Anglers always look forward to the weekend, but June 1 is extra special for those offshore fishers who’ve anxiously been awaiting the opening of the red snapper season.
The season runs through July 31, when charter fishing for the species ends for the year and three-day weekends through September remain open for recreational anglers. All told, the 103 days is the longest red snapper season since the state took over management of the fishery.
That said, Capt. Bill Rutherford of Rusty Bucket Charters in New Port Richey encourages anglers to start fishing or book charters early, as “you never know.”
“It’s possible that the fishing could be shut down early,” said Rutherford. “I’m telling everyone to fish as soon as possible just in case; seasons have been cut short in the past.”
So what’s the drill come Saturday? Capt. Bill provided some tips:
Depth to start fishing: While red snapper can be found shallower, Rutherford said he always starts in 90 feet of water, as it is a good bet that depth will hold fish in the 12- to 20-pound range he likes. Springs, wrecks and bottom with relief of any kind 10 to 12 feet off the bottom are prime spots.
Tackle: Standard grouper outfits in the 4/0 class spooled with 50 pound braid will land snapper quickly, but it’s more fun using 6000- to 7000-spinning outfits, Rutherford said. As red snapper are a schooling fish that typically hangs well off the bottom, heavy gear to keep fish out of bottom structure isn’t important like it is with grouper fishing, he said.
“Sometimes they’ll be just 10 feet below the surface,” Rutherford said.
Terminal tackle: The two rigs Rutherford likes are the chicken and fish finder. The first uses a leader with one or two hooks above a sinker and the fish finder is a hook on a length of leader below a sinker and swivel. Rutherford likes a stout, offshore-class circle hook in 5/0 or 6/0.
Bait: A range of baits will take red snapper, but Rutherford likes live sardines he nets in the shallows before heading out, live pinfish or frozen sardines. He’ll typically use a heavy-duty jig head with a live sardine on it dropped about halfway to the bottom to test the bite. If a snapper gobbles it up, dropping the live-bait rigs with circle hooks baited with live sardines follows.
If the jig doesn’t draw a strike, swapping the live sardine for a piece of frozen sardine is tried. As fish (of any species) pick at the dead bait, pieces of the sardine act as chum, and that often gets the snapper fired up and ready to eat.
Rutherford said it’s about the most chumming he likes to do when red snapper fishing, but if things are tough, he believes handfuls of glass minnows make the best red snapper chum. Red snapper also take shrimp well, and they are good to have along if hogfish are desired.
Fishing off bottom is better: Rutherford finds red snapper schooling off the bottom by watching his bottom finder as he checks out a spot. The exception may be if red grouper season is open. The grouper feed on the bottom so sending a bait all the way down could result in a bonus grouper or a snapper. A disadvantage of baits on the bottom is unwanted bycatch can be a problem.
“The red snapper will come up to the middle of the water column, and if you catch anything else in might be a blackfin (tuna) or a kingfish or amberjack rather than junk fish,” said Rutherford.
Regulations: Anglers are permitted two red snapper of at least 16 inches long per day. Reef fish rules apply, and recreational anglers need to get the free reef fish angler designation at www.myfwc.com (not required on charter boats). Non-offset, non-stainless steel circle hooks are required. A dehooking device and a descending device to purge released fish of air to increase survival rates also is required.
Rutherford said red snapper are prized table fare, and while any size can be eaten, the fish up to 20 pounds are the most flavorful. He said he never keeps the fish that measure around the minimum length.
“When you find them, the fishing usually is so good, you know you’re going to catch the bigger ones, so we let the little ones go,” Rutherford said.
