The secret to landing big red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico

“That bottom looks good,” I said to the five anglers whom I fished with last Sunday. “The bigger snapper are up above the bait, so fish lighter if you want to get them.”

Joining Tom Howard aboard his 32-foot Andros, we ventured offshore about 65 miles in the Gulf of Mexico. His Garmin electronics showed the bottom below at 170-feet, with a show of fish and bait. As we swung around on the spot, a small ledge, I explained what I was seeing. The bigger red snapper typically stay up off the bottom, and I prepped them for big fish at our spot.

“If you want to get the big ones, you need to slowly work through the column,” I said. “Let it slowly get down once you’re close, about 50-feet, off the bottom. They’ll hit it and run straight down so you just need to get the bail closed.”

My brother, Rob Chapman III, readied his tackle based on my recommendation. He had a 6000 Florida Fishing Product Reel on a 15-30 Bull Bay Spinning Rod. I told him 40-pound leader with a 1.25-ounce Hogball was the ticket. The Hogball was light enough to go slowly and freely, but heavy enough to get down without waiting.

Howard fished a little more traditional with an egg sinker and 3-foot leader on a light conventional rod. He hooked up once his squid hit the bottom, struggling to gain ground on his fish. It eventually rocked him up.

Rob’s bait, a dead threadfin, worked its way down as well. He asked when he’d know he had a fish. I said, “You’ll know.”

As he slowly lowered the Hogball, the line eventually started to peel off his spinning reel. He closed the bail and it was fish on. He struggled to gain ground at first, but since the fish hit about 30-feet off the bottom he had a little room to play with.

The back-and-forth battle lasted a few minutes. The classic never-ending fight of a big red snapper was apparent. Looking down into the clean water, it was a big fish and he had it coming to the surface. Without issue, I reached down and grabbed it, pulling a 20-pound class red snapper into the boat.

“Wow, I guess that does work,” he said, becoming a believer in my fishing technique.

At the same time, Howard’s fish was freed from the ledge and he worked it up. It was another red snapper, about 13 pounds.

After putting a few more fish in the box, we moved a half mile and repeated the process. Rob put in an even bigger red snapper at 22 pounds using the same technique. His tackle was pushed to the test but worked for the biggest fish.

We bounced around and had to grind, targeting big fish. By the end of the day, we had a box that included a red snapper limit to go with gag grouper, red grouper, mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, mahi mahi, porgy and a big sand tile fish.

I’ve noticed this year and each subsequent year red snapper seem to be getting bigger on average. Without six anglers we averaged probably 15 pounds for the limit, a sign of a very healthy fishery.