2018 American Red Snapper Season
How was your American red snapper season? Good I hope! Please share your experiences.
As a life long Florida native fisherman & hunter I take great pride in participating and sharing what the Sunshine State has to offer.
My first experience with the Florida Middle Grounds was in 1976 with Captain Wilson Hubbard on the Florida Fisherman l:
Huge Gag grouper an Mangrove snapper were plentiful, but absolutely no Red snapper.
In 2002 the 'Gulfstream' high pressure natural gas pipeline system was put into commercial operation. The fifth an final phase was commissioned in April 2011. The pipeline originates from a gas gathering system in Mississippi and terminates in Coden, a coastal fishing village in southern Mobile County, Alabama, where the gas is compressed. The pipeline then traverses the Gulf of Mexico terminating in Pinellas County, Florida.
The 745 miles long pipe line's diameter varies from 16 to 36 inches. It has a transmission capacity of 1.29 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, which is enough to generate clean electricity for 4.5 million Florida homes.
Many experts agree that the American red snapper followed this pipe line across the Gulf of Mexico into such places as the Florida Middle Grounds. Today the Grounds, as well as many offshore structures in the vicinity of the line, are home to ever increasing numbers of Red snapper. Remember, before the line, many Florida areas had no American reds. Now they appear to be spreading out even more.
In 2018 the Florida Fisherman ll saw it's best American red snapper season ever. Virtually every extended overnight trip completely limited-out, two day limit, on Red snapper. Let's take a look:
June 1, 2018:
June 8, 2018:
June 15, 2018:
June 22, 2018:
June 29, 2018: