Reef, rock and wrecks

Mutton snapper

Lutjanus analis

Pink-red snapper with a black spot, as much at home on a flats edge as on the reef.

What they like

  • 3–25 musual depth (they tolerate 1–80 m)
  • 23–30 °Cwater temperature they feed in
  • clear waterwater clarity
  • drop-offs, sloping edges, rough bottombottom they hunt, in order
  • a moving tide (rising or falling)tide
  • daylightlight

Sand and grass edges of patch reefs; big fish on the flats edge at times. Spawning aggregations on the full moons of May and June.

Season by region

Peak months, shaded. Outside them the species may still be around, just less reliably.

Florida and the Gulf
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Caribbean and Bahamas
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Bait and technique

Methods: bait, fly, spinning / casting.

Bait and lures: Live pilchards, ballyhoo plugs, crabs; big shrimp flies on the flats.

Technique: Long leader, bait on the bottom at the edge of the reef where sand starts; on the flats treat them like a permit.

Rules

Florida: Florida: 18 in minimum, 5 per day within the aggregate. Verify with FWC.

Seasons, sizes and bag limits change every year and differ by zone. Check the current regulations before you keep anything.

Depth maps where mutton snapper live

Depth map preview of Bimini, Bahamas±0.67 m

Bahamas

Bimini, Bahamas

  • ±0.67 mtypical error
  • 1,990laser soundings checked
  • 74 km²of shallows

Updated 5 h ago

Preferences are expert estimates from the fisheries literature and angling practice, not measurements at your spot. The likelihoods on the maps are a planning aid, not a catch prediction.