[624445]

I am taking a trip to Acapulco Mexico during the month of April.

Can the pro's or other members tell me the best rig to use for Red Snapper or Grouper fishing ?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated, as I have never fished for them before.

 

[togmaster]

trial and error

Well I have fished I in Mexico and found many different types of rigs to server a purpose. I like the plain old egg sinker to a 4 ft. leader and depending on the size of fish a gama octupussy 6/0-8/0. For bait a Cigar minnow will work well for Grouper. The red Snapper love big live shrimp and this type of fishing I would use a fish finder rig and some Fluro carbon. Red snapper have a great way of stealing and feeling your line so fish open drag and wait for a pickup and run till you set the hook! I found a good old Diamond Jig was the best producer of all. I pounded the bottom and then cranked 4 or 5 turns fast and let it back down. Groper loved it! As well as some other ?s. Don?t be scared to experiment I found changing hooks rigs and lures to improve the catch good luck .

(This post edited by togmaster on 03/11/2003)

 

[Gamakatsu]

Where are you going to be fishing?

The egg sinker rig that Togmaster descibes above is the "go to rig" of most snapper/grouper fishermen. Simply let the egg sinker slide on your mainline and then tie a barrel swivel to the end, then tie on your leader to the other side of your swivel, and then your hook to the end of the leader.

 

[624445]

Egg Sinker vs. Fish Finder Rig

Thank you for the quick responses.

What is the advatage of using the egg sinker over the fishfinder rig ?

When or how do I choose to fish each particular rig ?

What size diamondd jigs did you use ?
Did you modify the hooks or use the ones already on the jigs ?

I will be fishing in Acapulco,
I was told I could catch Snapper, Groupers, Yellowtail and Amberjack.

Your suggestions for these fish are appreciated.

(This post edited by TogHole on 03/11/2003)

 

[togmaster]

like i said

Tog you need to bring an assortment of sizes in everything.water depth and tide and current will be the only factor with weight you'll need! I used ava-27'to -87's so bring them all! the amber jack loved the diamond jigs. had 20 in less thena hr. to 25 lbs. not big but a lot of action. Drop them to the bottom and jig and reel if there there your in. Be prepared for anyhting it will only help:")

 

[SebastianRed]

snapper and grouper

Never fished in Mexico but have caught lots of snappers and groupers. (In FL where I am from, also did numerous trips to the Dry Tortugas and several to the Bahamas)

As for rigs, names of rigs can be confusing depending on your geographic location. In the south they actually call the rig with the egg sinker the fishfinder rig. (Probably different other places) but that is the rig (egg sinker to swivel, leader, than hook) that works best. If the area is not fished real hard and I imagine it isn't, all rigs should work to some degree. Groupers will eat just about anything.( Live/dead/bucktail jigs/ diamond jigs etc.) If they are there and hungry it should not matter. As for the snappers (again depending on fishing pressure) they tend to be more particular (at least in some situations) Flourocarbon leader is a big key with the big snappers, Hooks depend on the person but I like either a large ( 4/0-6/0) kahle style hook or a circle hook but again it should not matter too much. Use just enough lead to reach the bottom and that is all with roughly 6 feet of leader. (leaders can be quite a bit longer if you are drifting.)

As for baits, while live shrimp certainly will catch lots of fish, for the big dogs you want a big bait. The macks they catch on the party boats this time of the year here would be perfect. (Not to take them there, I am just using them as a size reference.) There should be some type of local bait (scad/gogeleye(sp?)) in that area that will work fine. (even grunts work great, the main thing if you can help it is fresh rather than something that has been frozen.

Another option would be to put a trailer hook on a bucktail jig ( again just heavy enough to reach bottom) and attach any large strip of bait (anything including barracuda bellies/strips etc) it does not have to be pretty.

bounce this rig off the bottom and you should do well on both species.

I would imagine the fishing in Mexico is similar to the fishing in the bahamas in that the fishing is so good it won't matter too much what you do. But it is fun to target different species. (on one bahama trip I used the bucktail with strip rig I described. In less than 2 hours I caught red and black groupers to 26#, several nice mutton snappers up to 15# and a 25# wahoo that hit the jig on the drop. Again different water but very similar type of fishing.

Good luck

Sebastian Red

 

[Gamakatsu]

I must be blind

I didn't even see the part where you said that you are going to Acapulco. Anyway, there are no true red snapper in the Pacific, but there are two common species that you are likely to catch, along with other less abundant species. The Pacific silk is very similar in appearance to red snappers, but does not get as big and the meat is relatively dark as snappers go. They are commercial fished on a massive basis throughout Latin America and their numbers are greatly diminished, although still plentiful. I have handlined for them on a number of occasions and a very simple egg sinker rig on a short 1 foot leader, along with a 2/0 baitholder hook will do the trick. Shrimp is the preferred bait. Usually you don't need much weight as often times they will suspend well off the bottom. The other snapper you will see frequently are Pacific lanes or "dot" snappers. While they are bigger than their Atlantic counterparts, they are not common over 5 pounds. They are fished on the bottom with a high-low rig, similar to a porgy/seabass rig and again shrimp is the preferred bait. They are also suffering from immense commercial pressure and it's not like it used to be.

You can also catch large cubera snapper from the surf down there on large plugs. There is a guy by the name of Sergio who posts in Crazy Alberto's forum on occasion. He lives in Mazatlan and is definitely more qualified than most of us in regard to fishing the Pacific in Mexico.

Gamakatsu

 

[togmaster]

Mexico?

Yes Gama I missed the pacific side myself?I caught the red snapers in cancun. but i did fish Acapulco and other west sodes of mexico and the same method should apply. the best cerio macrkel fishing is right off the beaches on the SW side of the island. we also had many sails there on the drop off as well as Big Mahi over 50lbs. Find a local mate and rent a regular ski boat for morning trips evry day. Very cheap and we caught a **** of a lot more fish that way