What size hooks are best for mangrove snapper and sheepshead?
The best hook size for mangrove snapper and sheepshead is a #1 J hook or a 1/0 circle hook. Smaller hook sizes are a must for catching excellent bait stealers with small mouths like mangrove snappers and sheepshead.
Inshore anglers are often discouraged by mangrove snappers and sheepshead because they seem to be able to take their baits without ever getting hooked. That is because both of these fish species have excellent eyesight and teeth and mouths designed for taking small bites.
Quite often when you are fishing for these two species of fish you will only have the smallest piece of bait left on your hook but everything all around the hook is gone.
These fish can see the hook and avoid it because they are used to taking small bites of their food. That is why you have to downsize your hooks if you want to catch these notorious bait stealers.
Most of the time you will find mangrove snappers and sheepshead together. They both like to feed around structure and they both like to eat crustaceans and small fish. The only difference is that the sheepshead will eat barnacles, oysters and clams too. They have specialized teeth to crack through the shells and mangrove snapper do not.
The author of this article is a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN. He has been fishing the docks, bridges, grass flats, oyster bars and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years.
In the article below, we will talk about the best hook sizes to maximize your mangrove snapper and sheepshead fishing trips.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to learn more about the best hook sizes for inshore fishing.
The best hook size for mangrove snapper and sheepshead is a #1 J hook or a 1/0 circle hook. Smaller hook sizes are a must for catching excellent bait stealers with small mouths like mangrove snappers and sheepshead.
Inshore anglers are often discouraged by mangrove snappers and sheepshead because they seem to be able to take their baits without ever getting hooked. That is because both of these fish species have excellent eyesight and teeth and mouths designed for taking small bites.
Quite often when you are fishing for these two species of fish you will only have the smallest piece of bait left on your hook but everything all around the hook is gone.
These fish can see the hook and avoid it because they are used to taking small bites of their food. That is why you have to downsize your hooks if you want to catch these notorious bait stealers.
Most of the time you will find mangrove snappers and sheepshead together. They both like to feed around structure and they both like to eat crustaceans and small fish. The only difference is that the sheepshead will eat barnacles, oysters and clams too. They have specialized teeth to crack through the shells and mangrove snapper do not.
The author of this article is a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN. He has been fishing the docks, bridges, grass flats, oyster bars and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years.
In the article below, we will talk about the best hook sizes to maximize your mangrove snapper and sheepshead fishing trips.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to learn more about the best hook sizes for inshore fishing.
What is the best size hooks for catching mangrove snapper with shrimp?
Shrimp are one of the best inshore fishing baits for maximizing your catch. Just about everything eats shrimp. You can catch snook, redfish, speckled trout, tarpon, flounder........ and of course mangrove snapper and sheepshead too.
Mangrove snapper like to hang out around structure. This snapper species stays inshore until they get around 4 or 5 pounds and then they move offshore to live around reefs and wrecks. Then they lose their red color and turn gray. Their real name is the "gray snapper" but most people call them mangrove snapper or "mangos".
The number one bait for targeting mangrove snapper and sheepshead inshore is live or fresh dead shrimp. The key is to rig the shrimp so that it is not easy for the snappers to pull it off of your hook without getting caught.
I like to break a shrimp in two and bury the hook inside of it with just the point sticking out. The snapper will often just gobble up a small piece of shrimp without seeing or noticing the hook until it is in their mouths. You will have to be ready to set the hook if you are using the J hook or reeling down if you are using a circle hook.
The 2 best sizes of hook for this type of fishing is the #1 J hook and the 1/0 circle hook. If you are not very good at setting your hook then you should use the circle hook. This will stop you from gut hooking the fish and killing it for no reason.
The best places to target mangrove snapper inshore are mangroves during high tide; dock pilings, sea walls, bridge pilings, oyster bars, and any other underwater structures. Even an old tire will hold fish.
What are the best size hooks for catching mangrove snapper with fiddler crabs?
Fiddler crabs and mangrove crabs are excellent baits for catching mangrove snapper, sheepshead, redfish, black drum, pompano, croakers.......... and many more species. BUT they are hard to catch so many anglers don't use them. Trust me when I tell you that if you can get your hands on these crabs; DO IT! Mangrove snapper cannot resist these little crabs.
You still want to use a #1 J hook or a 1/0 circle hook with crabs as bait. The perfect set up is usually a split shot or two 8 inches above your bait. Just pitch your bait to the structure where you think the mangrove snapper are hanging out and get ready to reel.
My introduction to inshore fishing when I was just 5 or 6 years old was fishing for sheepshead and mangrove snapper with fiddler crabs. Back then I liked catching the crabs as much as catching the fish.
My older brothers and I would wade out to a mangrove island once our bucket was full of fiddler crabs and start catching fish with our cane poles. We could fill a stringer with sheepshead and mangrove snapper in just a couple hours of fishing back then.
Our simple set up was 10 foot can poles with 15 pound mono filament line tied to the end of the cane pole. For the best distance you would have 11 feet of line and a couple of split shots.
This simple set up would get our fiddler crab offerings 20 feet away from where we were wading. If you have never fished with a cane pole, then you should try it. It is a challenge and a blast.
What are the best size hooks for catching mangrove snapper with jigs?
Mangrove snapper will readily hit small jig when they are feeding upon minnows, sardines, herring or any other small white bait. My favorite choice for catching snapper with jigs is a 1/8 ounce red jig head coupled with a 3 inch white paddle tail shad.
I like the hooks to have a wide gap between the hook point and the shaft. This seems to improve the hook up ratio.
This set up is deadly for catching snapper when they are out on the grass flats feeding on the schools of white baits. You just have to get your jig under the school because the mangrove snapper will be hiding near the bottom waiting to ambush unsuspecting prey items that get too close.
A steady retrieve with an occasional twitch or two is my favorite technique. Some days they like it fast and others they want a slower retrieve. You will have to vary your retrieves to see what works best on the days that you are fishing with jigs.
WANT TO CATCH SNAPPER? BOOK YOUR FISHING CHARTER TODAY!
Watch the video below to see jig fishing for mangrove snapper, mutton snapper and speckled trout.
What is the best hook size for catching mangrove snapper with white baits?
Mangrove snapper are opportunistic feeders and will eat just about anything that will fit in their mouths. When the sardines, herring, minnows or any other white baits move through their area the snapper will gorge themselves.
You can catch them with a couple of different set ups. I like to use a #1 J hook or a 1/0 circle hook coupled with a popping cork of some sort. You just have to be in shallow water for this technique to work.
Let's say you are fishing around a dock that is 4 feet deep. Just set your cork of about 3 feet so that your live bait offering will be within a foot or so of the bottom. This is just about perfect for the mangrove snapper to leave their structure and eat your bait.
You will want to hook your white bait in the nose for best results.
Another great set up is to add a split shot and sink your white bait near the structure where you think the snapper are hanging out. The split shot will make it easier for the snapper to catch the bait and keep it near the bottom.
Conclusion:
Mangrove snappers and sheepshead are very abundant inshore but can frustrate many fishermen that try and target them. They are very hard to catch if your hooks are too big. It is a very simple fix but if you are using J hooks you will have to stay focused or you will kill a lot of fish.
Small hooks are easy for fish to swallow and get gut hooked. There is no sense in killing a fish unless you are planning on eating it.
If you use a 1/0 circle hook then you won't have to worry as much because the fish will hook themselves in the corner or their mouths. They are very unlikely to swallow the hooks and harm themselves.
These two fish species are good ones if you want to get a kid hooked on fishing. They will usually be found in large numbers so if you catch one you will probably catch a lot more. Kids need to keep catching fish or they will lose interest.
I hope that this article helps you catch more fish or at the very least have more fun trying.
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