# 2014 Red Snapper Season Schedule, Sorry!



## tobyb02 (May 2, 2008)

Let me know if this isn't correct.. Someone just sent it to me.


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## Dirty South (May 31, 2013)

Unfortunately, it is correct. Here's a link to an article al.com elaborating on it.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/05/gulf_recreational_red_snapper.html#incart_river_default


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## bcahn (Jan 10, 2013)

Well that sucks!


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## Blisterbows (Sep 15, 2013)

*In floria water,s*

In Florida waters I haven,t herd of any changes. If I'm wrong can someone show me the change,s. Thx Bows


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## Lexcore (May 5, 2012)

:thumbup: Florida waters May 24 to July 14. http://www.myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/snappers/gulf-red-snapper/

here is the link Anglers. :thumbsup:


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## Ozeanjager (Feb 2, 2008)

*States*

States need to prohibit " the pilot program " in state waters and extend state waters to 30 miles.


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## grouper1963 (Feb 28, 2008)

Disgusting. Between the Feds, the enviro whackos, animal activists, PETA, etc - they are not going to be happy until we're all eating soylent green...


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## Ptpainton (Feb 16, 2013)

*Rebuilding?*

I got into this a couple years ago so if were in the "rebuilding" mode what was Red Snapper fishing like in the past. Before the need to "rebuild" the number of fish??


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## billin (Oct 14, 2007)

*years past*

as recently as the late 90s it was almost impossible to get a limit of ARS out of Destin. limit back then being 4 PP so 24 snapper total for the boat. But every since the 2005 era or maybe even before the population has exploded. Kings are the same way. we are now seeing the reverse happen with Cobia. There is just no reasonable solution being presented at this point to change the situation.


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## snake 166 (Oct 2, 2007)

I started snapper fishing out of Destin in 1958. A 5 lb snapper was a sow---most were 10-12 inches. The commercial fishery for snapper had moved off the north gulf to Campechee and Honduras. We had no limits on any species and had to work hard to get 200 lbs of fish on an all day trip 6 PAC. My skipper, Cecil Woodward, was one of the very best. There were no artificial reefs and all of the natural reefs were known and could be found by a competent skipper using land ranges or dead reckoning along with a depth finder---they were about as good then as now.

Today we have the best snapper fishing in history. It appeared to start based on my catch records in 2007. For the first time we consistently got our limit and the fish were larger. This trend has continued to the present. I keep thinking it is going to collapse but so far it is holding on.


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## snake 166 (Oct 2, 2007)

I know a lot of people are not going to like this but I would rather see closed areas---MPAs or whatever---than these horrible short seasons. I don't see how the charters can make a living. Think about setting aside a few hundred square miles between Destin PC and P'cola, Orange Beach and Dauphin Island. Every where else gets a 6 month season. Commercial guys still have the IFQ but have to respect the closed areas. With modern GPS navigation it would be easy to set and adhere to the boundaries.


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## Ptpainton (Feb 16, 2013)

That is really interesting to me. Sounds like I got into this at a great time. Thanks to all for the replies and good luck out there.


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## tbaxl (Mar 13, 2013)

snake 166 said:


> I know a lot of people are not going to like this but I would rather see closed areas---MPAs or whatever---than these horrible short seasons. I don't see how the charters can make a living. Think about setting aside a few hundred square miles between Destin PC and P'cola, Orange Beach and Dauphin Island. Every where else gets a 6 month season. Commercial guys still have the IFQ but have to respect the closed areas. With modern GPS navigation it would be easy to set and adhere to the boundaries.


If it was necessary I would be all for it. But, try dropping a line on any structure more than 5 miles out and not catching a Red Snapper, if anything is on the spot there will be snapper there.


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## big buck dan (Dec 2, 2008)

State waters in fl still start the 24 th. Right.


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## auTiger007 (May 12, 2014)

big buck dan said:


> State waters in fl still start the 24 th. Right.


YES:thumbup:


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## Yakin_it_up (Jun 16, 2013)

snake 166 said:


> I started snapper fishing out of Destin in 1958. A 5 lb snapper was a sow---most were 10-12 inches. The commercial fishery for snapper had moved off the north gulf to Campechee and Honduras. We had no limits on any species and had to work hard to get 200 lbs of fish on an all day trip 6 PAC. My skipper, Cecil Woodward, was one of the very best. There were no artificial reefs and all of the natural reefs were known and could be found by a competent skipper using land ranges or dead reckoning along with a depth finder---they were about as good then as now.
> 
> Today we have the best snapper fishing in history. It appeared to start based on my catch records in 2007. For the first time we consistently got our limit and the fish were larger. This trend has continued to the present. I keep thinking it is going to collapse but so far it is holding on.


Really glad to see some folks that can appreciate what snapper regulations have done for the fishery. I remember when I started snapper fishing in the 90's and up into the early 2000 we would have to fish all day and do at least 30 miles out to hope to get a limit of 12-15 inch fish. If you got a 5 pounder it was really something to brag about. Complain all you want about about short seasons, and have fun catching nothing but dinks all day. I would rather save the gas and just fish inshore than go back to that.


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## Grouperdawg (May 25, 2014)

*Snapper*



Yakin_it_up said:


> Really glad to see some folks that can appreciate what snapper regulations have done for the fishery. I remember when I started snapper fishing in the 90's and up into the early 2000 we would have to fish all day and do at least 30 miles out to hope to get a limit of 12-15 inch fish. If you got a 5 pounder it was really something to brag about. Complain all you want about about short seasons, and have fun catching nothing but dinks all day. I would rather save the gas and just fish inshore than go back to that.


I think it is different in each geographic area, my experience for Panama City bottom fishing is that it turned for the worse with the limits on red grouper. I am not sure if that is coincidence or what but I believe there are consequences the scientist don't understand when they implement limits for bottom fish. It's not like managing redfish or trout, a species of fish will take over a reef.

I would consider the nineties my glory years, I could go out and catch as many big red snapper, gags, and scamp as I wanted in the 130 to 230 depths. I would also get a gag every other trip that weighed twenty pounds and into the fifties, weighed fish. I accumulated over a thousand waypoints until my chart plotter wouldn't take anymore. You could go out anywhere near the 200 foot depths and find fish, I'd take out people on their boats and they would expect me to bring numbers but a good sonar that read bottom and patience you would find fish on live bottom areas.

Fast forward to now, many of the spots and areas I would always grab a nice slab or two before I moved on are barren. Spots I fished for fifteen to twenty years. I have not caught a thirty plus pound gag in three years. Inshore I can catch legal gags in the ten pound range and yesterday we fished a couple mile off beach to get our snapper limit but I miss the big gags and I like to fish where there are not boats everywhere. 

Other factors, electronics may have had some impact with radar painting and maybe bandit boats sneaking in closer.

I think the really short seasons suck for the resource and the fisherman. I would rather see year or six month restrictions, it was a total zoo yesterday in the water. Everyone is compelled to get all they can in while they can which probably has the same impact on catches as a longer season would.


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