Snapper Lures Most types of Snapper will eat a variety of lures including metal jigs, poppers (if they are close enough to the surface), jerkbaits, trolled plugs, soft plastics, etc. My favorite way to fish for Snapper is with poppers This works very well on shallow reefs.
What depth do you catch snapper?
Where the Wild Fish Are. Red snappers are both deep water and shallow dwellers. You can find them at any depth between 30 and 200 feet , usually huddled by nearby protective structures. Favorite hot spots include piers, seawalls, and old wreckage.
What months are best for snapper fishing?
The snapper season locally starts around October and finishes after March The big reds migrate inshore during this time of year because water temperatures have increased providing ideal spawning conditions. Dawn and dusk are generally considered the best times to be on the water.
What bait is best for snapper?
Best baits include fresh mackerel, fresh kahawai, pilchards, squid, skipjack tuna, mullet, shellfish and crabs For big snapper, try live mackerel, live squid – even live kahawai if they’re not too large – fished near the bottom. Soft baits, jigs and flasher rigs are also very effective.
How do you target snapper?
They can be targeted by simply soaking a bait or you can challenge yourself with a multitude of lures and techniques from trolling deep diving hard bodies or sending a plastic down to the depths. Snapper can be caught over sand, mud, natural reefs, artificial reefs, rubble and in shallow and deep water.
How do you target snapper from the beach?
boat anglers recommend using metal vertical jigs that look like small pinfish or cigar minnows They say that when they move these lures from their boats, the lure starts oscillating vertically on the bottom mimicking a wounded small fish and therefore attracting the red snapper.
How do you target a large snapper?
Exploiting these habits, the two primary methods for catching snapper from the shore are stray-lining (dead baits and soft-plastic baits) and fishing dead baits on the bottom Whilst snapper can be caught on faster moving lures and live baits, these are generally far less effective.
Where is the best place to catch snapper?
Snapper will often be seen on your sounder as arches sitting up off the bottom and throughout the lower half of the water column When targeting Snapper on deeper reefs look for broken or rough ground, ledges or steep drop-offs. Once again watch your sounder for arches in the bottom third to a half of the water column.
What tide is best for snapper?
Snapper will use an incoming tide to corral bait schools against reef edges, shallow flats and prominent channel declines. On an outgoing tide, they will use channel entrances, eddies behind structure and bank edges to ambush baitfish forced from shallow bays and off the sand banks due to the lowering water level.
What do snappers like eating?
They prey predominantly on crustaceans, but they also eat shellfish, sea urchins and other fish.
What time of day is best to fish?
Fish generally prefer early morning and evening sun to the bright midday rays. In midday, the surface temperature of the water is also hotter, forcing the fish to move deeper.
Does snapper like dirty water?
To target snapper from the shore, we’re actually looking for similar conditions to what we would when fishing inshore reefs. Dirty water, good tides, inshore structure and fishing dawn and dusk periods are all important factors when chasing snapper from the stones.
How long should a snapper leader be?
Snapper can tend to be a little skittish with mono, we use at least a 5′-7′ 50lb fluorocarbon leader w/ barrel swivel, 6-8 circle hook w/versatile loop knot and live cigar minnows usually produces. Good Luck.
Can you catch snapper on lures?
Vertical – Another deadly technique for targeting snapper is to fish your lure vertically around structure, bait and schooled fish The trick when fishing vertically is to stay directly above your lure , allowing you to stay in touch with it, drive it effectively, detect bites and set hooks.
Does snapper fight hard?
Do Snapper Fight Hard? Snapper do fight hard for their size The bigger Snapper could feel like very hard fighters on ultra-light tackle like 4 lb. test line and a light-action rod.
What is the best Burley for snapper?
The best berley is one that contains as much natural product as possible – skipjack tuna, mussel, salmon, mullet guts and paua – all ground up finely with tuna oil added To say a berley has ‘fish oil’ added is not good enough; it needs to be tuna oil to get the best results.
What’s the biggest snapper ever caught?
According to the International Game Fish Association, the All Tackle World Record was caught June 23, 2007 by angler Marion Rose on Garden Bank off Louisiana and weighed an incredible 124 pounds, 12 ounces Kirkhart recently guided an angler to what is a pending IGFA line class world record for cubera snapper.
What size reel is best for snapper?
Spinning reels from medium to large 4000-10000 are suitable for catching snapper and kingfish. A medium 4000 size reel is great for inshore lure fishing, while a large 10000 size spinning reel is better suited to fishing with bait for bigger kingfish and northern species like red emperor and coral trout.
What size rod do you need for snapper?
Rods: For general fishing a 6-10kg 7′ setup is ideal for snapper fishing from a boat although you’ll need something in a 15kg rating if chasing the really big ones From the rocks an 8′ rod in the 10-15kg range is ideal. Beach fishing will usually require something in the 12′ range loaded with 10kg.
What kind of rod do you use for red snapper?
Use a medium to medium heavy rod , 6 1/2 ft to 7 ft, and a mid-size conventional reel filled with 50 lb to 60 lb mono or 65 lb to 80 lb braid.
Can you catch snapper at night?
Snapper are nocturnal so you will not need a spot light unless you want to catch squid and flying fish in the light. It is nice however to have a few lights to light the inside of the boat so you can see what you are doing. We used to wear them slap out at night.
How do you catch snapper land based?
The most popular technique used for snapper from land based spots is to fish the bottom using a paternoster rig Use a four-ounce snapper lead sinker tied to the bottom of your paternoster rig, this type of weight will help you get that distance you need to get to the gravely zones.
Sources
https://fishinglidokey.com/snapper-fishing/
https://www.sportfishingmag.com/how-to-target-trophy-red-snapper/