Catching big snappers offshore comes down to chumming heavily to build the spot, then using larger baits fished either tight under the boat or far back behind it. For this How 2 Tuesday I share what I have learned fishing alongside experts like Steve Roger and Scott Walker on Into the Blue. The best snapper fishermen do not just find a spot, they build one with a commercial chum bag and a lot of chum. Then they get past the little fish with bigger baits, drop sandballs to chum vertically, and pay a bait way back to reach the big grays, muttons, and yellowtail.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
You build the spot with a lot of chum, then use bigger baits to get past the small fish. The best snapper fishermen use a commercial chum bag and a five-pound-plus block, sometimes a whole case of chum, to draw fish and let everything build. Then they fish larger baits like a full pilchard or a plug of ballyhoo, either right under the boat where big fish stack, or cast far behind the boat and let it drop to the bottom. Patience while the spot builds is the key.
Because a commercial chum bag made of old shrimp net disperses chum fast through the wave action, so a five-pound block goes quickly, and the scent has to reach fish that may be a long way off and a long way down. In a hundred or two hundred feet of water, the chum the fish behind the boat do not eat keeps trickling toward the bottom for a long time. The more you chum, the more big fish you pull in, so you build the spot before you even fish.
Bigger baits that the small fish cannot inhale instantly. A jig head with a full-size pilchard works for gray snappers, or a plug of ballyhoo with the head and tail cut off dropped down. If you go out with just jig heads and shrimp, the little snappers will destroy your bait before a big one gets it. Stepping up the bait size is how you select for the larger grays, muttons, and big yellowtail.
A sandball is a mix of sand and thawed chum you pack into a ball and drop, so it sinks and disintegrates on the way down, chumming vertically instead of just across the surface. You can also hide your bait, even a live pilchard, inside a sandball so it makes it down through the frenzy of fish behind the boat to the bottom. A little tug breaks it open and leaves a live bait on the bottom where the big snappers are.
When the fishing gets tough, use a small hook or tiny jig head, a bait a bit larger than what is behind the boat, and pay line out so the bait mimics the chum drifting slowly down. It may take a hundred yards to reach bottom. You will not feel much, but when the line accelerates or stops, that is a bite or the bottom. Reel fast to check. It takes practice to sense the bite on the drop-back and to judge how far to let it go.
Because you are not just landing on the best snapper spot, you are creating it. Heavy chum over an hour or two pulls in snappers, grouper, goliath grouper, barracuda, and more, and the feeding fish put off a signature that draws even more. If you are patient enough to let it all build and then pay a bait way back, there are bigger snappers available than you would imagine, whether you are on an eight-foot channel or two hundred feet of reef.
The biggest thing I learned from Steve Roger and the Into the Blue crew is that they do not find the best snapper spot, they build it. A commercial chum bag and a lot of chum pulls in snappers, grouper, barracuda, and more over an hour or two, and the feeding signature draws still more fish. I explain how that patience pays off in the episode, so press play in the player above.
If you drop jig heads and shrimp, the little snappers will eat you alive before a big one ever gets a shot. The fix is bigger baits, a full pilchard or a plug of ballyhoo, that the small fish cannot inhale. I break down the bait choices that select for the larger grays and muttons in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Two tricks change the game. Sandballs let you chum vertically and even sneak a live pilchard to the bottom through the frenzy, and the long drop-back pays a bait way behind the boat to mimic the drifting chum. Sensing that bite on the drop takes practice. I walk through both in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Pay attention to your chum, bring more than you think, use bigger baits, and be ready to fish both under the boat and way back behind it. Do that and you will start catching the bigger ones.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
snapper · mutton snapper · gray snapper · yellowtail · offshore fishing · chumming · Steve Roger · Scott Walker · Into the Blue · sandball chum · ballyhoo · pilchard · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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