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Summer Brings Snapper Bonanza To Area Waters
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Published: June 29, 2008
"There are so many mangrove snapper, I caught a limit of keepers while I was trying to cast-net sardines," captain Scott Moore said of a recent trip on Charlotte Harbor.
Moore, not one to exaggerate, says there are now more snapper on the flats than he has seen in about 30 years on the water.
"It's incredible," he said. "Everywhere we stop to fish for reds or trout, we get covered up with the mangrove snapper."
Many other anglers have noted the unusual abundance at Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound in recent weeks. The fishing appears to be just as good at Tampa Bay, where anglers from Port Manatee to Egmont Key are catching the tasty panfish.
What brought the sudden abundance? One theory is the widespread and long-lasting red tide of 2005-06 affected the balance of predator and prey, giving millions of baby snapper a chance to grow up when they otherwise would have been eaten. Young snapper live in creeks and mangrove edges where red tide rarely drifts. Also, the killer algae might have provided an abundance of shrimp for the young fish to grow on. Red tide does not kill shrimp.
In any case, this is a great time to capture a snapper dinner, and there is no better-tasting fish in freshwater or saltwater than the mangrove, also known as the gray snapper.
When they're schooling as they are now, you might find mangrove snapper in any pothole in the flats. However, if you find a hole with a rock pile, sunken boat or submerged tree, that's almost a sure thing. They're also hanging around the rock pylons at the Sunshine Skyway and on high tides around the deep undercut mangrove shorelines in the Bishops Harbor/Mariposa area. And where you catch one, you're likely to catch a dozen - they school tightly.
You can catch plenty simply by tossing a quarter-ounce jig tipped with a thumbnail-sized piece of fresh-cut shrimp, and this is a good way to prospect until you find a productive area. However, once you know where there's a concentration of fish, it's a good idea to set up a chum line and draw the fish to the boat. Mangroves, like most snapper, get a bit hook-shy after they see several of their schoolmates hooked, but the chum keeps the bite going indefinitely.
Chopped threadfins, sardines or leftover shrimp make good chum. They work better by adding an occasional dollop of menhaden oil.
Best bait for inshore mangrove snapper is probably live shrimp, but they also take small sardines. There's a lot of the little stuff around, but you need a small mesh cast net to avoid gilling these minnows.
There's a new regulation in effect since June 1 that says those fishing for reef fish must use circle hooks. Mangrove snapper are included in the reef species designation. However, word from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is they are unlikely to enforce the rule for those casually catching a few mangroves in shallow water, particularly on jigs or plugs. In fact, the rule would be practically unenforceable, because anglers fishing anywhere inshore are more likely to be fishing for snook, trout or reds than for snapper. It's a good idea, though, to at least have circle hooks on the boat if you intend to keep some snapper.
In fact, they work pretty well. The trick for mangroves is to buy the smallest sizes, 1 or 2 in light wire. As with all circle-hook fishing, you let the fish take the bait and then reel rapidly, rather than making a rod-snatching hook set as with J hooks.
Also part of the rule on reef species, you are required to have aboard a deflating device to let the air out of the abdomen on fish brought up from the "depths," though of course there is no issue with this at depths less than 50 feet; the rule is not well-written when it comes to this application. You also must have a dehooking device, which every angler should carry anyway.
The bag limit is five mangroves daily; minimum size 10 inches.
ETC.: The bay scallop season begins Tuesday in waters from the Pasco/Hernando County line north and west to Mexico Beach Canal. The limit is two gallons whole, per day. A fishing license is required for those diving from boats. ... I will be joining captain Mel Berman of WFLA, 970 AM, for a free fishing clinic Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Toyota of Tampa Bay, 1101 E. Fletcher Ave. in Tampa; 1-800-438-8696.
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