My Latest Column Is Up: Mangrove Snapper in Tampa Bay

[SnookMook]

Check it out guys and tell me what you think. I'm still looking for some input and advice. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

http://forshorefishing.theledger.com/de ... tem=641206

[KillynTyme]

Thought it was great. Very informative...even the locations of the local bait stores. Are you planning to do other regions?

[caprifisher]

great information ,thx

[kvongx]

Thanks for the article. I've caught 4 keeper snapper this week using your suggestions. I fished the st pete side. Caught them near the pylons. I also caught a couple keepers off the oyster beds near the third lightpole. Someone told me you can tell where the pylons are by looking on the roadway directly behind the catwalk. A black line going across the roadways is where the pylons are? Is this true?

When I cast out to the supports of the main bridge I would get a bite on almost every cast but those snapper were tiny 4-7 inches.

I went out again today but didnt catch any keepers. Caught 6-7 small ones the largest being 8 inches. I had a couple on that were probably keepers but they pulled off before I could land them. They did fight like snapper. Also caught a jack. He put up a good fight on my light tacle althoug he couldnt have weighed more than a couple pounds.

[SnookMook]

kvongx---Way to go. Glad to hear of a good report and I'm glad my tips were of use. Ron (Wrangler) was out Sunday morning while I was out fishing the flats for Redfish and He limited out in less than an hour. Here's a link to his report on Capt. Mel's Forum.

I was out fishing with some tournament Redfishermen and I caught two nice lower slot Reds, two decent Speckled Trout, and one 20 inch Snook for an inshore West Coast Slam.

Hey even a short slam is a slam.

As far as the black lines and the pilings I think that is true. I just look for the dividers in the concrete on the catwalk you are actually walking and fishing on. Each divider seam is a piling. That is the easiest way to count em. Of course much of em now are spray painted with numbers. It aint pretty but it serves a purpose. Feel free to email me or PM if ya want.

[cotton]

This is a great mangrove article, it should be put under the how to forum section...what lb test flurocarbon do you use?

[SnookMook]

Cotton--Thanks. I mainly use 20 pound, but sometimes when they are wary, I'll drop down to 15 pound. I normally would go higher around the pilings, but I don't need to tell you how wary those snapper can be. When the bite is really on you can get away with 25 pound.

[Cookinman]

Great Article !! Loved it - very nicely constructed and the flow was good.

[SnookMook]

Cookingman--Thanks pal. That means a lot to me. I'll be doing one soon on Pompano jigging up here in Tampa Bay. I'll be featuring Aquaholik, who is considered to be the best Pompano fisherman in the Tampa Bay Area. He's a pretty good friend of mine and I've fished with him many times. He's Asian and his name is Lee. We fondly refer to him as Zen Master Lee.

This guy really knows how to fish for Pompano. He's the one who turned me onto the extreme bridge fishing that I posted previously. Remember that pic?

[RickV]

thanks...enjoyed the article a lot! It was informative and I am looking forward to trying some of techniques out.

[ras blemo]

excellent. very informative. i expect this to help my game. but one question. i always thought the hook should be exposed. i recently started to hook shrimp like artificial shrimp. threaded and the hook exposed thru the back. with decent results . am i wrong? will try hidden anyways. thanks

[SnookMook]

You should always try to hide the hook in the bait when snapper fishing in my opinion. If you're using a plug of cut bait, you push the hook point through right to the edge where it's starting to poke through.

With shrimp it doesn't seem to matter at all.

[ras blemo]

thanks again

[Cabbitt]

Excellent article. Thanks.


Looks like it's time for a ROAD TRIP to Tampa!




Cabbitt

[Morpheus]

Thanks for the great article!

What kind of reel is that in the first pic.?

[PinfishRUs]

Any chance you can update link so it works? (for those of us who weren't around when it still did...) (I tried searching the Blog for that article, but no luck..) =(

[rshields]

Same thing... tried the link and it would not bring me to your page. I tried to cut and past the shortcut also so it timed out.
I would like to red this if possible. Thanks

[SnookMook]

New link is up guys. See the other thread.

http://boatlessfishing.com/forum/viewto ... 12&t=17830