Custom Charters guide says big red snapper are thick in Ship Shoal
Red snapper numbers in the Gulf of Mexico have grown to the point that snapper seem to be everywhere off the Louisiana coast. And the elongated season, which closes on Monday (July 16), provides another weekend for anglers to get out and take advantage of this largess.
Fortunately, bagging a limit of red snapper before the season is over is almost as easy to accomplish as talking about it.“Catching red snapper right now is like catching hardtails under a cleaning table,” Custom Charters’ Capt. Tommy Pellegrin said. “Go out west by Ship Shoal, any rig past the 52 to 54 blocks by South Timbalier or Eugene Island, then just drop a Carolina rig with a fresh or frozen pogie on the southwest corner of the rig and you can almost guarantee yourself some snapper.
“Eugene Island is like the Promised Land because almost nobody goes out there, so there are some pretty dumb fish.”
Pellegrin’s techniques for locating larger snapper and amberjack around rigs have been refined through 22 years of earned experience.
“Learning how to use the technology on board (i.e., depth finders) is important to distinguish between a bunched-up school of red snapper and a loose school of amberjack,” Pellegrin said. “I notice that the clarity of the water affects the position of larger red snapper, as well.
“In murkier water, when the snapper cannot see their home (the structure) as well, they will stay closer to the rig. If the water is clearer, though, the larger snapper will hang off of the rig. I’ve caught red snapper as far off as 100 yards from a structure.”
Pellegrin said he has been catching 10- to 15-pound snapper in less than 100 feet of water on a 3-foot, 100-pound-test leader sporting a 3-ounce lead weight.
“I don’t always go to the bottom though, I like to chum snapper all the way to the surface and free-line, as well.”
Read all of Pellegrin’s reports on his profile page, and be sure to post your own reports and photos on the Offshore Fishing Forum.
Not a registered LouisianaSportsman.com member yet? It’s free! Click here to get started today!