Looks like a Species of Snapper Family But who's am I to know From what theses Guys say I Don't know Diddley

thats a grey snapper, i think they also call it a muttin snapper but i could be wrong about that.

minimum size is 12' on those i think

100% this is a mangrove snapper. usually caught offshore but they have been known to be in most saltwater places. catch plenty of them in lake p and lake borgne and empire. 12 inch min. on the size. awesome fish to eat..hard to catch the big ones also

That's a mangrove bud. They eat really well, but gotta be 12' to keep. They're gorgeous when they're that small.

Fish the trash pile in the MRGO. they are there all day. Throw right up against the rebar

This past month we have caught those around the platforms in Lake Racourci, Deep Bayou and near the Leeville bridge in Bayou Lafourche. They have all been small around the ten inch range and returned to the water. I am no expert on them and maybe they have been there the whole time and just never caught them. If not the only thing I can come up with is due to the low fresh water levels in the rivers coming down that the salt water is backing up further inside raising the salinity levels which could push fish like that further inside. Again thats just an uneducated guess on my part. Maybe some of the biologist out there can chime in and give some insight on this.

Also skilled bait stealers. In late summer, if you are fishing near a rock structure and losing bait on a barely perceptible bite, its often a small mangrove. Also a clue its time to move on, probably no keeper trout or reds. Pretty fish, though.

Caught Couple like that over by Twin Spam along the Rockie Shoreline it was returned safely