re: Artifical Bait for Mangrove Snapper

In the bays at Orange beach I’ve caught a few on plastics like matrix shad or marker 54 shrimp but to get mangroves consistently only live bait has worked. I use what are called live cocaho minnows in Louisiana and mud minnows or bull minnows over there- same thing, killifish. Best on light line, no leader, small kahle or circle hook through the lips, maybe a split shot but usually free lined. Funny thing is we only started catching mangroves back in the bays about ten years ago.

Im definitely going to try a bunch of different jigging stuff next time we go. Slow fall jigs, regular plastics on a jig head and a normal bass rod w/ light line, etc.

I think I really need to re-think the rigging as much as the baits. Weve tried a bunch of stuff but all Carolina rig, dropshot, or free lined. The free lined stuff always sucks but I think my line is probably too heavy. My stuff is mostly rigged for bear. I bet some much lighter line like 20lb braid and 25 or 20 pound fluoro leaders would present a lot better.

Going to order a bunch of the stuff mentioned and try it on some bass rods next time and see if that helps any.

quote:

---

I bet some much lighter line like 20lb braid and 25 or 20 pound fluoro leaders would present a lot better

---

This is water clarity dependent but even that sounds heavy for an inshore mangrove. I would go to 16 and as light as 12 on the leader

I imagine a big glide bait would work. The japanese use a ton of artificials on nearshore saltwater species similar to grouper and snapper. Just need the right equipment.

There are some smaller "trolling" baits that you could definitely fish like a crankbait.

Or those giant spinnerbaits LanierSpots is making.

Micro SPJ stuff as well. Ive got a rod I built thats rated down to 30g thatd be perfect for that.

quote:

---

The whole part about buying another couple $200+ rods and a bunch of $10-$50+ jigs and associated rigging and respooling my precious sx raptor with 20 or 30 pound braid shorts out my inner coonass circuity.

---

Yeah I get that. Its a big swing for something that might not work.

quote:

---

I did order a couple 100g to 200g slow pitch jigs today and I have a tradition jigging rod (probably too stiff) that is currently on a lever drag reel with 30 pound braid so im not too far off I guess.

---

The rod really makes the jigs dance. A dedicated spj reel makes it more comfortable to fish, but the rod is the key to the technique.

I have used reels ranging from larger low profile bass reels to dedicated lever drag spj reels.

Also, around rigs in 250ft+, we are usually using 65lb braid and heavy 80-100lb mono leaders for snapper/grouper/jacks.

For shallower snapper like mangroves and using lighter jigs, I would go as heavy as I can get away with which probably means 40lb braid and 20lb leader.

quote:

---

the rod is the key to the technique.

---

The internet makes this abundantly clear but I dont really understand why. If the action is on the fall I dont undersfand how the rod has anything to do with it but I imagine ill find out pretty quickly.

I started looking and most of my redfishing stuff is spooled with 30 pound braid and makes at least 10 pounds of drag, so I dont see why that wouldn't work with the right rod. The drag numbers on modern low profile reels are pretty surprising, I never paid attention to it till yesterday.

Think 50 pound braid would work? All my mangrove honey holes are under 150' of water, and the fish are usually hanging prettt high up when we are catching them. Per the internets, they like light line to keep the drift under control when fishing deep. I dont ever do that, especially for mangroves.

I've been eyeing up getting into spj fishing, I've done it the last few trips using spinning gear but feel like I'm not using the right gear. Its one of those things I want to try but not invest too much $$ into, so I've been eying up the Gomexus reels and a cheap-ish spj rod.

I aint buying another reel any time soon. Ive got a couple of avet SX's and some good spinning reels, along with curatas and calcuttas and stuff. Thats gonna have to work at least until I catch something.

The spj thing seems like the saddle hunting of the offshore fishing world. The internet geeks out over it, the stuff is uber expensive. Is it really THAT great? I saw some tungston jigs online yesterday for nearly $100 each

So the rod is basically just about getting a long snappy tip travel to yank the jig up? Ive got some bass rods that would work for that with light jigs which is probably what I should use anyway. At least with live bait Ive always caught my best mangroves and reds alot closer to the keel than the bottom.

I did order a harrier super light spj rod this morning, I needed another one anyway. One of my SX's was on a $40 broomstick.

Oh I get it, we've got a spot on the island but just got into offshore fishing about a year ago and have been trying to do alot of figuring it out. We've yet to have that trip where we feel like we've set the world on fire but I keep telling myself it'll come soon enough.

quote:

---

just got into offshore fishing about a year ago and have been trying to do alot of figuring it out. We've yet to have that trip where we feel like we've set the world on fire

---

I think our 3rd year was when we started doing well and now I get my feelings hurt if I don't limit out on everything I went after. We only go on the best days though and do what I would call good about half the time. It took that long to build up a library of spots we could count on and to learn what we are looking for. We've had very little help from anyone - just started going and started learning. Very little offshore fishing experience in my family so we're pioneers in a way

We don't have a big enough / fast enough boat to go more than 20 miles out. We've gone farther but you end up doing so much more boat riding than fishing that it's just tough to make yourself do if you aren't staying down there.

I'm hell bent on wrecking mangroves on something artificial though. I don't want to catch a few. I want to catch a shitload of them. I'm damned fed up with buying bait, and catching bait often takes far too much time.