Catching Red Snapper in State Waters

The Wide Open Outdoor Adventure Crew went to Corpus Christi, Texas to test out a new ShallowSport X3 Bay Boat from Gulf Coast Marine and hunt for some Red Snapper in State Waters.

We met up with the infamous Captain Doug Stanford; you will remember him from a prior show where we caught sharks offshore. We were with the right guy to get the job done. Dave and Doug left the Billings Bait Stand area and headed straight for the Packery Channel, the newest opening to the Gulf of Mexico on the Texas Coast. This new jetty system enables fish to migrate offshore and spawn; it allows fresh seawater to come into the Back Bay system loaded with nutrients that fish and plant life really need. Microbial organisms start the entire food chain; therefore, jetties are a really important part of the ecosystem.

The boys set their sights on Red Snapper in State Waters. They went only eight miles offshore to the platforms and caught fish right away. Tony D, the main Wide Open fishing camera-man was on board to capture it all on HD video.  

The seas were calm and the wind was light. Too cool. 

Doug immediately had a big oversized Redfish and Dave then caught a Blue Fish. The bite was on instantly. 

But, the boys were looking for Red Snapper -- were they there? You bet they were! They caught over 25 snappers, sometimes two at a time, with the double-drop rigs that Doug had pre-rigged. The weights that they used were 8 oz to 16 oz, depending on the current. There was alot of current, and Dave thought that the current really turned on the bite. Doug said the same thing but added that these fish are opportunistic; they will wait for bait to come to them and position themselves in the down current side, adjacent to the structure, so Doug and Dave knew where to drop their baits. Like Dave always says -- “Knowledge is Power in the Wide Open Outdoors.”

Dave’s Angler Notes:

The northern red snapper's narrow body is very similar in shape to other snappers, such as the mangrove snapper, mutton snapper, lane snapper, and dog snapper. They have a narrow sloped profile, medium-to-large scales, a spiny dorsal fin that can cut the heck out of you if you're not aware, and basically a laterally compressed body. Northern red snappers have short, sharp, needle-like teeth. Keep in mind that they lack the distinctive upper canine teeth found on the mutton fish, dog fish, and mangrove snappers. Dave knows all too well not to get too close to the mangrove snappers mouth -- they will bite and hold on!

Okay, back to the fish -- These snappers reach maturity at a length of about 39 cm (15 in). The boys caught them in their common adult length is 60 cm (24 in).  They did not catch the bigger ones that can reach 100 cm (39 in).

What about the records? The maximum published weight is 38.5 kg (85 lb), and the oldest reported age is 100+ years. These fish are beautiful; they are light red, with more intense pigment on the back. Dave calls them ORANGE. They have 10 dorsal spines, 14 soft dorsal rays, three anal spines and eight to nine anal soft rays.

Let’s talk habitat -- When they are youngsters and in a newly spawned state, red snappers settle over large areas of open benthic habitat. These young fish will look for low-relief habitats for food and cover. If you can find oyster shell beds, you will find these guys. At about age 2, snappers seek high-relief reefs. Next, they look for platforms. If you want bigger fish, look for them in deeper water. Smaller snappers occupy the upper water column.

A northern red snapper begins breeding at two to five years old, and an adult snapper can live for more than 50 years. If you really want to know, research from 1999-2001 suggested the populations of red snapper off the coast of Texas reach maturity faster and at a smaller size than populations off the Louisiana and Alabama coast.

Talk about good eating -- The northern red snapper is a prized-food fish, caught commercially, as well as recreationally.

Red snapper is the most commonly caught snapper in the continental USA (almost 50% of the total catch), with similar species being more common elsewhere. Dave and Doug really smoked the fish, and they were worn out after this day of fishing. They used shrimp and whole sardines as bait, however snapper also will take artificial lures, but with much less vigor.

Keep in mind that recreational fishing for northern red snapper has been popular for a long time, restricted mostly by fishing limits intended to ensure a sustainable population.

Managing populations is always a concern.  The first minimum size limit was introduced in 1984; it was because of a 1981 report showing quickly declining harvests (both commercial and recreational). Populations are good now, and anglers take up to 4.0 million fish per year.

Since 1990, the total catch limit for northern red snapper has been divided into 49% for recreational fishermen and 51% for commercial.

Commercial and recreational fishing for red snapper has been a major industry in the Gulf of Mexico, but permit restrictions and changes in the quota system for commercial snapper fishermen in the Gulf have made the fish less commercially available.

There are always concerns; researchers estimate the by-catch of young red snappers, especially by shrimp trawlers, is a significant concern.

We have an amazing opportunity to catch these awesome fish! Keep in mind that in countries such as India, where the actual red snapper is not available in its oceans, John snapper, Russell snapper, or a tomato red snapper are sold as "red snapper."

Current Texas Parks and Wildlife Rules allowed Dave and Doug to keep up to 4 fish per person, and they had to be at least 15 inches long. (Daily Bag 4--minimum 15 inches with NO maximum length) They had good rod bending action -- eight fish came home for eating!

Thanks for your time, and as Dave always says ---

“We’ll See You In The Wide Open Outdoors!!!"

Tilden Sporting Clay Shoot--October 11th --Saturday

Bang !!

The 10^th Annual DRH Sporting Clay Fundraiser on the Hamilton Ranch in Tilden Texas occurred last Saturday, October 11^th and it was a blast. 

My great friend Keith Banks and his wife were there.    The new Sporting Clay TV show will air soon.   Keith is providing technical instruction on it.  Don't miss it.

Alot of volunteers were there.  Thanks to all the orange vested girls and guys.

The first annual event took place in 2004 and the tradition continues.    The cause was a good one…..Scholarship Fundraiser for Freer, Hebbronville and Tilden High Schools.  

 Look at that yellow shell in the air ----Sweet !! 

It was a 100 bird course and at $200 per shooter a lot of money for the kids was raised.  There were over 400 shooters and many additional sponsors including MassMutual of San Antonio contributed to make a difference for the high school kids of South Texas.  It was put on by Double Rafter H Construction and the Hamilton Ranch.

There were some really sweet 4 Wheelers there and some really great shotguns.    The food was great and the friends and camaraderie was outstanding.

The Texas Deer Associacion Girls were there Supporting the Effort.    

The event supported students----One Shot At A Time !!     There were Live and Silent Auctions to raise money and great country music for all.

The crew of Wide Open Outdoors supported the event with donations and giveaways and we had a great time.  We’ll be back next year for the great cause.

 A Great Time Was Had By All -----

We’ll see you in the Wide Open Outdoors.

Dave

Venice Louisiana -- Bull Red Fishing

Fishing Date: September 10, 2014

The crew loaded up the Dodge Turbo Diesel 4x4 and headed 650 miles East from our home base in San Antonio, Texas  to Venice, Louisiana for some serious rod bending action in the Mississippi Delta with Capt. Mike Jeffcoat (832-338-9376 or mike@rjhuntingfishing.com).

It proved to be an excellent fishing trip. Day one, we settled in the Lodging that Mike had prepared for us. We got the cameras ready and got some sleep knowing that the massive distributaries of the Mississippi were waiting for us.  

The Delta system is massive, and the bayous make up the complex of bays and estuaries. It looked a lot like our Texas water, but the shorelines were very different. They were comprised of reeds and grasses and lily pads like I have seen in fresh water. No wonder, the Mississippi delta is Brackish water, a combination of fresh and salt water. 

We ran 18 miles from the Venice marina and found some big open water. That is where we first fished. Mike rigged us up with a Float that was 5 inches and yellow in color. I took along some of my Live Target Shrimp Lures, and we set them up 4 feet under the floats.   

I used 40lb braided line knowing that the Reds in Venice are predominately Big Bulls. It did not take long for us to get the Hook Spit Rods bent up. We had 3 cameramen and made an amazing TV show in HD.

All in all we had 10 oversized reds and 7 keepers in one day. We picked up only Speckled Trout along the way. We kept on the move with the trolling motor to cover water and find fish. Predominately we drift fished. We would run up wind and sit down. Then we would set up a drift looking for, no big surprise --- Slicks on the surface of the water. Mike told me that these big reds will gorge themselves on mullet which was thick in the water and then regurgitate their food -- like I knew that trout do -- and this makes a shiny spot on the surface of the water. If the shiny spot is large, it’s probably wind-blown for some distance; if it is small, size of a bay boat, it’s probably just been created, and the fish are still there.  

Tip of the Day:

Hook Spit Rods (1-832-632-1205) and Live Target Shrimp Lures (1-888-231-4448) were on fire in the new water! The Wide Open crew did not know what to expect, but we had the equipment on hand to get the job done. We had Medium Heavy Hook Spit rods that were fast tipped. They stood up to these Big Bull Reds. The line was PowerPro Braid—40 lb and the lures were from Live Target; Mike said that he was very impressed with the baits, specifically the strength of the hooks and the amazing detail of the shrimp itself. The glow in the dark color was outstanding in the stained water of the Mississippi. Having great equipment gives you extra confidence as you fish. That is the tip of the day -- Know your gear and be prepared for the fish you are targeting and you will……………….Catch More Fish.

Thanks for your time and----I’ll see you in a Wide Open Outdoor Adventure !!!

Dave

Rio Grande Turkey – Traditional Shotgun Hunt

Hunting Date: April 15, 2014

Okay, Turkey Season is coming to a close.  I wanted to get back out there and try calling in some Toms myself. In my hunts for turkey up to this point, I had a great caller with me. This time, I went to a Ranch in South Texas, just South of Tilden. It was a morning hunt with my great friend Dolf Lowe.  

Dolf texed me a picture of a group of Turkeys in his back yard on the ranch and said, "Let’s get out there and make a hunt." Well, that was all I needed to hear. I was ready to go.

I laid out my gear. Got my calls together and sorted out my camo gear and snake boots.  

I have a great old friend, my Mossberg 12 gauge over and under shotgun. I wrapped it with camo tape and loaded the truck for the hunt.

I headed to the ranch for a 5am hunt. Dolf was there ready to go. We loaded the 4 wheeler and began our search for some birds. This was a Stalk Hunt, no Pop-Up Blind needed. We used a technique of driving around, stopping, waiting a few minutes, and I began with a yelp call from a hen box call. We listened for a reply by some Gobblers. At first, nothing, so we kept moving.

On our third stop, we had Gobblers call back just to the west of us.  We hid the 4 wheeler, set up the Hen decoy I brought, and tucked ourselves into a tree-line for cover. I had a big Oak tree covering me, and Dolf was on the HD camera ready to video.  

I began calling when we were in position. They called back. Nice !! Almost immediately, within 5 minutes, a group of 5 BIG Toms were coming in down an alley-way just in front of us. Game on !!!

Well, we thought it was Game On ! They would call back but they got “Hung Up.” They did not like what they saw. They came in but would not come to the decoy or come close enough for a shot. I think that they saw us or saw something they did not like. Then they moved off back down the alley way. Darn it ! It looked great. Oh well. We loaded up the 4 wheeler and went back out there stalking.  

The next stop was the money. We had birds call back, and we set up quickly. The key here was this great big old brush pile. We set up behind it -- Dolf in the Directors camo chair on the HD camera and me on a small portable hunting camo chair, my calls to my right and my gun on my lap. We were ready.

I began to call with a slate. I made a purr and some puts and of course a great yelp. "Arr, Arr Arr."   The Toms responded. Okay, we’re “On” again.

Like before, the Birds were in front of us almost immediately. Oh man, here they are. I asked Dolf if he was rolling video, and he said “ I’m Recording.” Sweet. Okay, the Hen decoy was on our side of the barbed wire fence. No worries though -- Dolf’s property is on both sides of the fence.  

This was it. No time to wait, these birds were going left to right and did not seem interested in the decoy. They were all strutting, 6 or 7 of them all puffed up.

I told Dolf, I’m going to take the shot.  He said “Go For It.”  

I raised my old trusty Mossberg, kept both eyes open and shot for the Big Tom in front of the group. They were tight to each other and strutting Big. One was down and I had to snake through the fence to get him. That I did. We saw another bird hurt but he was gone. We shot video of the downed Tom and then began our search for the second Tom. We found him. Sweet. Two Tom’s with one shot. Amazing !!

This was my first Rio Grande Tom that I called in and shot. To get 2 was simply awesome.

Hunting Tip Of The day:

Today’s hunt came to together because we had the cover of the brush pile. That made is great. Dolf and I were behind this big pile of grey old Brush that was cut down years back. In my opinion, it proved to be the reason this hunt worked out. These birds could not see us. I shot just over the brush pile and Dolf’s head and Camera on the tripod was just above the brush. Cover was the trick on this hunt.

Two Toms with one shot. That probably won’t happen again, but we can always try for it next year.

                    

Thanks for your time today and “I’ll See You in The Wide Open Outdoors !!"

Dave