Going on a party boat trip June 8 with about 50 boy scouts and parents. Been out fishing for snapper on a charter and party boats before but always thought I would do better with my own tackle. I have a virgin PENN Longbeach 65 boat reel and a MH UGLY Stick that was designed for big water. I'd like to know if this is OK and what # test line and terminal tackle including hook size I should use. I realize that party boat rods are usually rigged with 60~80# test but I always felt like this might be overkill, could be wrong though. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Keep It In The Water

Went to fishing last Thursday. The boat I was on landed a lot of snappers, king fish, and hammer jack. I had a 50# test on and snapped it 3 times. Most of the damage was done by the king fishies. I was interested in the fight so I didn't try to fish for snapper, but I would recommend a very heavy line since you will need to put a 16 oz weight on it and going very deep, you're going to put alot of stress of the line. Oh they were biting really well on squid. Good luck.

Hook into a 20lb+ snapper, and you'll immediately be interested in the fight

I agree with Cochese. I had caught several snappers up to 8 or 10 lb and was not too impressed with the fight, but I caught one that weighed 29 lb last winter off Biloxi. That fish changed my mind about snapper fishing.
You just have think big!!!
MO