The fertile Gulf waters hold an incredible variety of fish species
At the boat transom, the deckhand chopped frozen pogies into small pieces and tossed them into the calm cobalt blue water of the Gulf of Mexico.
Minutes later, the sea turned scarlet as if looking into a goldfish pond. However, these “goldfish” weighed between 10 and 20 pounds. The deckhand put a whole 6-inch long pogie on a circle hook and handed the rod to an angler.
“You can almost pick the fish you want to catch,” the deckhand quipped. “Just let the bait sink slowly. It won’t go down far.”
Moments later, the bait disappeared into the mouth of a 10-pound red snapper.
“Usually, when the water is rough, snapper drop down deeper, but sometimes, they come up near the top,” said James McCanless with Aquiline Custom Charters (228-234-5516, www.aquilinecharters.com) who runs out of Biloxi, Miss. “When the water is slick like glass, we can chum them up to the top. For red snapper, we go about 35 miles in a southeasterly direction from Biloxi.”
Red snapper
When the season is open, anglers along the Mississippi coast start catching snapper about 20 to 30 miles south of the mainland. South of the Mississippi River Delta, the bottom drops off rapidly. Off Cameron in southwestern Louisiana, the bottom slopes gently so anglers must go farther offshore to find snapper.
“We catch quality snapper nine miles from shore or less,” said Trampus “Capt. T.” Wagoner with Geaux Fishing Charters (225-715-1474, www.geauxfishing.co) who runs out of Grand Isle. “The bigger snapper are about 30 miles from shore. In August, the water toward Venice cleans up so I go to the West Delta Blocks for snapper. That area has deeper water and it’s usually clean when the Mississippi River has lower water levels at that time of year.”
Most Louisiana anglers fish the Gulf petroleum structures for snapper. Fewer platforms exist off Louisiana now than years ago. Under the Rigs to Reefs program, companies cut off decommissioned platforms deep enough for safe boat traffic, but the bottoms remain in place as artificial reefs. With fewer structures off the Mississippi coast, that state manages an extensive artificial reef program. Any hard structures provide habitat for various fish species. For Mississippi reef locations, see dmr.ms.gov/artificial-reef.
For red snapper, most people simply drop a squid, cigar minnow, pogie or other temptation to the bottom. Live mullet about six to nine inches long make superb bait for large snapper. Blue runners, also called hardtails or hardtail jacks, also make great bait. Anglers catch them on sabiki rigs. Some people use jigs or jigs sweetened with bait for snapper.
“For snapper, we use pogies and live croaker for bait, but we also bring some jumbo live shrimp if we can find them,” McCanless said. “Hardtails are my favorite baits for snapper. We use small ones whole and cut up the bigger ones. They’re harder for snapper to get off the hook.”
Mangrove snapper
Besides red snapper, anglers might also catch other snappers with less stringent regulations. Also called beeliners, vermilion snapper look similar to a small red snapper. Another small species, lane or candy snapper, seldom grow more than about 18 inches long.
Gray or mangrove snapper occasionally hit flies, spoons, soft plastics and other artificials, but typically prefer live croakers, mullets, pogies or shrimp. These smart fish with excellent eyesight cunningly avoid hooks while slurping bait. Caught off Cocodrie, the all-tackle world record weighed 18 pounds, 10 ounces.
“Mangroves stay higher in the water column,” McCanless said. “For mangroves, we put out a flatline baited with live shrimp. We use no weight or maybe a small split-shot. We use small hooks. If we hide the hook, we have a better chance at catching mangroves.”
Off Louisiana, mangroves regularly hover inside the legs of shallower platforms. Chum them to the surface with small fish pieces. Using long fluorocarbon leaders, drop baits into the frenzy.
“My favorite fish to catch in August is mangrove snapper,” Wagoner said. “On calm days, we throw cut pogies at them. Mangroves usually hang about 30 feet from the surface, but when we start throwing out chum, they’ll come up as high as 10 feet deep. After we get them in a frenzy, we put a dead pogie or a pogie piece on a circle hook with no weight. We want the bait to flow in the current naturally. If it doesn’t look natural, mangroves won’t bite it.”
A drift line or two
Depending upon the depth, any reef could also produce amberjack, almaco jack, several grouper varieties, triggerfish, spadefish or other species. Amberjack prefer water at least 150 to 200 feet deep, but they also rise and descend in the water column.
“While bottom fishing for snapper, we might catch gag grouper, scamps and other fish,” Wagoner said. “During the amberjack season, I like to rig either a jig or a live hardtail about nine inches long. I don’t drop it all the way to the bottom. I let it go down about 150 feet. Sometimes, amberjack are only 30 feet from the surface.”
While bottom fishing, set out a drift line or two. Toss chum into the water. Bait a line with a live baitfish or a dead pogie. Let it drift through the chum. Put the rod into a holder and engage the reel clicker. Depending upon the location and depth, a struggling live bait might attract king mackerel, dolphin fish, also called mahi, cobia, wahoo and other predators, perhaps even sailfish.
“A drift line with a dead pogie is a good way to catch cobia,” Wagoner said. “I don’t put any weight on it, or very little weight. I just let it drift with the current. We might also catch sharks. In 2023, we caught a sailfish about 18 miles from shore on a live mullet.”
Cobia
Among the most vicious, tasty and curious fish in the Gulf, cobia might appear anywhere at any time. Also called ling or lemonfish, cobia love to eat hardhead catfish, eels and just about anything else. Chum could bring them to the surface or they might rise to investigate activity.
“Cobia are difficult to target because we never know when or where they might appear,” Wagoner said. “Sometimes, they’ll come to the surface if they hear something strange or if they see some action, especially in clear water. Sometimes, we bang on the boat bottom to bring them to the surface. If something runs away from them, cobia want to chase it.”
In late summer, cobia come closer to shore. Look for them around nearshore rigs. They might also appear near the Chandeleur Islands or the Mississippi barrier islands. Cobia, tripletail and mahi like to drift along with floating grass mats or debris. They frequently hover under any floating object.
After spotting a fish under an object, approach cautiously from upwind. Stop far enough away to avoid spooking the fish and make long casts. A popping-cork rig baited with a piece of crab or live shrimp makes an excellent temptation for tripletail. Toss the rig so it lands several feet upwind from the floating object. Let the current carry it toward the fish. When it gets close, pop the cork to get the fish’s attention.
Bonus fish
Trolling with spoons, feather jigs, diving plugs or live bait could put bonus fish in the boat. King or Spanish mackerel, cobia, mahi, perhaps even large snapper or amberjack might attack trolled baits.
“After we catch our snapper limit, we might go trolling around the rigs in 150 feet of water,” Wagoner said. “We’ll drive around the rig at about seven knots with Rapala deep-diving plugs in blue and silver or purple and black that dive about 12 to 20 feet down. Anything that resembles a hardtail could work. King mackerel like to chase trolled baits.”
Shrimp boats can hold big fish. On large boats, shrimpers trawl at night and anchor at dawn. Whatever they can’t sell, they toss over the side. That creates a feeding frenzy for sharks, mackerel, cobia and other species. Once shrimpers stop throwing their bycatch overboard, toss some chum in the water to lure the fish away from the shrimp boat.
In deeper water, anglers might entice wahoo, tuna or even billfish. In October 2023, the crew of the Best Trait, captained by Chris Mowad, landed an enormous blue marlin weighing 1,145.60 pounds about 60 miles from the Mississippi River mouth. It set a new Gulf of Mexico record.
“In the winter, we’ll go out to the blue water,” McCanless said. “At that time, jumbo tuna come closer to shore. We might also catch some wahoo and swordfish. Wahoo like water about 60 degrees and depths from 100 to 400 feet. Many people don’t even know swordfish live in the gulf.”
Whether bottom-bouncing a squid, casting to cobia or trolling for tuna, one never knows what might stretch the line on any given day in the fertile waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Try different things to make every offshore outing a memorable adventure.
Seasons and regulations differ for various species, so always check before keeping anything.
