Snapper chaps

Fishing is one of those pastimes where there are as many people willing to give advice about how to catch, what bait, rig, rod, reel to use as there are people. Simplifying these words of wisdom can be a painstaking process, but fear not, we have done the hard work for you.
Here is some advice, taken from many experts in the field (or should that be sea?) about how to catch the elusive mangrove snapper.
First, from pierfishingguide.com.

So, you want to catch the notorious mangrove snapper? A couple things that you must have before you attempt to target these great tasting fish. First off you want to go on your good day and have lots of patience. Mangrove snapper are great for picking bait right of the hook. Some days they will be there but just wont bite. I will explain my techniques and tips that WILL help you catch more snapper. First things first, you maybe asking yourself the following:
Where to Look?
Well if fishing inshore, smaller juvenile mangrove snapper use the mangroves for cover, hence this is where they got there name. For larger inshore snapper you want to try and find good natural water flow that provides the fish with an abundant food source. One place to start looking would be local bridges. Bridges normally hold bait and structure such as artificial reefs.
What to Use for bait?
There a few baits that work extremely well, now my personal favorite, is the herring. Now you will get many to argue and say shrimp is the best bait for snapper but let me explain why I believe the Spanish sardines are better. First off I have personally split tested it a thousand times, ok maybe not that many but quite a few times. The shrimp is great bait but with the sardines they have oil that fish can't avoid. Just break the tail off of the sardine or tear one in half and soak it next to the piling, rumble or whatever and watch how long it lasts. Secondly, the sardines are normally abundant (In the summer) around piers in the south so it's free.
What Rig To Use?
Snapper can sometimes be very finicky when it comes to eating, one moment they are feeding like crazy and then next the bite may shut completely down. A general rule of thumb when snapper fishing, "lighter is better". Lighter weight, lighter leader, smaller hooks etc... What I use is a 1/4 to 1/2 ounce lead depending on the tidal flow, two feet of 20lb fluorocarbon leader tied to a 30lb Spro swivel and a 2/0 Owner hook. Using this rig will help double your hook-up ratio.
How to hook them?
Snapper bite hard, that is how they got the other part of there name. What you need to do when you are getting a bite is slowly lift your rod tip, this will make the snapper bite more aggressively because the fish thinks the bait is getting away. If that fails, try and pull the rod tip away slowly and then let a little line out where the bait goes past the fish and back into the school, this will cause a small frenzy. Once you do hook them pull them away from the structure quick because they are determined to get back to there safe place once hooked.

Next, a look at hooks with the boys over at forshorefishing.theledger.com.

Let's discuss hooks first. I used to use J-hooks in the #1 thru #4 size depending on the size of the bait. I was convinced the J-hook was superior for the quick hook set which is needed for mangos.
I had tried circle hooks in the past with inconsistent results. The circle hooks I had tried before were always either Owner Mutu or Gamikatsu Nautilus style circle hooks. I caught some here and caught some there, but not really any much greater numbers of fish than the J-hooks. If anything, my ratio of hookups with these style circle hooks was even less which interesting as many anglers say their ratio increases with the use of these hooks.
However, recently in the last year or so, I have switched to using the Gamikatsu Octopus style circles in either #1 or #2 size for most of the sheepshead I encounter.
Gamakatsu makes the offset and also an in-line version. I've had much the same success with both styles. However, the in-line are the kind now required for reef species in Florida's Gulf waters. So many anglers may want to use these as they are technically required if your fishing for mangrove snapper as well.
If I find some fish on the large side, visible in clear water, I'll up my hook size to #1/0 or even #2/0 if the fish are big enough and I have large shrimp or crabs.
This hook is a circle hook, but it's more like a J-hook. It's in between the bent Mutu or Nautilus style and a true J-hook.
I get a much higher hookup ratio when I use these hooks than even J-Hooks. This is a hook you can set like a J-hook, but it also has the circle effect. It's like having the best of both styles in one hook.

That's enough for now, we'll take another look at some mangrove snapper advice soon.

Tight lines!