[Gonefishingagain79]

I’m new to the offshore fishing seen. I plan on snapper fishing and hopefully finding some grouper too. My home port is Freeport, Tx. I have a few spots, not asking for any spots, just looking for a little guidance. Is, live bait a must or will frozen or jigging work out of Freeport? Any, advise would be appreciate.

 

[matawest]

Snapper are thick and are a gimme 30+ miles out (they will eat anything). To have a good chance at grouper need to be in 200+ ft which is 70 miles out.

 

[GnarwhalOutdoors]

What he said ^

There are some small good spots out of freeport to the south around 16-18 miles that can be good producers for ARS early season. J shrimp area..

 

[Capt_Gilligan]

For snapper, everything works. Jigs might take a little longer but not much. Have had snapper hit bare hooks dangled over the side more than once.

Grouper will be better on smaller isolated rocks in 190ft and deeper. They like BIG live baits. Keeps the snappers at bay too.

 

[reel thing]

You might also try for grouper on wellheads. Those are not hit very much and a lot of them out there.

 

[TexasEdition]

Snapper are not a problem out of Freeport if you like to fish 2 months a year. Literally like shooting fish in a barrel. They have pretty much overrun every reef inside of 60 miles. You will have to streatch it out 60+ miles, perhaps more to get into anything else other than snapper.

 

[Capt_Gilligan]

Snapper are not a problem out of Freeport if you like to fish 2 months a year. Literally like shooting fish in a barrel. They have pretty much overrun every reef inside of 60 miles. You will have to streatch it out 60+ miles, perhaps more to get into anything else other than snapper.

Yeah… we dropped some good sized live piggies and sand trout last year (yes, I know it’s not ideal bait but we were struggling on blue runners) down to some rocks in like 690ft hoping to entice a few grouper out…. 25lb snapper galore. Very disappointing.

 

[TexasEdition]

Yeah… we dropped some good sized live piggies and sand trout last year (yes, I know it’s not ideal bait but we were struggling on blue runners) down to some rocks in like 690ft hoping to entice a few grouper out…. 25lb snapper galore. Very disappointing.

There are a couple of rigs SE of freeport, maybe 10-12 miles that used to be loaded wtih hart tails and blue runners. They have been bare the last 2 years.

 

[Capt_Gilligan]

There are a couple of rigs SE of freeport, maybe 10-12 miles that used to be loaded wtih hart tails and blue runners. They have been bare the last 2 years.

We used to stop there back in ‘15 and ‘16. The baits became more scarce after that. We used to catch a lot of baits at the little nipple that was about 12 miles straight out the chute too. That little well was always covered in threadfin. 3 sabiki rigs would load the livewell in 5-10 minutes and on out deeper.

 

[Texans1]

You can catch ARS with cigarette butts

 

[TartandHr]

You can catch ARS with cigarette butts

That's funny

 

[TexasEdition]

You can catch ARS with cigarette butts

I'm going to do this just for ****s and giggles.

 

[Capt_Gilligan]

I'm going to do this just for ****s and giggles.

They like the twig-n-berries shaped spoons too.

 

[Gonefishingagain79]

What he said ^

There are some small good spots out of freeport to the south around 16-18 miles that can be good producers for ARS early season. J shrimp area..

Thank you for the tips.

 

[Gonefishingagain79]

Snapper are thick and are a gimme 30+ miles out (they will eat anything). To have a good chance at grouper need to be in 200+ ft which is 70 miles out.

Thank you so much for the advise.

 

[Gonefishingagain79]

We used to stop there back in ‘15 and ‘16. The baits became more scarce after that. We used to catch a lot of baits at the little nipple that was about 12 miles straight out the chute too. That little well was always covered in threadfin. 3 sabiki rigs would load the livewell in 5-10 minutes and on out deeper.

Thank you for the advise.

 

[Drundel]

No, you don't need live bait. You can probably catch better quality of fish on live bait, but if you want to do it easy, get some snapper slappers and tip them with cut bait of your choice. I find they catch better quality of fish then just a baited hooks and a heavy weight.

Normal federal water season, don't stop until you are in 100' of water and trust your sonar.

 

[Capt_Gilligan]

No, you don't need live bait. You can probably catch better quality of fish on live bait, but if you want to do it easy, get some snapper slappers and tip them with cut bait of your choice. I find they catch better quality of fish then just a baited hooks and a heavy weight.

Normal federal water season, don't stop until you are in 100' of water and trust your sonar.

Big bucktail with a gulp grub does well for snapper. Usually 10lbs or better on those. But the truth is, anything does well for snapper….

 

[WhiskeyMike]

I'm going to do this just for ****s and giggles.

Great now I'm going to have to try this also lol

 

[Jim's Boat Addiction]

Two years ago I watched a guy using remaining heads from a craw fish boil slaying snapper.
I also had a tree frog on my boat once and thought what the hell? 15 Lb. Snapper!