2 Tricks To Catching Big Mangrove Snapper Inshore

It's dinner time!
In this video, we've got Capt. Mark "Hollywood" Johnson from FloridaKeysFunFishing.com showing you how to catch keeper-size mangrove snapper when fishing inshore.
These fish are delicious to eat, fun to catch for the whole family, and with these tips, you can catch a ton of keeper fish without going offshore.
You'll learn:
- An easy (and cleaner) way to chum up mangrove snapper
- How to catch the big snapper (and avoid the little ones)
- What bait to use to catch keeper-size snapper
- And much more
Check it out below.
Have any questions about catching inshore mangrove snapper?
Let us know in the comments below!
And to get our best fishing spots and tips, plus discounts to our online tackle store, click here to join us in the Insider Club: bit.ly/2DeZax2

[@Saltstrong]

To get our best fishing spots and tips, plus discounts to our online tackle store, click here to join us in the Insider Club: bit.ly/2DeZax2

[@lucianodominic6186]

Sorry to be so offtopic but does someone know of a trick to log back into an instagram account? I was stupid forgot the login password. I appreciate any help you can offer me.

[@pedrokorbin4507]

@Luciano Dominic instablaster =)

[@lucianodominic6186]

@Pedro Korbin I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and Im in the hacking process now. I see it takes quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.

[@lucianodominic6186]

@Pedro Korbin It did the trick and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thank you so much, you saved my ass!

[@pedrokorbin4507]

@Luciano Dominic you are welcome xD

[@zaywrld7899]

I caught a big mangrove snapper inshore with shrimp it was my first time catching one

[@over1498]

Thanks for this. As someone without a boat, or even a way to use live bait currently, this is a great video. Really just reassuring that I CAN use cut bait and some chum

[@minibar7165]

Very nice video tutorial. Preparing the cut pinfish bait was helpful. I now prepare my cut bait the day before I head out and keep it on ice in ziplock bags. Saves so much time while on the water and less messy... the same approach works for Yellowtail Snappers.

[@frostizz2072]

I have frozen greenbacks and just grab a bag and go

[@pinkfloydguy1149]

Great vids bro! I love watching your videos and I learn alot from you!

[@RichM0410]

Capt Mark I definitely listen to! A couple weeks ago I started using the method he shared on hooking a live shrimp. By golly it’s possible the moon and stars aligned and has nothing to do with his method! BUT, since using his method it has been FISH ON! I swear this new method has increased the bite! Thank you sir👍

[@bridgettwilliams6329]

Great video. Good demo. Valuable information. Tyvm.

[@OFFFishing]

Best fish tacos 🌮 😋 👌

[@cmfishing18]

agreed haha

[@webincomeincome8767]

Great video and thanks for chunk tip. Makes great sense. I prefer using inline circle hooks rather than offset because you will gut hook almost zero fish. Offset ones will still fit hook a few and I hate killing undersize fish.

[@marktaylor4960]

A good tip, thanks, I hate it too.

[@reefermadniss9453]

My son and I catch 20-30+ mango’s every time we fish the intracoastal in New Smyrna Beach….obviously they’re not all keepers, but the fishing is on 🔥

[@TylerGoesFishing]

thanks for the info keep the videos coming

[@jamiehoward1906]

Thanks! I will try this, i love using mud minnows also they seem to be more hardy than finger mullet.

[@MedicalMyke]

You are in the keys and offshore, how is that "inshore"...

[@saintaubyn1871]

Nice vid. Very informative.

[@janicecorrea6510]

Excellent tutorials

[@donnier3284]

Very nice video!

[@SWFL_FISHING_239]

Good fishing tips!! Will do it next time lol and yes they bite 😭😂😂

[@jimcole5387]

Great video.

[@detroitchapteriiba2383]

great video - I learned a lot from this one video.

[@Saltstrong]

Glad it was helpful!

[@luxurysports101]

Damn y'all was cleaning house that day.😃 Great day for Salt Strong

[@jelly_fishing]

Awesome video !! Nice snapper

[@Saltstrong]

Thanks Pablo!

[@FiremanCookie]

I can definitely say they bite really hard and very quick. I've had luck recently catching them using popping cork

[@garuzbelitong4339]

Cool tips..

[@ivancabrera3703]

Great info. I can find them but because I am using live shrimp, I am staying with the smaller ones and couldn't figure out how to get the bigger ones. Will definitely try this.

[@FishingDohaR]

Very nice! Is that a keeper my friend? Great video

[@danielwaleski6046]

Great video . Thank u.

[@Saltstrong]

No problem! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jakemorrison1005]

Nice Mercury engine! I prefer Yamaha but Mercury are also really nice! Engines are really what you prefer, you might like a loud but fast engine or a less loud but not as fast engine, I wish I had a four stroke like you, my Yamaha is a 2 stroke!

[@theavrgjoe8656]

Delicious!!

[@jimcarter7055]

Great tips, thanks! I was wondering about the spot that was chosen....on a flat near a deeper channel?

[@redbirdsjunkie]

Weird spot to catch one, but I reeled one in from the Packery Channel in Corpus Christi this past weekend. Didn't know they were in this area.

[@cmfishing18]

Lol yeah these fish seem to exist anywhere in saltwater

[@mrsuarez430]

Nice video ....low tide.. thread herring cut in half chunks late at night( very big ones around 4 am ) toss as deep in you can in the mangrove line free line if current allows IMO been fishing mangroves and cuberas in the keys my whole life lol also these guys know what there talking about! all snapper love lady fish fillets from muttons to dogs

[@thebrainybrrute2261]

Mind telling me a spot or two for em ? :)

[@ewingsharp8916]

great tips! Looking forward to chumming up some better fish!

[@Saltstrong]

awesome! glad you found the video the video helpful!

[@junkmail428]

Mark Andrade Here..you guys Rock

[@Saltstrong]

Thanks for the support!

[@hedge7743]

Awesome video! Any suggestions for PCB on foot? I camp at St. Andrews. Thanks Fam!

[@Patrick-ni7bs]

I do this with the bluefish at my local bay if you tie on a smaller hook or 2 live line some minnows and let out some slack you'll catch a lot of bluefish and other fish to

[@bobbysuttles9539]

not to mention the chum bag usually ends up as trash in the water as well. cool product

[@ronscott2343]

Great information in this video. Just went out and my fishing buddy caught 15 to my 1 (ONE). Same boat, same bait, same water, both using a jighead. In this video, how are you fishing with no weight ?

[@forty-glocc]

I need help on finding a rod to pair up with my Penn slammer 3 4500. Right now I have a Ugly Stik Tiger Lite but looking to change things up. Normally I jig for fluke/flounder but I always inshore fish pretty much for anything up here in New England. Stripers, Bluefish, black fish, black sea bass.. i like around 6'9".. any suggestions would be awesome. Thanks in advance

[@r.kmallory2490]

Very Educational Video. 🌟🌟🌟

[@Saltstrong]

Glad you think so!

[@FloridaBoyGrizz]

I think ima go catch me some snapper to keep haven’t had mangrove snapper yet. Caught a lot of snapper last week keeper size to just didn’t plan to keep any

[@fabmaster911]

What kind of structure were you over? How deep?

[@Conk102]

Thanks for the informative video, awesome job! What kind of chum would you suggest? Thank you

[@Saltstrong]

Great question! Make sure to ask this over in the Community (www.saltstrong.com/) where the coaches spend their time.

[@oldschoolgamers2765]

Those are some amazing rods.. What are those.. Please recommend

[@user-dz6qs6bl2y]

Great footage ur team is awesome my question is where were you all fishing

[@Saltstrong]

Thanks so much!! This is down in the Florida Keys

[@slothbasket3660]

This video came at the perfect time, Ive been spending the last few weeks trying to learn how to catch mangoes. I am unfortunately land locked, but have been having some success. Ive only been fishing with live shrimp and mud minnows, but all the tiny snapper have been stealing my bait left and right. Im going to try some chunk bait next time I go out. I would love to see some tips on shore fishing for mangrove snapper if you guys have any. Would you recommend trying to use a chum bag from the shore/rocks? Thanks for the vid.

[@tritontrinh8610]

Where do you fish? You can catch decent bait for chumming/ cut bait inshore.

[@slothbasket3660]

@@tritontrinh8610 I fish around south Tampa, Picnic island, Davis island, and sometimes near the Gandy bridge north beach. Still learning good spots. I've had success catching mud minnows, small mullet, greenbacks, and pinfish. Ive just never chummed before, or really fished with cut bait. I thow out live mudminnows or shrimp mostly but the little snaps are fast to find them.

[@robertmcdonald3101]

I catch mangrove snapper all the time on a boat launch in nw florida..i use live pinfish 3 fingers wide..use circle hook..flourocarbon leader. 12 inch consistently..plus flounder( 19inch)..i hook pinfish in upper lip..

[@BigESmalls]

Your post was 3 years ago, any luck catching larger snappers? I moved to the same area about 3 years ago and just now starting to get into snapper fishing and I'm not having a lot of luck in the Tampa area. I don't know if it's because of red tide and fish kills but seems like there aren't a lot of decent fish out there, and that goes for snook, red fish etc. Seem like...for this area, we have to go out deep sea fishing to catch something other than a catfish. I've tried the Skyway fishing pier several time and most of what I catch there are pin fish. I rented a boat, went out into the bay and tried the chum bag for the first time, guess I didn't know what I was doing, we caught some large puffer fish and small grunts. From the shore, we just seem to get a log of cat fish on premium shrimp and pin fish. @@slothbasket3660​

[@AlbertoDelucca]

Great Chum Box, and specially made by Veterans. Where can I buy one?

[@bernardmerida2221]

what is the name of that chum box . And when I can get it

[@chrisjones720]

My PB is “14 Love the fight mangroves put up, Good eating fish too

[@Brandon-ju5pg]

Only 14 😂 I caught a 24..

[@chrisjones720]

Brandon Baklayan Were you offshore or inshore? Inshore they will be smaller for sure.

[@Brandon-ju5pg]

CJ Jones inshore but it was a good spot

[@chrisjones720]

Brandon Baklayan Nice

[@jimvreyes]

What's the best chum to use for snapper? Any recipes? ☺

[@jasl7358]

If there are a lot of bermuda chubs around they will literally eat holes through a chum bag. I'll bet that box works great

[@guyver3]

Where can I buy the chum box? It's pretty cool.

[@SusheelSRaj]

Superb

[@Saltstrong]

Thank you!

[@erbeltran2]

Were those rods 17lb line? what action? If you don't mind me asking, great video..thx.

[@Saltstrong]

Both rods were 7'6" fast action rods with 10 lb braid and a 20 lb leader. Joe's was a medium power TFO and mine was a Heavy power G Loomis E6X (both feel very similar which shows how different the rating systems can be between different brands).

[@russellhaas9860]

So glad I live in the big bend.. We catch them up to 12 pounds all day on the towers.

[@russellhaas9860]

That's the technique to use to catch the biggies too!

[@TheRuggedbaracuda]

Drop those coordinates

[@KrisCranks]

Lmao perfectly cuts an inch when saying “half inch” lmao, humans...

[@dmghostman555]

😂😂😂

[@samuelstory1619]

huh

[@ChillinHD]

so can you do this year round? What months of the year are mangroves around?

[@Saltstrong]

You definitely can try this method year round!

[@MSDAISYM20]

I go fishing on my canal behind my house and we always catch these

[@cmfishing18]

This is a great video. Weeding through those 9 inchers can be exhausting.

[@Saltstrong]

Thanks!

[@joedoug3647]

Video starts at 2:45

[@MrGabys91]

Were you guys fishing a grass flat? If so, what depth??

[@smcewen7]

I can say from experience they do bite hard...😬

[@danielforever5829]

Veryyyy😂😂😂

[@garykay7418]

right through the thumbnail

[@BeachBumTV]

Oh yeah they do 🙂🙂🙂

[@mjmadhu67janardhanan55]

Could you clarify Chum

[@danielcurbelo5653]

Did you freeline or did you use a weight?

[@Ch_ozz]

Hi, nice video what feet of water y’all was fishing in

[@Saltstrong]

Roughly 10-20 feet!

[@williamdeeds9242]

i need one of them ... Where do i get these ?? Did i miss that ??

[@BrandonSmith-jg3gp]

Were you guys anchored or drifting

[@1dotele]

no link to the chum box?

[@GuillermoMata]

Awesome. What size hooks?

[@cmfishing18]

not sure about the video, but I do a fair share of snapper fishing with any thing from size 4.... to 1/0. Snapper can be picky so smaller hooks are better

[@Saltstrong]

Hook size depends on the size of the bait used. We were.size 1 for this video due to the size of the bait chunks we were using.

[@saltwaterinmyveins]

I’ve done good with #4 Kahle hooks.

[@AndyEmerson8]

Great eating fish! Love that chum box.

[@GenesisHealthy]

1:40 stainless... except for the rusting hinge nut.

[@tommytimmermann3519]

What was the water depth?

[@lindaw8950]

Please take me fishing. I live off Port Charlotte Harbor. I'll come to you!

[@Saltstrong]

We do have meet up's for our Insider Members!

[@arnoldmendoza8003]

What set up of rig do tou use mangroove snapper??

[@Saltstrong]

Just normal inshore spinning gear... 7'6" MH fast action rod with a 2500 sized reel and 10 lb braid with a 20 lb leader.

[@billymcdaniel4855]

Who makes the chum basket?

[@Saltstrong]

Chum Dinger

[@fishingwithadrian754]

What size hooks were you using?

[@Saltstrong]

We were using.size 1 for this video due to the size of the bait chunks we were dropping down to the snapper.

[@DavidYarber]

Mango Tango! One of the wariest fish that swims. They seem to figure out what's up after a while. Cool action!

[@Saltstrong]

Thanks David!

[@pinkfloydguy1149]

Confused? How'd you post 23 hours ago lol

[@Thefishingplumber]

@@pinkfloydguy1149 im catching on, wth!

[@Saltstrong]

@@pinkfloydguy1149 We post videos on our website (www.saltstrong.com/) a day before we take them live in KZbin, so he must have clicked through our site to access this video in KZbin before it was officially posted.

[@pinkfloydguy1149]

Oh ok

[@coopercoming8524]

Any tips on preferable conditions for mangrove snapp . I was throwing for some redfish the other day and one grabbed my shrimp . Didn’t realize they would be so far inland

[@Saltstrong]

Check out the full blog on our website and post your question there. That way, our coaches can respond back directly with their input and recommendation. You can find that here: www.saltstrong.com/articles/catch-keeper-size-inshore-mangrove-snapper/

[@deesmith8809]

Hello Friend, What size circle hook are you using?

[@Saltstrong]

Great question! Make sure to ask this over in the Community (www.saltstrong.com/) where the coaches spend their time.

[@winstonthomas7620]

My name is Winston and I was wondering were can I get the chum box to buy

[@roberthurtado2396]

Where can I order the chum box??

[@Xile0508]

Is this method replicable onshore fishing? Thanks in advanced.

[@dougcardone1715]

100% but check chumming regulations. Some counties in Florida don’t allow it within a certain distance of shore.

[@djlamb5258]

Were you guys inshore on a structure or grass flats

[@Saltstrong]

We were out in about 8 ft of water with patchy grass (mix of sand and grass patches).

[@deepnature6117]

Looked like small ones to me.

[@asianjack3542]

Does this chum attracted crocodiles? Cause where i fish tere is some bigg lizard down there

[@d3s1r3dpk]

Do you have a video thats more of a guide for fishing for snappers solo as a beginner off the shore?

[@Saltstrong]

We have several blogs and videos that might be helpful. Check out the Fishing Tips section of our website and use the Search to search for snapper. You can find that here: www.saltstrong.com/fishing-tips/.

[@jamiehoward1906]

Will that technique work anywhere? I fish Daytona area.

[@cmfishing18]

The concept of chumming and the bait technique they talk about should work anywhere. If there are snapper where you fish in Daytona, this should work

[@nicstr28]

You should catch much nicer size fish around daytona

[@nicstr28]

I wish theyd raise the size limit on mangroves. 10" to most people means theyll keep 6". Being a native I will turn them in.like i did a guy with his family. Fwc emailed me and told me they got him with 28 undersize mangroves and 3 - 12" grouper fishing from shore. I will turn them in without hesitation

[@graceleah3216]

Nope, the snappers in Daytona are smarter.

[@Snookchaser007]

Small live finger mullet keep the smalls down also plenty in the river in Daytona

[@steelfin5895]

I swear I saw u at bud n maries

[@joemccarthy552]

So where do you get the chum box??

[@cmfishing18]

good question. I need to know

[@Saltstrong]

www.thechumdinger.com/

[@madelinbuch9811]

I would like to be a member . How can I contact you? Actually, I would like to go fishing this Saturday !

[@notclipsvr2475]

Did they not use a sinker I’m gonna make this rig but is there a sinker????

[@UrbanFisherman]

Great info

[@ronaldarthur3428]

I live in The Bahamas, How do u take hook out Fish mouth with o destroying the fish ?

[@Saltstrong]

Great question! Make sure to ask this over in the Community (www.saltstrong.com/) where the coaches spend their time.

[@denpepp4342]

Where do you find the chum block

[@Saltstrong]

Thank you for your question! We have a massive library of fishing tips on our website along with a search feature to let you quickly filter down to find help you're looking for, so just go to www.saltstrong.com/ and use the Search feature in the top menu. Note: If you don't see the exact answer you're looking for, just leave a comment in the post that most closely matches up with your search and one of our coaches will respond to your question... our coaches only make time to answer questions that get submitted to our website.

[@denpepp4342]

Ok thanks I am an insider member. Thanks for the work!

[@ALSAIBANI]

I need a fishing rod for casting, so why would you advise me?

[@pinkfloydguy1149]

What type of reel?

[@TheRunForrestRunxx]

fenwick hmg 7'6" or falcon clearwater 7'6". both $100 options and walk in replacement warranty

[@ALSAIBANI]

@@TheRunForrestRunxx thank you

[@kevinyoung947]

I prefer mangrove snapper to pretty much anything i think there better then yellowtail

[@bloodyfingers8633]

I've caught em off of gulp and they have a pretty hard time destroying a plastic.

[@Saltstrong]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@jamesdelaney3797]

I thought you said big Mangrove snappers

[@billymcdaniel4855]

It's made by Chum dinger

[@Saltstrong]

Thanks for the tip!

[@kaox44]

What? I thought these are Grunts and been tossing them away...big ones too.

[@wolfsvision940]

10 inch maybe the the size limit but anything under 12 isn't worth cleaning IMO

[@NARWALINVASION]

Yeah cutting those filets can be be pointless but those smaller mangroves can be pretty decent cooked whole. Just descaled, gutted, head off, and the fins with spines. You make use of all the meat too. Score the skin a bit for the seasoning to get caught in and you have a solid dinner

[@wolfsvision940]

@NARWALINVASION I'm with ya whole fried is my favorite way to eat them. 10 inch is still small IMO

[@georgeniebergall7074]

I'm watching your channel and I love the area of deficient I want you to make everyone aware that they're dumpling radioactive water in Tampa Bay area it's a big huge site they admitted to dumping $250,000 gallons just a couple of days ago you can bet if they admitted that they admitted a lot more try millions of gallons it will totally destroy the fishing through all of the Gulf if it's allowed everyone needs to sound the alarm right to your governor this is no joke

[@MeMyselfandI-hr6bu]

Where? I"m up near crystal river and i've always wondered about the power plant here.

[@drewdupree5332]

Try macaroni next time. Large elbows