🌊 Best on the flood💨 Likes calm wind📅 May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
- Water temp
- 66–88°F
- Depth
- 3–39 ft
- Max weight
- 7.7lb
- Day vs night
- ☀️ 🌙
Mangrove, or gray, snapper are the wary, sharp-toothed fish that stack up around every Florida bridge, dock, seawall, jetty and mangrove shoreline, with the bigger fish on rock jetties, inlets and the Keys bridges. They are around all year in south Florida and warm up statewide from late spring, peaking in summer when they spawn. Clean water on the incoming tide and low light at dawn, dusk and under dock lights at night give the best bites. They are line-shy: use 15–20 lb fluorocarbon leader, a 1/0–2/0 circle or J hook and as little weight as the current allows, fishing a knocker or split-shot rig tight to structure. A small live shrimp or pilchard is best, and a handful of chum brings them up out of the pilings. Their canine teeth draw blood, so lip them with pliers. Mangroves are excellent eating; check current FWC rules before keeping one.
Best bait for mangrove snapper
- 1 Live Shrimp
- 2 Pilchards (Scaled Sardines)
- 3 Live Pinfish
- 4 Squid Strips
- 5 Dead Shrimp
Rigs that work
- 1 Knocker Rig
- 2 Split-Shot Rig
- 3 Freeline Live Bait
- 4 Carolina Rig
