by Capt. Tom Bailas
July begins the dog days of summer. Your best bet is to get out on the water early and return before the afternoon thunder storms start to build up. Most of the migratory species have come and gone until the fall arrives, but that leaves plenty of bottom fish to catch. Red snapper is open until July 20th this year for recreational anglers in state and federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
My favorite fish to target in July are mangrove snapper and Lane snapper. You don’t have to make long runs out to find them. I like the fact that the bag limits allow more of the mangrove and lanes then they do the red snapper. In my opinion, mangrove snapper are the best eating fish in the gulf. Mangroves spawn on the full moon of June, July and August depending on your location. The best way to catch the mangs is to head offshore later in the afternoon and catch the last hour before the sunset and an hour after sunset. The bite is incredible. The larger fish are weary and tend to bite readily right at dusk. You will want to fish a large piece of structure or a ledge in the 70-100 ft depth. We regularly will catch 7-10 lbs mangs along with a range of other bottom species using live jumbo shrimp.
The lane snapper is an easier target and will eat just about any bait you drop to them. You can fish live or hard bottom areas for them in the 60-80 ft range. Again, any squid, cut bait or shrimp will work to catch them.
To mix it up, you should always put a flat line out the back while you are bottom fishing with a live bait. There are no fences in the Gulf and anything could bite it at any moment. We have been surprised many times with a big cobia, black fin tuna, sailfish or a shark biting during the month of July.
Remember to always follow state and federal regulations. Be courteous of other boaters and keep only what you can eat. Happy Fishing!! Captain Tom