The Tampa Bay Times
The bottom water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico is just under the magic mark of 72 degrees. When the bottom hovers around 72 degrees the bottom fishing and spearing is hot. Mangrove snappers are on almost every type of bottom and they are busy hitting on the bait pods that have moved up into our area as they follow the waters in the 72 degrees spectrum. Some of the bigger mangrove snappers are letting their guard down as they feist on the abundant food and it is something to see. As these snappers flirt around in a group feeding fashion the grey marking that run from the nose of the fish up the forehead turns dark black. This is the look of feeding frenzy snappers. Fishermen don’t get to see these dark markings as the divers do and that’s a shame. The darker markings remind me of war paint. Yes, snappers show their war paint when they are on the feed. Mixed up with the mangroves are some red snappers and make sure you don’t spear them as the season for red snappers is not open. One of the keys to see the difference is that the red snappers are almost totally white. Water absorbs colors and red is the first color we lose when diving and that makes the red snappers white! All the red coloring is gone and the only other color is the black center of the eye.
- Jay Mastry - March 26, 2024
- Captains Corner, Gorta - March 23, 2024
- Dave Zalewski - March 12, 2024
