# I couldn't buy a snapper today...



## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

But we did land some nice mahi, and a bunch of other non-keepable fish like trigger and AJ. We Did actually catch 1 ARS. Overall, the bite was very slow. Anyone else experience a slow bite?


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## lastcast (Oct 12, 2007)

We did the same Jeff. Managed some but worked hard and wasn't our usual.


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## Big Ave (Apr 2, 2012)

We had to bounce around today, but we got our limit and caught some of the biggest triggerfish I've ever seen.


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

lastcast said:


> We did the same Jeff. Managed some but worked hard and wasn't our usual.


I had guests from ATL with me. It was a bummer, but hitting those mahi really made up for it. My machine was lit up on every spot, they just wouldn't bite.


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## lastcast (Oct 12, 2007)

That's FISHING! Still going tomorrow though!


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

What were the dolphin on? Free swimmers or.....?


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

MAHI were under a large grass mat at the end of a weedline. About 10 miles SE. They were good sized ones, too. 28-30".


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

Spoon it all goes back to what I told you years ago, probably don't even remember. I was able to get our limit yesterday but it's getting tough and will get worse with the new federal laws on reef fish. And side scan sonar.


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## captken (Feb 24, 2008)

*Yep Sealark, electronics are making fish finding too easy.*

I'd love to go back to about 1960. No limits, almost no electronics and full fish boxes. You had to know how to fish back then.

I had a CB radio, APN-9 LORAN A, a Ratheon 707 paper machine and I was high tech. I had a perfectly calibrated compass, good hand-bearing compass and a stop watch.

The LORAN A would get me to the Trysler Grounds and Edge but you couldn't find squat with it. I usually fished close inshore using shoreline ranges.

I'm gonna stop short of saying Side Scan is for pussies.


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## Reel Sick (May 4, 2009)

We caught a a quick limit of 6lbers and 1 15lb snapper yesterday but was throwing them back in hopes of catching bigger ones. Well someone flicked on the trigger switch and we couldn't get past them needless to say our greed did not pay off we came home 3 snapper short.
New learned advice fish early morning for snapper with very big bait, or fish for them late afternoon or at night. I can tell you at around noon the trigger fish were on fire we were catching them on 10/0 circlehook jigheads.


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## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

jspooney said:


> But we did land some nice mahi, and a bunch of other non-keepable fish like trigger and AJ. We Did actually catch 1 ARS. Overall, the bite was very slow. Anyone else experience a slow bite?


All I hear is how many snapper are out there. " Endangered red snapper everywhere".

Now they open the season and you say "no snapper".

What's up?

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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

Outside9 said:


> All I hear is how many snapper are out there. " Endangered red snapper everywhere".
> 
> Now they open the season and you say "no snapper".
> 
> ...


No, they were definitely there. We just couldn't get them to bite. We took our time getting out, and I think that was the problem. I think there really is something to the early morning bite theory.


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

Here's one of the mahi.


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## Sea-r-cy (Oct 3, 2007)

I think the big problem is too many trigger. I used to fish for large snapper with a pork-chopped b-liner or pogy, now the trigger eat them before the snapper has a chance. I fished Saturday also, bite was slow. I caught 5-6 large trigger with a flat fall jig. Trigger fish need to be thinned down. Way too many of them.


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## Splittine (Nov 24, 2007)

This late in the season if you're fishing state waters you have to use lighter tackle. No problem getting limit this weekend at all.


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## bowdiddly (Jan 6, 2010)

The bigger fish are spawning and are not feeding much. We caught plenty of the smaller 3-6 lb. males on Saturday.
In a couple of weeks the bigger fish will complete the spawn and will be hungry.
Just hang on.


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## Burnt Drag (Jun 3, 2008)

Outside9 said:


> All I hear is how many snapper are out there. " Endangered red snapper everywhere".
> 
> Now they open the season and you say "no snapper".
> 
> ...


 Didn't he say it was a slow bite? We had that "slow bite" thing yesterday as well. The screen was lit up like the sky will be...around 9 this eve.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

Very common to have a slow bite this time of year when it gets hot. Particularly in shallower water. The old timers that are attributing the slow bite to fishing pressure as in there are no fish either know better or they haven't been paying attention the last 40 years.


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## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

I think all those well know spots may be getting fished out. We need a storm to churn up the Gulf.

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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

Outside9 said:


> I think all those well know spots may be getting fished out. We need a storm to churn up the Gulf.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


Only caught a few on the line today....so we went down and shot our limit. Lots and lots of fish.


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## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

Are y'all using a one hook setup with live bait?

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## k-p (Oct 7, 2009)

The snapper on these hot days with the full moon coming up can be a little finicky. Try some cut bonito and let it sit without yankin on the hook. The fish are there, sometimes they just eat really well and try different times of the day as in start trolling or doing something else then come back on them.


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

We had kids in the boat Saturday and today who had never fished before, so that was part of the problem. Some live pinfish, but mostly dead cigs on a 7/0 circle hook, 4' 100 lb floro leader, swivel and 8 oz of lead to get it down. We also used fresh bobo strips.


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