The Poor Man’s Snapper

Red snapper are a glamor fish. Look on the cover of any outdoor magazine and you are liable to see them plastered there for all the world to see. Whole charter boat businesses have been founded on their pursuit and on any given weekend hundreds if not thousands of anglers head offshore hoping to catch their limit. While there is no doubt that red snapper deserve the attention they get, the rising cost of fuel and dwindling bag limits have a small but growing number of anglers targeting a different kind of snapper.

The gray snapper, Lutjanus griseus, is a rather plain looking member of what is usually a very brightly colored family of fish. Other common names for this fish are mangrove snapper, mango snapper, and black snapper. They are easily distinguished from the other small inshore snappers by the lack of a black spot on their side and the dark gray-green to brown coloration. Until the last ten years or so, gray snapper have been an on again/off again fishery in Texas. The species prefers warm waters, and their presence or absence in Texas bays depends on the frequency and duration of freezing temperatures. With the absence of a significant freeze along the lower Texas coast for several years, not only have their numbers apparently increased, but they are being caught more frequently further up the Texas coast. For instance, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department's resource monitoring data for the fall of 2007 showed good numbers of grey snapper as far North as Corpus Christi Bay.

The preferred habitat for gray snapper is around complex hard structure adjacent to comparatively deep water. They can be found in a broad range of depths from less than 3 feet to over 300 feet with the bigger fish being found in deeper waters. They feed mainly at night on small fish, shrimp, and crabs, but will also bite during the day. Gray snapper may live as long as 21 years and can grow to over 30 inches and weigh more than 25 pounds. The Texas state record was caught in the Gulf of Mexico in 1998 by Steve Pumilia and weighed 18.67 pounds and was 28.5 inches long.

While it doesn't take a degree in rocket science to catch these fish, it does take the proper gear and a little advanced planning if you want to catch a mess for supper. As far as gear goes, you need a good medium heavy rod with a reel spooled with an abrasion resistant line in the 15 to 20 pound class. Even a small gray snapper can put up a good fight, and with the barnacle encrusted rocks and pilings they like to hang around you need a little extra insurance against being broke off. The terminal gear you use will depend on water clarity, depth, and how fast the water is moving. I personally use a sliding sinker setup with a three foot length of 15 pound fluorocarbon leader and 1/0 to 2/0 circle hook. Gray snapper are notorious bait stealers so use as little weight as you can get by with. Remember that when you are using circle hooks, you don't set the hook like you do with J hooks; instead you just reel in your line and the hook sets it self. By the way, if you haven't heard yet, circle hooks are now required when fishing for red snapper in Texas.

Gray snapper will hit a variety of bait types including live and dead shrimp, finger mullet, and crabs. However, it is awfully hard to beat live shrimp hooked just behind the rostrum (the long pointy thing on the shrimp's head) for most fishing situations. The exception would be when you are targeting large gray snapper. They seem to have a preference for mullet up to ten inches in length. You will also need to up-size your fishing gear for this situation and crank the drag down all the way to get them away from the pilings and rocks quickly. The one rule to live by when gray snapper fishing is to take plenty of extra tackle and twice as much bait as you think you will need. Most fishing trips for this species are ended when the bait bucket goes empty.

In the lower Laguna Madre, gray snapper can be found in good numbers along the Brownsville Ship Channel from the jetties all the way up to the Port of Brownsville and also around the old causeway. Remember that if you are fishing in the Port, you cannot tie-up to any structure or anchor your boat. They are very serious about security in and around the various ships and platforms, so give them a wide berth. Gray snapper can also be caught in good numbers on Mustang Island along the Packery Channel's north jetty, and just about anywhere else along the southern Texas Coast with good structure and adequate water depth.

Once a school of gray snapper have been located it is often easy to catch them in good numbers, and I have witnessed coolers filled with them when an angler returns to a boat access site after a days fishing. Gray snapper are a valuable resource and their prime flesh should be enjoyed by all. But as more anglers target this species, we should all show some voluntary restraint in their harvest. Please take only what you plan to eat and leave some for the next angler fortunate enough to catch this fine table fare.