Fishing for RED SNAPPER

Along with trevally, it is one of the “popular” fish that one can reel in here, be it by casting stickbaits that should be worked gently (it is when pausing that the fish strikes) but also extensively especially when anchored and fishing with live bait. It will take about one week to really understand what to do … and during the next trip, 2/3 days to get back into the swing of things, by the third trip it should be fine! This fish is indeed the cleverest of all: if hooked, it “gives back” the bait and if not, it is already in a hole somewhere … not easy at all … even for us locals with over 30 years of practice and varying degrees of success. In fact, one gets the impression of catching only the more cooperative ones or I believe there are moments of “madness” when they strike easily and others when their lips are sealed before the temptation of the delicacy that is a live yaboy (West African sardinella).

One can also catch this fish on a jig, especially slow pitch jigs, not much but nice anyway, and sometimes very large specimens on the wrecks offshore.

Fishing with dead bait works well, or else with vibrating lures (Halco “Max” for example) that make formidable weapons when drift fishing. It still requires practice as the bottom is necessarily rocky and fast drifting (strong tidal currents in the islands) is rewarding even though technically difficult with an eye on the sounder or an ear out for the skippers who deliver information on depth variation.