My brother Andrew with a huge Pacific Dogtooth Snapper caught in Mariato, Panama
Snapper
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Snapper Description
Snapper are a fantastic family of gamefish, ranging from tiny species under 1lb to some that get over 100lbs. Some of the better known Snapper are Cubera Snapper, Red Snapper, Mullet Snapper, Mutton Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, and Yellow Snapper. Across the board they are tough fighters and will try their hardest to break your line off in the rocky places where they live. In some shallow rocky areas it is virtually impossible to land fish bigger than a certain size.
When hooked most Snapper head immediately for the bottom. The initial pull can be tremendous relative to their size. The only time I have ever seen a guy get pulled out of a boat by a fish we were Snapper fishing. He was fishing extremely heavy drag to keep fish out of the rocks and he just wasn’t prepared for how hard they pull. He got bent all the way over the rail of the boat and his feet just sailed up behind his head. Luckily for him the fish got under a rock and broke the line right away or he might have been dragged down pretty far. The moral of the story is you have to stay alert when fishing for Snapper.
Most species of Snapper have a mouth full of pointy teeth (hence the name) that are made for grabbing onto fish, crustaceans, and other prey. They are found in tropical areas throughout the world. Many of their characteristics are similar to Groupers and in many instances they are caught when targeting those or vice-versa. Every species of Snapper I have eaten has been very tasty. For information on specific species of Snapper, scroll down and click on the picture of the species.
Snapper Tackle
The type of tackle you use will really depend on the size and type of the Snapper you are targeting, but keep in mind to beef it up appropriately to keep them away from the rocks. I have lost more Snapper due to breakoffs in rocks than any other species of fish by far. On one trip when targeting particularly large Pacific Cubera Snapper in particularly jagged rocks I managed to break off my first 10 before finally landing one. After that I got the hot hand and landed several in a row in the 40-50lb class using very heavy tackle. I like fishing with light tackle, but when fishing for big Snapper in reefs you should leave that stuff at home unless you want to leave it at the bottom of the ocean. Many of my biggest Snapper were caught on an Accurate BX2 30 or Accurate BX2 600N reel. Click here for tackle recommendations.
Snapper Techniques
Snapper can be caught on both lures and bait. In my experience the biggest ones are usually taken on bait. For information on specific species of Snapper, scroll down and click on the picture of the species.
Snapper Lures
Most types of Snapper will eat a variety of lures including metal jigs, poppers (if they are shallow enough), jerkbaits, trolled plugs, soft plastics, etc.
My favorite way to fish for Snapper is with poppers. This works very well on shallow reefs. Nothing beats seeing a fish come out of the depths and annihilate a popper splashing on the surface. If you can’t get excited when that happens, you should take up another hobby.
Metal jigs can be very effective when Snapper are deeper. I always did well on Snapper in Panama with a bright yellow and green Salas 7X jig bounced off the bottom. Diamond jigs worked well also.
For information on specific species of Snapper, scroll down and click on the picture of the species.
Snapper Baits
If you are after the really big Pacific Dogtooth Snapper found in the Eastern Pacific, the best bait is a large Skipjack or Bonito or similar bait. Skipjack are great because even without weight they usually swim straight to the bottom when hooked, which is where the big Snapper usually are. They are like big Snapper magnets.
For most species of Snapper you can just use whatever live baitfish are in the area and that should work fine.
Even the biggest Snapper don’t require wire leaders, which is good because they almost never bite anything with a wire leader. Just go with fluorocarbon so that you can minimize visibility and use the heaviest leader you can still get bit on.
For information on specific species of Snapper, scroll down and click on the picture of the species.
Where to get the big Snapper
I have seen pictures of some huge Cubera Snapper taken in parts of Africa but I have never fished there. Central America has some huge Pacific Dogtooth Snapper that are some of my favorite fish to pursue. Those are the two biggest types of Snapper I am aware of.
Other Snapper Resources
The above barely scratches the surface on how to catch Snapper. The resources below will provide a wealth of information:
This guy will put you on Snapper in Puerto Vallarta: www.marlasportfishing.com
This guy can put you on some good Snapper fishing if you are in Florida: www.anotherkeeper.com
HOME
Snapper Description
Snapper are a fantastic family of gamefish, ranging from tiny species under 1lb to some that get over 100lbs. Some of the better known Snapper are Cubera Snapper, Red Snapper, Mullet Snapper, Mutton Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, and Yellow Snapper. Across the board they are tough fighters and will try their hardest to break your line off in the rocky places where they live. In some shallow rocky areas it is virtually impossible to land fish bigger than a certain size.
When hooked most Snapper head immediately for the bottom. The initial pull can be tremendous relative to their size. The only time I have ever seen a guy get pulled out of a boat by a fish we were Snapper fishing. He was fishing extremely heavy drag to keep fish out of the rocks and he just wasn’t prepared for how hard they pull. He got bent all the way over the rail of the boat and his feet just sailed up behind his head. Luckily for him the fish got under a rock and broke the line right away or he might have been dragged down pretty far. The moral of the story is you have to stay alert when fishing for Snapper.
Most species of Snapper have a mouth full of pointy teeth (hence the name) that are made for grabbing onto fish, crustaceans, and other prey. They are found in tropical areas throughout the world. Many of their characteristics are similar to Groupers and in many instances they are caught when targeting those or vice-versa. Every species of Snapper I have eaten has been very tasty. For information on specific species of Snapper, scroll down and click on the picture of the species.
Snapper Tackle
The type of tackle you use will really depend on the size and type of the Snapper you are targeting, but keep in mind to beef it up appropriately to keep them away from the rocks. I have lost more Snapper due to breakoffs in rocks than any other species of fish by far. On one trip when targeting particularly large Pacific Cubera Snapper in particularly jagged rocks I managed to break off my first 10 before finally landing one. After that I got the hot hand and landed several in a row in the 40-50lb class using very heavy tackle. I like fishing with light tackle, but when fishing for big Snapper in reefs you should leave that stuff at home unless you want to leave it at the bottom of the ocean. Many of my biggest Snapper were caught on an Accurate BX2 30 or Accurate BX2 600N reel. Click here for tackle recommendations.
Snapper Techniques
Snapper can be caught on both lures and bait. In my experience the biggest ones are usually taken on bait. For information on specific species of Snapper, scroll down and click on the picture of the species.
Snapper Lures
Most types of Snapper will eat a variety of lures including metal jigs, poppers (if they are shallow enough), jerkbaits, trolled plugs, soft plastics, etc.
My favorite way to fish for Snapper is with poppers. This works very well on shallow reefs. Nothing beats seeing a fish come out of the depths and annihilate a popper splashing on the surface. If you can’t get excited when that happens, you should take up another hobby.
Metal jigs can be very effective when Snapper are deeper. I always did well on Snapper in Panama with a bright yellow and green Salas 7X jig bounced off the bottom. Diamond jigs worked well also.
For information on specific species of Snapper, scroll down and click on the picture of the species.
Snapper Baits
If you are after the really big Pacific Dogtooth Snapper found in the Eastern Pacific, the best bait is a large Skipjack or Bonito or similar bait. Skipjack are great because even without weight they usually swim straight to the bottom when hooked, which is where the big Snapper usually are. They are like big Snapper magnets.
For most species of Snapper you can just use whatever live baitfish are in the area and that should work fine.
Even the biggest Snapper don’t require wire leaders, which is good because they almost never bite anything with a wire leader. Just go with fluorocarbon so that you can minimize visibility and use the heaviest leader you can still get bit on.
For information on specific species of Snapper, scroll down and click on the picture of the species.
Where to get the big Snapper
I have seen pictures of some huge Cubera Snapper taken in parts of Africa but I have never fished there. Central America has some huge Pacific Dogtooth Snapper that are some of my favorite fish to pursue. Those are the two biggest types of Snapper I am aware of.
Other Snapper Resources
The above barely scratches the surface on how to catch Snapper. The resources below will provide a wealth of information:
This guy will put you on Snapper in Puerto Vallarta: www.marlasportfishing.com
This guy can put you on some good Snapper fishing if you are in Florida: www.anotherkeeper.com
Click on a pic in the gallery go to the species page
