Tips For Catching Snapper in the Mangroves

written by Evan Anderson

As Captains Tom Rowland and Rich Tudor set out for tarpon fishing on this episode of Saltwater Experience, they are met with 20 mph winds as a cold front sets in. Thankfully their bay boat, equipped with a Mercury Marine motor, allows them to navigate the shallow canals of the mangrove islands where they can fish for snappers. “I don’t know if there’s a plant that blocks the wind better than the mangroves, it’s actually amazing,” says Rowland, “It could be blowing 20 to 30 mph and you get behind those mangroves...somehow it seems to block the wind entirely.” It’s a peaceful day of meat-fishing as Tudor and Rowland reel in snapper after snapper. Here are 3 tips to catch snapper in the mangroves.

WORK THE SHALLOWS

Tudor and Rowland begin their trek into the mangroves by trolling right along the edge of the mangroves. “That bay boat allows us to get into those little moats around these islands,” says Tudor, “The Florida Bay is just filled with islands back there, there’s probably over a hundred islands back there. And half of them have some sort of moat or some sort of structure underneath where there’s always gonna be snappers, sometimes hundreds of them.” We know that fish love structure, and the mangrove roots are the best example of it. “Those mangrove snappers are tucked way back in there right at the base of the roots,” says Tudor.

Tudor recommends getting into a shallower end of the moat. “It seems to me that the bigger fish, the biggest snappers and snook, tarpon, whatever might be there, are in the shallower end,” he explains. And it certainly shows here. Trolling through the deeper sections of the moat doesn’t yield much. But as soon as they get within 4 feet or so of water and huck their bait back into the roots, they can’t keep fish off their lines.

“Those mangrove snappers are tucked way back in there right at the base of the roots.”

— Rich Tudor from Saltwater Experience

USE PILCHARDS

“One of the things that worked really good,” says Tudor, “was chumming with the pilchards. We had caught enough of them that we could afford to throw a handful in there.” Chumming with live bait like pilchards will get a school of fish excited and create lots of action, making them much more likely to hammer your bait.

Rowland recommends putting larger pilchards on your hook if you want to catch big snappers. When you put a more sizeable pilchard on the end of your line, the smaller fish will take swings and nibble at it, but they won’t be able to eat it. When you start to see your rod tip moving just a little bit, be patient. Eventually a bigger fish will emerge and take the bait. As Rowland puts it, “Oh, you guys can’t eat that? BOOM!”

RIG

Tudor and Rowland used similar rigs, both with 20 to 30 pound fluorocarbon leader, set up for either shallow or deep water. Tudor set his up with a free-sliding weight on his line that would drop his pilchard down to the bottom (where the bigger fish usually are). Because the weight slid on his line, it allowed the pilchard to swim about a foot above the weight, but kept it from going any higher.

The difference in Rowland’s rig that made it better for shallower water was his choice not to use a weight. Without it, he was able to skip his bait along the top of the water and get it deep into the mangrove roots, where larger fish tend to hide. “As soon as it hits the water,” says Tudor, “the fish are pounding it before the pilchard has a chance to swim away from the mangroves.

As the Mercury Marine engine motors them back to the resort, Tudor and Rowland express gratitude for their catch. It’s not often that they come back with fish in the live well, since their primary game, tarpon, bonefish, or sharks, are all catch and release. “One of the coolest things to do is to go catch your dinner,” says Tudor. Rowland agrees, saying that “[The mangrove snapper] is the food fish for the inshore fisherman.”

Ready to catch YOUR dinner? Check out the full episode below and see all the snapper action on S14:E8 of Saltwater Experience.

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