Red Snapper craze Destin, Florida
Whoa…summer? Already? I feel like it was just yesterday I was writing about off-season boat work and hunting. Let’s dive into this month's forecast.
Ahhh, the month of June on the Emerald Coast. The beaches are buzzing, the air is salty, and most importantly, the fish are biting! In June, you can expect peak performance from all of the saltwater species here. From monsters of the deep like Swordfish and Grouper to fleet-footed surface fish like Wahoo and Mahi Mahi, June is a fantastic time to be a fisherman.
What’s biting in June? Pretty much everything, but one fish in particular steals the stage every summer. The class favorite in the Gulf of Mexico, the epitome of a gulf-to-table fish, and even the leading lady of a bit of controversy—the American Red Snapper.
Everybody wants a piece of the Red Snapper pie, and rightfully so. They are determined fighters, great to eat, and they make for a beautiful Instagram post to show all your friends at home. I’ve caught them as deep as 500 feet in the Gulf and as shallow as 25 feet in Choctawhatchee Bay. Red Snapper are fierce competitors of the reef, often devouring live baits before you have a chance to get set…and they are exceedingly prevalent here in Destin and along the Gulf Coast.
Did you know that the Panhandle is one of the only places on earth where Red Snapper are so common? Take a short trip across the state to the East Coast, and Red Snapper are, ummmmm, a by-catch. That’s right—Red Snapper are easily caught from the Big Bend of Florida all the way to the Louisiana coast and on into Texas. But here in Destin, you can catch them a half mile off the beach, and boatloads of them.
Credit that to our amazing “wrecks to reef” initiative and our abundant natural and artificial habitats that Destin is known for.
As a guide, my favorite way to target Red Snapper is by chumming them to the surface and watching them eat. Any time I get to watch a bottom dweller come out of its comfort zone of the reef and feed on the surface, it’s a win in my book. Those who have experienced the surface frenzy will surely agree.
An opportunistic, strong-willed, crowd-pleasing belle of the ball…that’s what I think of the American Red Snapper.
However you like to target them, find a boat or a guide with a boat (wink wink), and have fun catching these amazing fish this season!
Happy June fishing!