Local fishermen find ‘nonstop’ red snapper bite in Gulf of Mexico as season begins

Every June, offshore anglers wish for good weather to head west into the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s the time of year red snapper season begins and the offshore waters of the Gulf are frequented for their bounty.

But it also seems to be when windy weather or tropical systems delay the season start, and 2024’s opening weekend was no different with 20- to 30-mile-per-hour winds keeping all but the bold onshore.

After the weekend, the wind slowly let up. I made plans to venture offshore Tuesday to fishing grounds nearly 70 miles west. It came together with Tom Howard aboard his 32-foot Andros armed with a mixed livewell of threadfin, pinfish and whitebait to go along with some artificial slow-pitch jigs and a mess of dead bait.

We were prepared.

The forecast was for calming seas as the day went along, but it was still a sloppy two- to three-foot chop for the long two-hour run offshore in the morning hours.

On the first spot in 180 feet, the Garmin unit showed life below. But that life wasn’t interested in anything we had to offer. A short move resulted in instant action, but the result was short red grouper after short red grouper with a couple of legal-sized ones mixed in. Another move resulted in more of the same, so the course of action was a new area 3 miles away.

While moving from spot to spot I tend to run at a lower speed, enough to get a good show on the depth finder. When a red spike showed below, I put a mark on it and swung the boat back around. The spot was found immediately and looked like a big relief rocky bottom. With the wind increasing and current at a strong level, the Rhodan couldn’t hold the heavy boat in place. I stayed behind the wheel and held the boat with the Suzuki motors in and out of gear.

Pat Diercks dropped a Dem Bones 150G slow-pitch jig and halfway down it was inhaled. He was pinned to the gunnel as the fish did its best to head to the newfound structure below. The multiple hooks on the slow-pitch jig held strong as he worked the head-shaking monster toward the surface.

The back and forth lasted around five minutes when color was seen below. It was a 20- to 25-pound red snapper, the first of the season destined for the ice box. It was large enough to break the landing net when it reached the surface making getting it in the boat a task.

The newfound spot produced two more big red snapper. After a couple of break-offs from large fish that seemed to shut down the spot, we continued the journey to the original destination. There, a nonstop red snapper bite awaited and in less than 10 minutes we caught seven more between 20- and 26-inches to quickly finish off the five-person limit.

The rest of the day we spent bouncing around looking for red grouper but the persistent current made bottom fishing difficult in the nearly 200 feet of water. A school of mahi showed up and caused chaos for a bit and a bloody boat. This will be one of the longest red snapper seasons in recent years.

The problem will be when July comes and other seasons close. Amberjack and gag grouper are currently closed and after June, red grouper will close as well. Is it worth a long run offshore for red snapper when other species can’t be kept? Many anglers will have to decide how much they’re willing to invest in the heavily regulated fishery.

Beautiful weather this weekend should lead to great catches at the Fire Charity Fishing Tournament. The Sunday afternoon weigh-in and other festivities will be held at Rossi Park in Bradenton. For more information visit www.FireCharityFishing.com.

This story was originally published June 9, 2024 at 5:50 AM.