum bag because it allows free flow of larger pieces. Once you start seeing fish, supplement your chum with handfuls of glass minnows, cut cigar minnows, and live greenies to get the bigger fish interested. To catch the fish you'll want light line and a way to get up high. If you have a tower then that's great, but if not then stand on a cooler or the transom. When you see a mangrove in the school of reds that you know have behind your boat, put a live shrimp or greenie right on its nose. You'll spook some of them this way, but any more than a foot away and you'll be hooked into a red. 


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