Red Snapper Fishing—It’s HOT!

[John21:6]

Friday, July 5, out of Carrabelle, we targeted red snapper from depths of 90’ to 120’. Fishing was hot with water temperatures exceeding 87 degrees. It seems that the heat sent many of the fish far and deep. There were no red snapper at our old spots.

Fortunately, the seas were flat and we explored until we came across a small snapper tree in 115’. At this spot, a few red snapper came aboard, the biggest of which weighed 11.1 lbs. Most of our red snapper were caught on live bait. However, we caught a few mangroves and lane snapper on frozen bait.


Too bad that the season for red grouper ended a week ago as we would have limited out on those. I think each of released at least a half dozen.

Our slow pitch jigs were not really effective. Maybe, the heat made the fish a little too lethargic to chase them.

If I had to do this trip over, I would’ve:
(1) Spent more time using pieces of frozen bait on smaller hooks to load up on lanes and mangroves instead of red snapper.
(2) Had a bait rod rigged and ready for the peanut mahi that came by. (We caught 2 and one was caught on a micro slow pitch jig.)
(3) Brought some bananas on the boat; it really couldn’t have hurt our luck.

It was still a great day on the water with a good crew. The newest fisherman got the big fish of the day on half of a frozen LY.

Here are a few photos from the trip.

[Red Beard]

Thanks for sharing. Love the pics

[fishinfool]

[doomtrpr_z71]

Have you noticed how the trigger fish always seem to have an attitude for the camera?

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

[John21:6]

Have you noticed how the trigger fish always seem to have an attitude for the camera?

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

Yes, these triggerfish are the primadonnas of the ocean. They are always first to find the camera and appear to say, "Look at me. I'm the prettiest fish in the Gulf."

[3-300]

those pictures really are nice to see!

[John21:6]

those pictures really are nice to see!

Thanks for enjoying the pictures.

I started dropping the camera down just to get a better sense of how the sonar images of the bottom correspond to reality. I hoped to learn how to read the sonar and to understand what type of bottom attracts what types of fish. I can't say I've learned much. But I love getting close up pictures of fish and sharing them.

[Red Beard]

I believe the trigger comes close because they are a territorial fish. In my understanding, but what ever the reason glad they do.

[John21:6]

I believe the trigger comes close because they are a territorial fish. In my understanding, but what ever the reason glad they do.

Your explanation of triggerfish behavior makes a lot of sense. Often along with closeups of triggerfish, I've heard a lot of "tap, tap, tap" sounds on my videos and have figured that it was a triggerfish trying to take a bite out of my camera. Likewise, oysterdiving.com reports that "It is common for snorkelers and/or divers to be bitten by triggerfish because they are very territorial."

[fishfalcon]

Well done. We stayed inshore and found a lot of sharks and catfish along with some scattered trout. the pictures are great.

[boomhauer]

When we dive …. The really big RS hang out as singles ,
The small ones are in the swarms

[John21:6]

When we dive …. The really big RS hang out as singles ,
The small ones are in the swarms

That’s good to know. It might mean I should stick with some of my old snapper spots even if there no snapper tree on the sonar.

[boomhauer]

The trees are usually smaller fish , at least in our areas…. May be different to the west

[John21:6]

The trees are usually smaller fish , at least in our areas…. May be different to the west

If the snapper trees on sonar indicate smaller fish, what should one look for to find the bigger ones--if this is not too secret?

[boomhauer]

Single dark red fish mark off the bottom…

I have screenshot but have never posted photo…. How do I do that?