BETTER SNAPPER STRATEGIES
Churning Up Snapper
 EDITOR'S
NOTE: With snapper season in high gear this summer,
I've collected new and better ways to catch more and
bigger snapper. And there’s plenty of good news
on the Upper Gulf Coast this summer. If you look at
the area Hurricane Dennis went through in July, 2005,
you’ll see the resulting destruction, but not
nearly as much as Hurricane Ivan caused. Many of the
charter boats are still up and running, however many
of the fisherman normally there at this time of the
year aren’t, but you should be and here’s
why. Right after a major disturbance in the Gulf of
Mexico, like Hurricane Dennis, bottom feeders like snapper
and grouper migrate. If history repeats itself, the
Alabama/Mississippi Gulf Coast would have a tremendous
influx of grouper and the Florida Panhandle, including
the Destin and Panama City area, should have a huge
influx in snapper. Right now, you have a window of opportunity
to travel to the Upper Gulf Coast and catch more and
bigger snapper than ever before.
 For
anglers who like to fish with fresh chum better than
frozen chum, there’s a way to get fresh chum into
the water without the mess and bother of having to cut
up or carry a large amount of chum with you. Let's look
at how one of Mississippi's well-known snapper fishermen
catches snapper and how he churns them up. Bobby Williams
of Biloxi has a secret tactic for catching snapper that
may surprise you. But first, let's take a look at Williams's
more-traditional rigging techniques. "I fish live
coral bottom near the Sulfur Mines, a group of oil platforms
out in the Gulf," says Williams, who uses 40-pound-test
main line on a 330 GTI or a 4/0 Penn reel and a Penn
International stand-up rod.
Up the main line, Williams puts a 2- to 4-ounce egg-shaped
slip sinker. The water's current dictates the weight
of Williams's lead. On the main line, he uses a black
barrel swivel. Coming from the barrel swivel, Williams’s
ties on a 3- to 6-foot-long leader from 20-pound test
up to 60-pound test.
 "If
the snapper bite aggressively, I'll use a 60-pound test,
3-foot leader," Williams explains. "If the
snapper don't seem to want to bite, I'll take the 60-pound
test off and put on 6 feet of 20-pound-test leader.
Although extremely light, the 20-pound-test leader will
lure snapper to bite. You have to first get a fish to
bite to catch it. If the snapper won't bite heavy leader,
then using a smaller leader may help you get a bite."
At the end of the leader, Williams ties a No. 3/0 or
a No. 4/0 hook. For bait, Williams chooses live croakers,
live pinfish or dead cigar minnows. "I either hook
my live bait through the end of its tail or through
the front of its eyes to get the most strikes,"
Williams reported.
After baiting his rig, Williams prepares to catch snapper
as deep as 170 feet or as shallow as 1 foot below the
surface. Once Williams motors to his fishing spot, he
utilizes a Chum Churn with menhaden and cigar minnows.
"I use a Chum Churn that grinds up fish and puts
the chum out under the water," Williams advised.
"I start chumming as soon as I get to a spot, even
before I start fishing it." Besides menhaden and
cigar minnows, Williams adds some special ingredients
to his chum as he said, "I'll boil macaroni the
day before I go fishing. After I thoroughly cook the
macaroni, I'll add a can or two of tuna fish packed
in oil. I'll also add some menhaden oil and let this
 mixture
sit overnight. As I grind up the baitfish in the Chum
Churn, I'll add the macaroni and tuna fish mix to create
a stronger odor and a larger chum line. The macaroni
holds the oil better than the meat does, and it releases
the oil when it goes out in the chum and puts an oil
slick on the surface." By using this secret chum
mixture, Williams has brought giant snapper right up
to the stern of his boat. "I've found that I'll
usually catch snapper weighing 18-to-25 pounds each
right near the surface, feeding on the chum. In an average
trip, my fishermen usually will catch six to eight fish
of this size.”
For more information on Chum Churn, visit www.chumchurn.com.
To learn more about the Mississippi Gulf Coast and fishing
in Biloxi, go to www.gulf-coast.com.
TOMORROW: USING DIAMONDS TO
CATCH SNAPPER AND LOCATING REEFS
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