I'm seeing pictures of the head boats keeping big Snapper? Do they have an exemption to the law, or they really nailing those in state waters? No way! Out of Port Aransas

Yes way! There are a few boats that make state Snapper trips.

I'm not sure where to start but here goes.

First .... the headboat federal season for Red Snapper just ended a few days ago so depending on when you saw the pics and how old the pics were they might have been caught in federal waters at the end of the season.

Second .... there are some headboats that can do state waters but the only ones I know of are in Port Aransas and Port Mansfield. And they do catch big snapper.

Just before the season ended 5 - 6 days ago I did two 5 hr trips on the Pelican in Port A just to keep from getting shut out. We were fishing in the 17 - 18 mile range and in 100' of water. To illustrate how healthy our Red Snapper fishery is on day one we limited quickly and not a single fish was culled and every fish was of a quality that they required gaffing.

My second of two .....



That fish maxed out my 65 qt cooler ....



The rack was cool .....



Day two .... again not a single fish was culled. And all but a couple required gaffing.

My limit ....



Again the rack was impressive for a 5 hr trip @ $75 ....

O.K. yeah that makes sense, I didn't know that their season was that vastly different. I know state waters holds some decent fish, but not like the blue water.

the entire gulf of mexico is carpeted in red snapper.
some folks have been catching legal fish off the end of the s. jetty for months
used to be, the bigger fish would head out deeper in the summer
not anymore.......

Last month we got into some in the 20+ lb range out of Freeport. I have a picture of a 38lb one maybe a record from years past out of Freeport they ate it.

Wow! Nice snaps!