Mostly fishing for trout, I have been trying to locate some mangrove snapper for a while now. I know the kind of places they like to frequent but have found little success. However, yesterday I got my first one. It was very small but its strength amazed me. I do not see how such a little fish can fight so hard. It was like bringing in a 16 or 17 inch trout though it was only about 11 inches. Wow! You can bet that I will keep trying to target them from time to time.

Trout, they are fun to catch and they get BIG.
Check out this one, imagine catching this guy on your trout tackle.

Mangroves are loads of fun to catch. I will shoot you an email on where to load up on them. I know you dont use live bait often but that will be by far the easiest way to catch them and they make great food for the table. We have had FINS fry them up for us a few times after a long day on the water and they are the bomb when fried there. Glad you finally caught one. They are also very pretty fish as juveniles. Once you find them, you can catch about 20 an hour or so. Usually takes a few hours to get a good mess but they tend to hand out in large groups.

Thats awesome and yes, they fight hard. Almost like a GIANT perch, except for the fact that they have big teeth and they like to bite. Keep you hands and feet away from them as I swear they try to bite intentionally. Keep up the good work. I wont be down for two more months but am headed to Texoma and Lewisville for the weekend. C ya.

keith

That snapper looked a little different than the mangroves Ive seen. Do they vary in color? I saw a guy catch about a 3 lber and it looked like an oscar, my smaller one looked grey, and the one you have looks like a red snapper. By the way, I noticed that they like to bite. The thing kept clamping down on my plyers as if he was trying to hurt them.

Trout I have caught quite a few at a spot near your area, I sent you an email on the location good catchin dude, and the ones I catch are grey/brownish.Can't target em' inshore here in Galveston.

Sometimes they are a grayish brown but usually red or maroon. here is a pic of quite a few and most look similar but if you look in the middle, you will see one of the gray ones.

Hey Trout Killer, how far off shore do you have to go to get into them. Caught a few down at the keys this past winter and did not even know they were over this way. Any info would really help. Moving back down to Texas at the end of the month. Thanks
Dusty

You dont have to go offshore to catch mangrove snapper. They are an offshore specieces, but for what ever reason, have migrated inshore. They can be found in any bay from rockport to SPI. To find them, just look for structure such as rocks pileings rigs and probably even docks. The Port A ship channel jetty is a good place to start. I used cut shad yesterday but small live shrimp or pigges is even better. Fish off the bottom with a splitshot or carolina style. However, yesterday I just tied on a soft plastic jighead because I usually fish with lures and do not have much bottom tackle.

Trout, we catch the big ones on the cut shad, they cant resist it.

The snapper in the picture with the Lane Snapper and the Kingfish is a Dog Snapper.....no question.

ive never caught them much larger than that wonder why

I caught some really huge ones off the coast of Louisiana using mullet fishing the offshore rigs. That was best fishing trip in my life.

Offshore Louisiana you can target them and they often weigh 10, 12, 14 pounds. Out of Galveston the party boats catch them on a semi-regular basis and many of them weigh over 10 pounds. I haven't looked it up but I believe the Texas state record is over 18 pounds.

I've seen them caught down here in Aransas Bay that weigh 5 pounds or more.


B

I'm in the Houston/Galveston area so I guess I'll have to take a trip south to find some mangrove snapper. Where are some good spots that I can wade or kayak out to target them? I'm pretty new to fishing so any advice would be appreciated.

Remember everyone, Im talking about mangrove snapper and no other snapper species. Just something to catch while the trout bite has slowed plus they taste like red snapper without the hassel of going off-shore.