It’s that time of year when you can really do it all as an angler on the First Coast. From flood tide Redfish to offshore bottom fishing and a wide open Mackerel bite there’s always an option available. This week the action has been hit or miss but the weathers been nice so far in the mornings followed by some afternoon storms you don’t want to get caught out in.
The forecast was back and forth but is shaping up nice for our one day of South Atlantic Red Snapper fishing this year coming up on Friday the 12th. The last few days the forecast has oscillated between friendly and borderlinee for smaller boats. As I’m writing this Tuesday evening we’ve been trending a milder direction the last few updates but the models are lacking in consensus. You can use NOAA’s official marine forecast and Apps like Windy to get updated swell and wind forecast for any day on the water.
With Red Snapper the topic of the week I would like to bring some attention to one of the less focused on reasons regulators have pushed for more restriction. The size of fish being harvested. Scientists want to see larger older fish making up a higher portion of the overall population. Harvesting small Red Snapper leads them to believe we don’t have many mature fish and therefore need to further restrict harvest to ensure more snapper reach larger sizes until the population curve matches their recovery targets. With only a one snapper limit you might as well try to land the largest fish you can. Not only will you have more meat but if your fish are surveyed at the dock they will help paint a realistic picture for researchers about the population health.
Landing mature red snapper is hard work. These are pound for pound some extremely hard fighting fish especially when they hit that 20 pound range. They didn’t earn the nickname Mule by being an easy fish to target. Stubborn, smart, and tenacious from the hook up to the end large Red Snapper make for a great gamefish even when harvest is closed.
To reliably land 20 pound class snapper you need the right tackle, the right knots, and the right angler to succeed. A heavy action rod with a reel that can put out good drag pressure is a must. An 80lb 3 way rig with a 6/0 hook tied to a top shot of 80lb mono above it is my go to. You can add enough weight to fish the bottom or small enough to suspend a bait mid column on the drift. If you’re fishing around artificial wrecks or high relief ledges, the fish will do their best to get you in structure. Tight drag, and someone that can get that handle turning the first 30 to 40 cranks will win the battle.
As always wishing y’all tight lines, fair winds, and following seas going into the weekend! If you’re looking to book a charter, submit a photo, or have a report to share reach out to me directly at chris@fishjax.org or visit www.fishjaxcharters.com.
Mike Quintal with a nice Red Snapper caught fishing artificial wrecks off the coast of Jacksonville Beach.
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