Mangrove snapper fishing in Biscayne Bay

In Biscayne Bay, mangrove snapper peak May–September and are around year-round, spawning in June–August, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. July: Spawn on the reef and the bridges at night.

1. JanuaryAroundSailfish season outside; snook at the inlets; bones on warm afternoons. Snook in the inlets and under the bridges on the outgoing; bonefish on the bay flats only on warm afternoons; kings on the reef edge.
2. FebruaryAroundSnook opens; kings and cobia nearshore; the flats reload between fronts. Snook harvest opens the 1st — the inlets and bridges. Cobia and kings on the wrecks; bonefish and permit on the flats when the water tops 72.
3. MarchAround
4. AprilAroundPeak tarpon at the inlets and bridges; the flats are full. The Miami tarpon run — the inlets, the bay bridges and the beach at dawn. Permit on the flats and the wrecks.
5. MayPeakTarpon continue; snook to the inlets to spawn; permit on the wrecks. Snook stage at the inlets (harvest closes the 31st); tarpon still in the cuts; permit spawn on the nearshore wrecks.
6. JuneSpawningBeach and inlet snook at dawn; snapper spawn on the reef. Snook in the surf and the inlet on the first light; mangrove snapper thick on the reef and the bridges; bonefish on the oceanside flats early.
7. JulySpawningSpawn on the reef and the bridges at night.
8. AugustSpawningBonefish and permit peak on the flats; snook stack at the inlets. The best flats month of the summer for bones and permit; snook in the inlets on the night outgoing.
9. SeptemberPeakSnook reopens; the mullet run starts on the beach. Snook harvest reopens the 1st, and the fall mullet run brings snook, tarpon and jacks to the beach and the inlets. Bones on the higher fall tides.
10. OctoberAround
11. NovemberAroundSailfish begin; bones on the fall tides; snook at the inlets. Bonefish on the oceanside flats on the big fall tides; snook in the inlets; kings and the first cobia on the wrecks.
12. DecemberAroundSnook closes mid-month; winter reef and inlet pattern. Last snook harvest to the 14th. Kings and cobia on the wrecks, snapper on the reef, bones only on the warm afternoons.

Biscayne Bay's grass flats and the finger channels between them, the bayside mangrove shorelines of the national park, the inlets (Government Cut, Haulover, Port Everglades), and the reef line within a couple of miles of the beach.

Fish Scouter charts 515 artificial reef, 478 dock / pilings, 391 wreck, 332 ledge / hard bottom, 135 mangrove shoreline spots in the Miami & Biscayne Bay map area — the kinds mangrove snapper hold on.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• Pilchards (whitebait)Free-lined or under a cork, hooked through the nose on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook. The one bait that catches everything inshore.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.

• Leader15–30 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#1–2/0
• Jig head1/8–1/4 oz
• Braid10–20 lb

Feeds in 68–90°F water, best at 74–86°F.

All about mangrove snapper · Miami & Biscayne Bay, the whole year