Connecting with Mangrove Snapper!

Well, having been here two weeks and having purchased the boat, it was high time to put my equipment and expertise to the ultimate (well, for me) saltwater fishing test.  Mangrove Snapper!  That elusive, gray / orange, fang-toothed chunk of local gamefish that you spot by the hundreds in the clear waters of the local rivers, but are difficult to catch.

Sunday was the perfect day.  Clear, 70F, and only a moderate breeze.  We headed out around 11 am to take advantage of the incoming tide which was scheduled to crest around 1 pm.  Karen settled in her deck chair with her book.

I tried trolling a surface bait in the river, but it proved too difficult to manage that and steer the boat through the winding channels.

So we continued on into the mouth of Weeki Wachee, where it begins to open up into the Gulf.  Here, the wind was noticeably stronger.  I opted to anchor near the windward shore of some marsh grass and baited up with some live shrimp.  Now, I really had no idea what kind of features I should be looking for, except that mangrove snapper tend to, co-incidently, hang out around and in mangrove roots.  The marsh grass was as close as I could get to ideal.  The mangrove swamps would have meant a trip out into the Gulf, and this could have caused spray to dampen the pages of K's book.

Anyhow, after about 5 minutes, there was a tug on the line, and shortly after that, having put up a terrific battle, I boated my very first mangrove snapper!

Ok, I agree, its not a trophy size, and a closer look is warranted:

It really is a pretty little fish; the minimum size limit here is 10 inches, so these guys went back to grow some more.  It seems that the vast majority of these fish were in the "under size" category.  You can see schools of hundreds, dare I say thousands, in the rivers.  They spend the first few years of their lives here, and then head out to the off shore reefs, were they grow to several pounds.  Guess I've got to fine tune my navigation skills and get myself out there for some real challenges!

Anyhow, it was a lot of fun, and at least I know I can catch 'em.  Now I just need to focus on catching keepers, as they are excellent eating.

On the way back, we ran into a weekend-category of kayakers and snorkellers in the river checking out the manatee.  We'd forgotten this was President's day and a national holiday.  After trying to dodge some incredibly stupid swimmers and paddlers, I finally had to announce my presence in a most authoritative fashion, taking into account that 95 % of residents in this state have concealed carry permits, and gingerly threaded my way through and back to our dock.

Another adventure brought to a successful conclusion!  The bar is now open!