Like many things about fish, I continue to learn, after all the more you know about what you are trying to catch, the more successful you will be. When I think about it there are really only a couple of months in which you can catch really nice size Snapper in Charlotte Harbor over 14 inches. by far the most common are smaller fish, & the larger sizes are much more common in the deeper waters of the gulf. Maybe they should be thought of like Red fish, Tarpon, Shrimp, or Goliath & Gag grouper, only using the Harbor to get big enough to brave the adult world of the Gulf. Yes the more I look into it the more this seems true, the larger Snapper only come into the Harbor to spawn then head back out,
A really weird thing is that Snapper seem to get a secret message and all over the world they spawn, Yes from what I am learning all the Snappers in the world seem to get a signal and start spawning at nearly the same time. How weird is that?
Right now in the Harbor we are in the 2 to 3 week window of big snapper. They are being caught at the 41 bridge, the concert reef, cape haze reef and even larger sizes in the passes.
so get some shrimp and some white bait, because one day they will eat one and the next the other, and Snappers are some of the tastiest eating you will ever have, fresh snapper can be cooked any way and will come out great. Keep in mind they like to hug the bottom but you can raise them off the bottom by taking advantage of their greedy natures, yes they will follow at chum line right to the surface.
As a foot note to this, I have heard that many of the Snapper in Charlotte Harbor are mis-identified as Mangrove or Grey snapper, Same fish two names and are really Dog snappers which the only real difference is they have thicker teeth. I may have been wrong all these years, I am going to be checking this out this year.
Well have fun out there the weather is great the fishing could not be any better. Why are you sitting reading this, grab a pole and get your butt out there.
Frank