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Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lutjanus mahogoni
How to catch Mahogany snapper in Florida
Mahogany snapper feed in 72–90°F water and bite best at 76–86°F.
12 pts · trophy at 14"Feeds 72–90°FBest 76–86°FIn season nowArtificial reefLedge / hard bottom
About
The big-eyed, red-finned little snapper of the Keys reefs, in the chum slick with the yellowtails and the lanes. Pretty, small, and very good fried.
How to fish it
Anchor on the reef, chum, and free-line small baits on light line; they come up with the yellowtail.
What it eats
shrimpcut bait in the slicksmall jigs
Live bait for it
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.
SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader30–60 lb fluorocarbon
Hook2/0–7/0
Braid30–65 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereMinimum 12" within the snapper aggregate — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule at MyFWC →Month by month, water by water
When mahogany snapper is the story
The Ten Thousand Islands & Everglades
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The Florida Keys
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Miami & Biscayne Bay
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Palm Beach & the Treasure Coast
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