Outdoors column | Gulf of Mexico yields large catch of red and mangrove snapper

Ahead of the first strong cold front was a very small weather window for anglers to venture offshore. It also coordinated with the last day of Florida’s Gulf of Mexico red snapper season extension, so anxious anglers headed west in search of their last few of the tasty fish until next summer when the season will reopen.

I was one of them, joining Caleb and Kyle Grimes as well as friends Jon Yates and Les Hardin.

We watched the weather intently, and the timing of the cold front looked to be early in the afternoon of Sunday. Overnight winds looked like they would remain strong, so we met late in the morning with the goal of hitting some shallower red snapper numbers in 120 feet where perhaps mangrove snapper and gag grouper would also be.

After a couple throws of the cast net we had plenty of big whitebait and threadfins to join our dead bait of sardines and squid as well as 10 dozen shrimp. One to three foot seas met us as we pushed west from Bean Point.

Upon arriving at our destination I wasn’t sure how the bite would be. The night before’s bright full moon would typically lead to tough fishing. That dropping pressure with the approaching front tends to fire fish up. As everyone readied I dropped a 60-gram vertical jig and was bit immediately. A nice surprising 18-inch scamp grouper fell victim to the artificial. Another drop and a second scamp had my hopes high for the spot.

Hardin and Yates dropped 1-ounce Hogballs and were rewarded with small red snapper. Normally we don’t keep fish under 20 inches, but anything 16 inches and over would be finding a home in the cooler due to the impending front we could see in the distance to the northwest.

More red snapper came over with a few 17- to 18-inch fish hitting the deck. I kept working the vertical jig and caught a lane then a mangrove snapper. When I got a mangrove snapper on the jig I knew the fishing was going to be good.

For the next two hours we didn’t move. I deployed a light 1/8-ounce jig with shrimp and caught big mangrove snapper and red snapper on nearly every drop. Caleb worked heavier tackle hoping for a bigger fish but found himself also catching plenty of mangrove snapper even on the 80-pound gear.

By the end we had our 10 American red snapper limit of fish between 17 and 20 inches. On a flatlined threadfin Kyle caught a red grouper, something that surprised us considering the bait was not close to the bottom.

The mangrove snapper bite was strong, and we landed about 16 with most being over 20 inches. That will be the main target for anglers heading into the cooler months and this year has been one of the best mangrove snapper crops I’ve ever seen.

What stopped us from catching more fish was the line of storms that pushed over head just after noon. The temperature dropped and wind picked up. We could see many other boats who already started their eastward journey that we soon joined.

While 2020’s extra red snapper season may be over, there is still plenty of reason for anglers to head offshore. Gag grouper season will last the remainder of 2020 and mangrove snapper are all over not only deep but shallow as well. Kingfish are on the beaches and tuna, cobia, sailfish, tripletail and more are being caught in good numbers. It’s rare when you hear Gulf sailfish being caught in the numbers they have been this year.

All we need now is the weather to cooperate.

This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 12:00 AM.