Ive been fishing offshore but have not been able to get into any red snapper in my boat. Thought it was because of the distance i was going out but the boat next to me caught some red snapper. i was using squid and only caught some croaker. what is the trick to catching red snapper? should i use jigs? if so what is the best way to fish a jig? thanks

Not to be a SA, afisherman, but the only trick to catching red snapper is going somewhere that they are. Getting there first is a plus too. The boat next to you had them "keyed" in on it. Snapper will sometimes bunch up around a boat and not travel 50 feet to sample another peddlers wares. Squid and croaker are as good a snapper baits as you can find. I never had much confidence in store-bought squid though. See if you can get some off a shrimper out there on your way out.

Chum. And Structure. If you want to catch snapper you need to get either right on top of the structure, or close enough to where you can put enough chum in the water to catche them. We catch snapper on free floating jigs tipped with squid all the time. Make sure you watch out for those trigger fish=) Good luck.

how do u fish your jig? (what techniques do u use)

we fish jigs and bottom rigs both with squid but mullet and Shinners work great as baits. The jigs use a bucktail or squid jig and tip them with bait. throw them in the water and let them sink
try to stop them before they hit the bottom and you should a snapper. we find big snapper suspended about half way to the bottom

Afisherman, How deep are you fishing and how far offshore? Out of Galveston, it would be a good run for some good snapper waters. Sounds like you are not going out far enough if you are catching croaker. I dont think I have ever caught a true croaker offshore.
The snapper fishing has been kind of slow this year for some odd reason. I guess lots of holes have been picked over. Also, were the snappers you saw someone catching a maroon/dark red in color or a bright orange? There have been tons of BIG mangroves being caught near shore.
Jigs work well, especially when tipped with squid. I like to tip them with Berkely Gulps but that can get expensive fast. Everytime a snap bites, you will only get half your gulp back. Spro Jigs have worked very well for me. I was actually shocked at how quick they got lit up when over structure.

i have not gone out past 15 miles so far. on that trip i was 14 miles out and the fish the other boat cause were red snapper not mangroves, but they too caught croakers and sandtrout. also how fast should i real my jig in? and are the snapper slappers good?

You will not catch many keeper snapper(unless lucky and find unfished hole) only 15 miles out of galveston. It is possible but I would not expect to get into too many. You are more likely to get Jacks, reds, kings, and maybe a ling being so close to shore. Mangroves would also be fairly common and we have caught them to around 10lbs this year. If jigging, I tend to drop to the bottom, reel a few cranks and bounce the jig up and down. It usually doesnt take but a second to get lit up. Make sure you are directly over the structure or you are marking fish under the boat. Snapper slappers work well, especially if a trailer is used but I prefer the the spro for the realistic look of the big eyes and the reflective paint.

If you know you are on a structure or in good snapper grounds, you could be getting cleaned out by trigger fish. Try using a bottom rig with enough bait to beat them down, or put an egg sinker above what ever jig you are using. Use a couple poles to find out how deep the good fish are and then concentrate your efforts there. Good Luck.

At the risk of sounding, well...stupid, does anyone remember the snapper rigs that incorporated a plastic "Easter egg" looking capsule that encapsulated the hook with the bait on it that allowed you to get down below the trigger fish...when you reached depth you "yanked" your line and it "opened" the "eggs" and exposed the bait to the snapper...well below the trigger fish. ? ? ?

Yes

WB...is this going to be an Easter egg joke!!LOL

Welcome back!

We went out Sunday from Galveston and according to GPS, we were just South of Sabine Pass. Many people caught a limit of red snapper. Hopefully, the limit will stay at four but it looks like they are going to go with two.

Does anyone know what time frame the season is going to open and close next year?