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Photo: albert kok, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lutjanus apodus
How to catch Schoolmaster snapper in Florida
Schoolmaster snapper feed in 72–90°F water and bite best at 76–86°F.
12 pts · trophy at 16"Feeds 72–90°FBest 76–86°FIn season nowArtificial reefMangrove shorelineDock / pilingsBridge
About
The yellow-finned snapper of the Keys mangroves and patch reefs, in schools under every overhang, that eats a shrimp on sight and grows to a couple of pounds. Good on the plate.
How to fish it
A shrimp on a #1 hook and a light fluorocarbon leader tight to the mangroves or the patch; they're not shy.
What it eats
live shrimpsmall pilchardscut bait
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.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 10" within the snapper aggregate — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule at MyFWC →Month by month, water by water
When schoolmaster 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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