How to Catch Red Snapper on Alabama’s Gulf Coast

About 17 miles south of Orange Seaside, Alabama, the captain idles his engines and intently fixes his gaze on the electronics display to be able to maneuver his vessel to simply the precise spot. “We’re over the reef,” pronounces the captain. “Drop the bait straight down till you’ll be able to’t see it any longer.”

The entire 6-inch menhaden, identified domestically as a pogie, steadily vanished into the comparatively clear water of the Gulf. The bait’s descent to the underside got here to an finish when a 9-pound crimson snapper engulfed it solely 10 toes from the floor. On the flying bridge, the captain yelled down: “Hold the fish within the water. Seven or eight much-bigger snapper try to get the bait out of the hooked one’s mouth. Put some extra traces down there, fast.”

With solely about 53 miles of shoreline, the smallest on the Gulf Coast, Alabama nonetheless calls itself the “Snapper Capital of the World.” With catches of snapper as much as 40 kilos, this moniker stands with good motive. Alabama makes probably the most of its brief shoreline with an abundance of synthetic reefs. For a lot of Alabama anglers, their annual offshore expertise begins and ends with snapper season.

Greatest Pink Snapper Baits in Alabama

“With as many snapper within the Gulf now, we don’t should go very far to search out fish,” says Capt. Mike Thierry of Capt. Mike’s Deep Sea Fishing primarily based out of Dauphin Island, Alabama. “Within the a long time I’ve been fishing for a residing, I’ve by no means seen snapper fishing nearly as good as it’s now.”

Anglers normally begin on the lookout for snapper in 40 toes of water out to about 300 toes. These reef fish desire to hold round arduous construction, comparable to rocky reefs, oil platform helps, sunken ships and different cowl the place they will ambush bait. Over a very good reef, most anglers merely ship a juicy chunk of meat to the depths. To butterfly a baitfish, fillet each side from the tail ahead about midway to the pinnacle, however go away the items connected to the physique. When present hits the 2 slabs of flesh, they undulate and provides the bait a lifelike look.

Alabama’s Pink Snapper Fishing Rig

“For bait, I normally use both complete or butterflied menhaden,” explains Scooter Lang, an skilled offshore runner. “Cigar minnows are additionally excellent baits, as are complete squid. For stay bait, I exploit pinfish or small fish we catch off the reefs. Dwell croaker is one other actually good bait. I exploit a 3- to 4-ounce egg sinker above a 3/0 to 4/0 barrel swivel on the primary line. When fishing deeper than 80 toes or in robust present, I exploit a 6- to 10-ounce sinker. To the swivel, I’ll connect a couple of 4- to 8-foot chief with both a single circle hook or a tandem circle hook. For stay bait, I exploit only one hook.”

Easy methods to Catch Pink Snapper Persistently

When you get to your spot, ship baits down slowly and thumb the reel to feed out line in 10-foot increments, pausing sometimes to find out the optimum depth. Over a very good mark, anglers seldom wait lengthy for bites, and regularly get bit as quickly as their bait is out of sight. “The largest snapper are greater within the water column,” explains Orange Seaside captain Seth Wilson of Rip Tide Charters. “The larger snapper don’t want backside construction for security. We use lighter weights and begin from the highest down relatively than the underside up. Snapper love issues which can be slowly falling, which extra precisely simulates a naturally drifting bait.”

To maintain huge snapper close to the floor and , many captains toss chum into the water. Some anglers put minimize baitfish items in a bucket with holes drilled within the backside, and cling it over the facet to permit fragrant juices to ooze into the water. The fish chunks and juice create a friend slick that snapper discover irresistible. The concept is to place simply sufficient scent and temptation into the water to carry fish within the space with out feeding them. When a friend slick varieties, drop hooks baited with complete pogies, squid or fish chunks.

“We use a knocker rig with a 2-ounce weight that slides all the way in which to a 6/0 circle hook,” Wilson advises. “With a knocker rig, the burden slides down the road, however the bait goes up. When the sinker stops falling, the bait begins slowly sinking. The bait is likely to be 20 to 30 toes above the sinker and slowly sinking like a bait in pure present. After we get a chew, we simply tighten up the road.”

The place to Catch Alabama Pink Snapper

To reinforce fishing, Alabama has created greater than 20,000 synthetic reefs off the coast, many inside straightforward vary of small boats operating out of Orange Seaside, Gulf Shores or Dauphin Island. Relying on the placement and depth, these reefs appeal to quite a few crimson snapper in addition to grouper, triggerfish, amberjack and numerous different roving predators.

“We don’t should go far to search out snapper,” Lang says. “I’ve been fishing a very long time, and fishing off the Alabama coast now’s 10 instances higher than it was within the Seventies or ’80s. We used to common about 5 kilos per fish, however now we’re as much as about 8 kilos per fish. It’s not arduous to catch a restrict of 10-pounders. We are able to catch a 20-pound common off some reef modules.”

From Dauphin Island, many individuals fish scattered pyramid reefs or a whole bunch of military tanks. After Hurricane Frederick hit in 1979, the state scattered outdated bridge rubble from about 6 miles off the east finish of Dauphin Island out to about 20 miles from the island. It sits in 60 to 76 toes of water. Many individuals begin fishing right here early within the season after which transfer to deeper water because the season progresses.

“About 90 p.c of the time, we catch our snapper round synthetic reefs,” recommends Jason Domangue, of Dauphin Island. “We additionally catch lots of fish round reefs that people put out. Usually, we fish from 80 to 200 toes deep for snapper. We normally go about 15 to 25 miles to search out snapper, however at instances, I’d run as far out as 35 miles.”

Out of Orange Seaside, many individuals fish the “trolling hall,” a collection of concrete pyramids that run to the Allen Liberty Ship Reef. It sits in about 56 to 83 toes of water. One other well-liked vacation spot, the 5 Perdido Bridge Reefs, rubble from a bridge demolished by a hurricane, sit in about 80 toes of water 10 miles out from Orange Seaside towards Pensacola. They maintain concentrations of snapper and a few amberjack.

As gas costs soar and authorities clamp restrictions on offshore species, one may suppose it hardly well worth the effort to enterprise into the Gulf simply to reel in two crimson snapper throughout a short season, however anglers can nonetheless load a ship and luxuriate in a terrific day on the water. For a lot of Alabama snapper fishermen, these are the great ol’ days.

Pink Snapper Season within the Gulf

The precise dates for the crimson snapper season within the Gulf can change yearly. That positively consists of Alabama. Be certain that to double-check rules earlier than you permit the dock.

In 2025, Alabama state waters (as much as 9 nautical miles offshore) and federal waters are open 7 days per week beginning Could 23. That is just for personal leisure anglers on their boats. The season closes on Monday, June 30. However the wide-open season transitions to four-day weekends beginning July 4 (till the personal angler quota is met).

Constitution fishing is barely totally different. Hold this in thoughts when reserving a visit. The crimson snapper season for for-hire constitution vessels begins Sunday, June 1 and stays open daily of the week till Tuesday, September 16. Day by day bag restrict is 2 crimson snapper per individual per day with a minimal dimension restrict of 16 inches complete size.