By: Capt. Joel Brandenburg
The thing I like the most about the Florida Keys fisheries is the abundance of species you can target in a single day. If your goal is to target fish to eat, I’d have to say snapper is your number one fish. If I’m chartering a family who says “we want to have a family fish fry”, I almost always recommend snapper. We typically target mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, school master snapper and lane snapper. Below are techniques used to target each species:
Mangrove snapper: Chum is the most important thing when snapper fishing. We use chum rings which is a circular floating ring with a pocket of mesh net that makes a pouch for a chum block to fit in that disperses chum little by little in the current making a chum line or chum slick. Our number one bait for mangrove snapper seems to be a chunk of cut fresh ballyhoo on an 1/8 weight jig head. The chunk should be cut a little bigger than your thumb. As your chunk is deployed into your chum slick many times, you’ll feel a tap tap tap. Don’t set your hook on the tap. The tap is small mangroves trying to fit the chunk of ballyhoo in its mouth, but it can’t because its mouth is too small. Set your hook on the boom, not the tap. Many times, you’ll feel tap tap tap boom. The boom represents the larger snapper moving the smaller ones to the side and devouring the chunk of ballyhoo in one single suck.
Yellowtail snapper: Again, chum the same way with a chum ring and a block of chum. We use a widely known technique call flat lining. With a large hook and 12lb test mono fluorocarbon line we flat line our bait back into the chum slick. Flat lining is releasing your line out of your rod n reel at the same rate and speed as the current. As your bait sinks and drifts back, you’ll feel your line either jump or start flowing faster than the current is taking it, flip your bail, reel down and set your hook. Our baits of choice for yellowtail are bonita belly sliver’s, pieces of shelled shrimp or mullet gizzards. Make your bait pieces as small as your thumb nail. Small is good when yellowtailing. Elephants eat peanuts.
Lane Snapper and school master snapper: Like most snapper and especially these snapper we like to target them on structure, such as bridge pylons, reef heads, wrecks, etc. drop down on the structure with a live shrimp on a 1/2-ounce jig head. We like to slowly jig the live shrimp up and down off the bottom. Even though lane and school masters are shorter snapper than most, they yield a lot more meat because they are so fat.
Mutton snapper: Mutton snapper are the only snapper we like to target on sandy bottoms. The best way to fish for mutton is using an egg sinker large enough to hold the bottom in whatever current you’re fishing at the time. We like to have a mono fluorocarbon leader set up where your bait is 20ft or more from your egg sinker. Our bait of choice for mutton is a butterflied fresh ballyhoo, live pilchards, live pinfish or live ballyhoo. We like to chum
with cuts of baitfish dropped back in the current sinking to the bottom in the target vicinity. When you see a button it’s a mutton with the exception of a lane snapper. The button near its tail looks like an eye. This is a defense mechanism so when predators such as sharks or barracudas take a run at the snapper, they mistake the tail for the head and the snapper can get away.
For a charter with Captain Joel or son Jojo Brandenburg call or text 305-395-4212 or visit www.marathonkeyfishingcharters.com or visit them in person at Ana Banana Marina at 11699 Overseas Hwy Marathon Florida Keys.
— For a charter with Captain Joel or Jojo Brandenburg of Ana Banana Fishing Company in Marathon Florida Keys call cell 813-267-4401 or office 305-395-4212 or visit www.marathonkeyfishingcharters.com or visit us in person at Ana Banana Marina located at 11699 Overseas Hwy Marathon Florida Keys. Look for the big yellow Ana Banana sign with antlers around it.