This helps to save bait and is a fun challenge to see how many snappers can be caught on one piece of bait.
#YELLOW SNAPPER PLUS#
I have caught 10 plus yellowtail snapper on a single fish heart. After catching a fish with the heart it can typically be reused. There are around 20 hearts in each 7-pound block of chum. If you are using single-ground menhaden chum you should be able to find the heart of the menhaden fish. They are my favorite but I do not like having to dig through the chum to find them. Fish Heartsįish hearts are my favorite bait to use for yellowtail snapper fishing. There are very few fish that will not eat a live shrimp as long as there is a thin fluorocarbon leader and a small hook. These are great baits to flat line or fish near the bottom. It is also good to have ballyhoo or squid as a backup bait in case you run out of shrimp. It is common to bring 10 or more dozed shrimp when fishing the reef all day. The picture above is the livewell of our boat which has about two dozen shrimp. Dead stinky shrimp that are pink will not work to catch yellowtail snapper. Do not hook the shrimp in the center or back as the bait will spin in the current and it is unlikely any fish will bite. The shrimp can be hooked through the head or tail. It is also the most expensive bait and at times can be difficult to get. Live Shrimp is one of the best bait for yellowtail snapper. When fishing the reef it is also good to put out a top line with thin wire on it to try and catch wahoo, king mackerel, cero mackerel, and barracuda. While fishing we also catch cigar minnows, rainbow runners, and spade fish. We were fishing a shipwreck that is also on the edge of the reef in about 100 feet of water.
#YELLOW SNAPPER HOW TO#
In the video above I show how to catch yellowtail snapper.
Using two blocks of chum at once is another way to attract more yellowtail snapper. Oats are not needed but can help the yellowtail snapper stick around if there are lots of other boats in the area. Yellowtail snapper will also come to oats which are commonly used in addition to regular chum. This is ground bunker with large chum pieces including the heart of the bunker which can be used as bait. Personally, I like to use single-ground menhaden chum. When the bait is sinking too fast in a low current just a bare hook with a piece of bait should be used. If the bait is not sinking with the chum then a jig should be used.
Depending on the strength of the current will determine if a bare hook should be used or a 1/64 ounce jig. Fishing when there is a strong current is best as not many fish feed during slack tide. The bait is not supposed to be on the surface or on the bottom but suspended with the chum as it drifts back. Yellowtail snappers typically hang anywhere from 10-80 feet behind the boat.įor this reason, the bait needs to drift back with the chum in order to catch the snapper.
#YELLOW SNAPPER FULL#
The chum line is full of large cigar minnow and rainbow runners right by the boat. In the picture above I am fishing a reef in the Florida keys. The first step to catching yellowtail snapper is to put out chum. For this reason, anglers target yellowtail snapper in 20-100 feet of water with 40-80 feet being the most common depths. In order to keep a yellowtail snapper in Florida, it needs to be 12 inches long. In shallow water under 20 feet, most of the yellowtail are going to be under 12 inches.
Picking a good spot is important cause yellowtail are typically located on or near reef structures. The most common way to catch yellowtail snapper is to anchor the boat and put chum out. Most other snappers and groupers are targeted with bottom fishing techniques. This is done cause the yellowtail snapper are suspended in the water column rather than being right on the bottom. The method to catch them is actually quite unique and is called flat-lining. This is because they are typically easy to catch and are great to eat. Yellowtail snappers are the most popular fish to catch on the reef in Florida.
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