Red Snapper Set Up- Update

A good red snapper set up should be stout with a casting type reel capable of heavy drag. Spinning reels are better for Mangroves but open faced are much better for jigging/ fishing with weights. If you also want to jig, you should get a high speed reel with a heavy drag like Avet offers. They aren't cheap but load it with a few hundred yards of 80 - 100# braid(I like Jerry Brown Line One, a stout jigging rod like the Heavy Action Shimano Trevalas and you've got a rig light enough to reef fish all day with and also capable of jigging Amberjack and Yellowfin if you so desire.

I haven't bought one in a long time, lawd have the prices gone up(I think I paid $150 10 years ago), but I have several of these Avet and they are awesome for the job. You don't necessarily need these brands if you don't want to spend that kind of coin but you should look for competitors that offer the same features.

Edit: Didn't read your whole post. For Red Snapper, I usually use a Carolina rig with an egg weight large enough to sink quickly and stay straight up and down depending on the current and depth, anywhere from 4-12ozs. Bait is usually dead Pogies, whole butterflied Mullet, or many different 3"-10" live baits. If you're in >200' live baits will draw too many AJ bites though.

Mangroves are higher in the water column and line/ terminal tackle shy. I use spinning reels to freeline or Carolina rig with as little weight as possible and as heavy a 5-6' Fluorocarbon leader as they'll bite.

I used to have the Mangroves near to myself 25 years ago but word got out and now everybody and their grandmother targets them. Luckily most still aren't good at it yet or there'd be very few left. I think 10 per person is too much because it's easy to catch 60 or 70 if you're good at it and have that big a crew. IMO, 5 each would be plenty. If you want any more specific info, give me your email and I'll send a little more info less publicly.

I have 2 Avets, a SX 2 speed and a JC 2 speed with the raptor drag and Magnetic Cast. They are awesome reels. They are so small for their capacities and capabilities. I use Shimano Tallus rods with Jerry Brown braid (non hollow).


ETA: I would return the TLD and buy Avets. I have a TLD 35 and I like it, but I really like the Avets.

I reread your OP and added a little more info to my post. If you are just getting into this game, buy your gear wisely. You get what you pay for most times and I found out a long time ago, you'll spend less buying quality equipment from the get go.

You need spinning gear for reef fishing for both Mangroves and one should always be rigged with a Cobia Jig and ready to go because they often come up curious about your first 1 or 2 snapper as soon as you start fishing a new spot. The hardest knot you'll ever tie will be when you're unprepared and there's a pack of big Cobes lazily swimming around just feet from the boat, wanting to eat, and in plain sight!

Edit: I read your 25# max drag comment and with 80# line, you probably shouldn't be set more than 12-15# at strike which should equate to about 20# at full. You can always thumb the spool if you need a little more drag but a locked up reel on braid WILL break off way smaller fish than need be because there's no stretch. Even if you're reels could last with that much drag pressure, you likely couldn't hang on to a big fish for very long without a harness. TLD's are really solid reels, I have 3 2 speed 50's I use for Wahoo/ Tuna and set them much more than 12# at strike. Besides,TLD's won't freespool if you have them set at full...

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I have 2 Avets, a SX 2 speed and a JC 2 speed with the raptor drag and Magnetic Cast. They are awesome reels. They are so small for their capacities and capabilities. I use Shimano Tallus rods with Jerry Brown braid (non hollow).

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Their size, speed, and drag are precisely the point. Also the Jerry Brown spectra is all I use offshore, they had me down as a distributor when I first started using it. My trolling reels have 600 yards of 130# hollow core with 50 yards of 80# mono spliced on top, my Avet snapper reels use the same 130 but no splice, my small mangrove and larger tuna popper spinners have 80, non-hollow, and my grouper/ AJ rigs, have 200# hollow with 20ish yards of 150# mono spliced. The line on my trolling gear has been there for probably ten years, all I do is change the mono splice. If I didn't constantly knick and break off the line on the reef gear, I'd never replace that either.

The hollow stuff is great where I want a lot of line but still want the mono top shot. I use hollow on my trolling gear and my AJ/Grouper gear. For spinning, jigging, reef fishing applications I use 80 non-hollow with a uni to uni splice or those tiny 80# Spro barrel swivels for shorter mono/ fluoro leaders.

The splicing takes a little practice but isn't very difficult if you have the needles and don't try to put too thick a line into the spectra. They work on the Chinese Handcuffs principle and probably only need 3' to hold properly. Once it's in there, it ain't coming out. It's an investment for sure but you can splice spectra to spectra if you happen to lose a good portion of your backing. It's easily good for 10-15 years and if you look at it that way, it's actually fairly inexpensive. The only negative to the hollow core is that it floats. I hate that when my top shots get too short. I also wouldn't want a splice if I were using it on spinning gear because the splice would surely get hung up in the guides.

Edit: I'm more than happy to discuss doing the splices if you're interested one day, just let me know. It's nothing to be afraid of.

Holy shite you guys go thru a lot of trouble to catch the elusive ARS.

I might take you up on that one day. I'd like to buy an offshore rig, but I'm not there yet.

They sure get proud of those boats...

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Holy shite you guys go thru a lot of trouble to catch the elusive ARS.

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This.

Go fishing for Cobia, or grouper, or Jacks, or mangroves or something like that. And then keep the first 10-12 legal ARS that come into the boat.

The only reason you would need to really think, scam, plan, rig for ARS is if you're trying to catch a #25 for a tournament or something.

In that case, a buddy of mine fishes old numbers from the 90s before the storms flattened everything. He likes to pull up to an old car or tire graveyard that literally doesn't even mark anything. He's looking for a fish that essentially is a loner. If he catches a #10 or #15 fish, he'll leave.

Dude catches dinosaurs with barnacles on em.

Red Snapper are easy, I know. FFS, hand lines are sufficient for the most part. However, if you want to catch more than that, there's more to it. I thought I was pretty clear that most of my text involved things other than ARS but whatever...

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my boat ride/reels are MH 6' rods with tekotas and 80# braid and fluoro leaders
have a couple rigged Carolina and a couple rigged for free line
snell your hooks

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This is my setup with a 10/0 hook, at least a 10 Oz weight with a giant hunk of meat to rip big momma off the rig. Big haunch of bait seems to keep the small ones off the hook and give enough bait to entice the large ones to it. I know it's not needed, but I like pushing past the peanuts and getting larger fish for my limit.