Fishing Column | Red snapper season gives anglers plenty of fish to catch in Gulf of Mexico

With every red snapper season comes the hope for calm weather, hungry fish and full fish boxes. The annual short summer season sends anglers charging west into the Gulf of Mexico not worried about throwing back the aggressive bottom feeder, but instead filling decks to take home the delicious resource.

This season’s recreational opening brought with it an eager angling group. I joined Caleb and Kyle Grimes aboard the Legal Limit along with guests Bill and William Galvano. Our plan was to head west early and try for tuna knowing that red snapper would most likely be bycatch along the way.

After a quick loading up of the livewell we set our sights nearly 80 miles west into the Gulf by 7 a.m. A storm sat about 10 miles offshore from Sarasota to St. Petersburg, interupting our path. We split a small gap and on the backside we were greeted with calm seas and sunny skies. The day was looking good.

When we arrived to our first destination the surface activity was prevalent. Around the boat, fish disrupted the calm water and many were marked on the Garmin machine halfway down. Instantly a flatlined threadfin was eaten, leading to a quick fight and an unwanted shark showed up at the boat.

We sent rods to the bottom and kept flatlines going. The bottom bite started slow while more sharks, amberjack, and bonita pulled from the surface rods. Eventually Kyle hooked into a larger fish that turned out to be about a 40-pound jack crevalle.

The current picked up and we repositioned. At that time the bottom bite began to produce a few red snapper eating strips from one of the bonita.

A flatline went off beside me as I was rerigging other rods. It didn’t feel like a tuna, more like an amberjack, so I asked if anyone else wanted it. I was turned down.

“Where’s the gaff!?” I yelled after a quick fight. “Look at the size of this red snapper!”

Up from the bottom came a 36-inch, 25-pound red snapper to eat a flat lined bait, quite the surprise.

Not long after the flatline screamed again. This time it felt like a tuna with the tell tale quick head shakes. The feeling was right and it was the first of two blackfins we caught. Both were added to the few red snapper in the box.

When the bottom bite stopped we moved along. A few spots in 220 feet produced large red grouper but not much in terms of red snapper. Around noon I pointed us back east to one more spot that consistently produces red snapper, and it was hot once again, with quality by catch.

Dropping down the live threadfin we had remaining was the ticket as we polished off our red snapper limit with most fish averaging about 15 pounds. A few nice scamp grouper and mangrove snapper also made their way to the boat.

With a full fish box we headed back toward Anna Maria, passing many other boats along the way. It was apparent that most people were also enjoying the red snapper season opening. From most accounts red snapper were prevalent for all.

This story was originally published June 12, 2021 at 6:00 AM.