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John's Journal... Entry 44, Day 1 Catching Red Snapper Off Oil and Gas Rigs EDITOR'S NOTE: To take the biggest fish of your life on fly tackle, fish with Captain Cliff Jones, one of only two fly-fishing guides in Orange Beach, Alabama. Or, if you want to catch speckled trout at night under the lights and experience an altogether different form of fly-fishing, head to Orange Beach now. QUESTION: Tell me the secret to catching sneaky rig snapper. ANSWER: You'll catch the most snapper when you have good live bait and light line like 20-, 16-, 15- or 12-pound-test and no leader. QUESTION: You often put an egg sinker up the line. When and why do you do that? ANSWER: I put on an egg sinker when there's a lot of current or wind. But if I don't have to, I prefer not to put on an egg sinker at all. QUESTION: What kind of bait do you like to use? ANSWER: I prefer to fish with live shrimp. QUESTION: Why are you using live shrimp? ANSWER: I fish with live shrimp because snapper primarily eat crustaceans, and a shrimp is a crustacean. Snapper love live shrimp, and most red snapper fishermen rarely use live shrimp as bait. So the fish aren't afraid of live shrimp like they are cut bait. QUESTION: With what size shrimp do you fish? ANSWER: I buy as big a shrimp as I can. QUESTION: How many shrimp will you usually take out for a day of fishing? ANSWER: I'll carry four or five dozen, give or take a few, with me. Actually the number I take depends on how many people I've got on the boat. QUESTION: What else do you take with you besides shrimp? ANSWER: I take LY's, pinfish or any kind of minnow -- the more alive, the better. QUESTION: What size hook are you using? ANSWER: I'm using a No. 2/0 mostly. A lot of times I'll use a pattern 91-74 or 91-54 Eagle Claw 92 live bait hook. QUESTION: What kind of rod do you use? ANSWER: A Fenwick Legacy Rod. QUESTION: Why use the Legacy? ANSWER: That rod is real stiff. It gives me good, firm hookset, and it has a lot of backbone. When I'm trying to pull snapper out of an oil or gas rig, I need every advantage I can get. QUESTION: What length is that rod? ANSWER: It's a 7-footer. QUESTION: In other words, you can use the same kind of tackle that you use when flipping for bass. ANSWER: Yeah, sure you can. QUESTION: You use a baitcasting reel and/or a spinning reel, right? ANSWER: Correct. QUESTION: What pound test line do you like? ANSWER: I like 12-pound-test the best. For more information on saltwater fly-fishing, contact Captain Cliff Jones at P.O. Box 1027, Orange Beach, AL 36561, (334) 981-1827, or e-mail him˙at nautico@gulftel.com. You also can visit his website at www.offshoreflyfishing.com. Tomorrow: Tips For Catching Rig Snapper
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Check back each day this week for more about Cliff Jones ... Day 1 -Catching Red Snapper
Off Oil and Gas Rigs |