Some times August fishing is just TOO hot for a lot of anglers. The one way to fix that is to leave the heat behind and do an afternoon trip. That's what we did last week. It's important to always check the future forecast for those evening storms because with certain wind flows they can get bad in the evening. Weather was cleared so we left dock around 2pm and we took a trip out to some Red Snapper spots. Fished them fast and got our allotted 10 we were allowed. Very nice sized ones in the 30 plus inch range. Some on bottom rigs but most on 3/8oz SnappaSlappa jig or 2oz pink Grouper ball. Threw a handful of nice Red grouper in the box as well. I wanted to get on our Mango spot at least an hour before sunset and we did. Set up a chum slick, and started fishing. Picked them off slowly, mainly on 1/2oz and 3/8oz Jigs with dead sardines. Anything live was getting eaten by jacks so we stuck with frozen sardines. The bite was slow but we picked up around 25 mango's with 5 or 6 yellowtail mixed in. Even caught a very nice sized Hogfish on a 2oz Bofa Deez Hogfish Ball. The sun was now set and the bite just wasn't great. We decided to move over to another rock pile a mile away and it was ON! Everything dropped down on a jig was obliterated! Live pins, frozen sardines and live shrimp, all eaten as the jig drifted down! Took no more than 20 minutes for our crew of 6 to get the 30 more Mangos to finish up our limit! Most fish were over the 20 inch range with the biggest being 27 inched. I even added a nice 28inch permit which isn't a normal catch.
To wrap up, don't let the hot weather bring you down and keep you off the water. This is probably the BEST time of year to take advantage of the night time Snapper bite! It is honestly one of my favorite types of fishing trips! Till the next time, tight lines!
-Capt, Chris "SnappaSlappa" LaRosa
Some more pics of trip https://www.facebook.com/share/16ps6EKmHY/