How to Catch the Biggest Snapper On Any Spot

EDITOR'S NOTE: This week, we'll discuss how you can use wimpy tackle to take more snapper. Small, light-line tackle can and will produce more and bigger snapper than heavier tackle will. Let's look at what Pure Fishing learned in the summer of 2000 while fishing off Alabama's Gulf Coast with John Prochnow, new-products manager for Pure Fishing, on Captain George Pfeiffer's charter boat, the C.A.T., based in Orange Beach, Alabama.

Most anglers will catch one to two undersized snapper for every 16-inch snapper they land. However, when fishing with Pfeiffer on the charter boat C.A.T., you rarely catch undersized snapper.

"Small snapper have to stay close to a reef or a wreck to keep from being eaten by bigger prey fish," Pfeiffer said. "Bigger snapper hold higher up in the water where there's more baitfish swimming above a wreck or reef. By fishing from the top down instead of from the bottom up, you'll usually catch the bigger snapper first and rarely if ever catch the smaller snapper."

As an example of how Pfeiffer fishes, if he fishes on a 130-foot wreck or reef, he'll ask his anglers to let their lines down about 40 feet. Then he'll stop them and wait on their bites. If they don't get any bites, he'll ask them to lower their lines another 10 feet. He'll ask them to continue to lower their lines until the fish start biting. By using this technique, Pfeiffer catches the biggest fish first, which always hold at the top of the school.

"As you begin to catch snapper, the bigger fish will move closer to the surface as bottom feeders come up to regurgitate the bait they have just eaten," Pfeiffer explained. "This creates a chum line higher in the water. The bigger fish will move up to feed on that chum line. So, with the more snapper you catch, the higher you'll find the big fish in the water."

By using Berkley's Power Tubes loaded with Power Jelly and Sparkles Nuggets or Nibbles, you can dispense a visual attractant (the Sparkles) and a scent attractant (the Power Jelly) at whatever depth you want to fish. Because the Sprinkles create more of a visual attractant than either dead bait or live bait, your chances for catching more and bigger snapper quicker increase as you use these additional products with the Berkley Inshore Power Tubes. Since you may have a difficult time finding some of these products in your area, contact Berkley for more information.

For more information locating Berkley's products, including the Inshore Power Tubes, Sparkles Nibbles and Sparkles Nuggets, call (800) BERKLEY, or check out their website at www.berkley-fishing.com.

For more information on fishing Alabama's Gulf Coast with Captain George Pfeiffer, call (888) 558-3889. Or, call the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau to learn more about attractions, hotels, accommodations and restaurants in the Orange Beach area at (800) 745-SAND.