Jigging the Mangroves
An Article by your guide Ron Brooks
Mangroves are found all over the world in subtropical and tropical waters: the southern half of Florida, Texas, Mexico and the Caribbean. And fishing these mangroves with jigs can provide some of the most productive fishing to be found.
I took my best friend fishing a few years ago, and headed out from Key West for Marquesas Island, about 27 miles west and slightly south of our launch site at Stock Island. Marquesas Island is a true atoll, unlike it's namesake in the Pacific. Like the string of islands surrounding it, this island is also covered by mangrove trees with their intricate root system. It is precisely these mangroves and their roots we were going to fish.
Named for these trees, the gray or mangrove snapper spend their juvenile years in and among the roots of these shoreline trees. Other residents include snook, tarpon, redfish, and the myriad of small crabs and baitfish. This nursery setting is ideal for raising and nurturing several marine species. Even an occasional shark or jewfish make visits here.
One notable thing about water flow and current is that they will invariably produce a deep area of water at some point. Every mangrove island has some amount of tidal current flow running across or around it and it quite often provides an undercut around the mangroves. Similar to the sharp outside bend in a river, these undercuts are often 4 feet deep or more even at low tide.
The island we were fishing was indeed an atoll, having a center of water about a quarter mile in diameter and a ring of mangroves forming the familiar atoll circle. Inside the island the water was only three feet deep at high tide. At low tide, the water would not float most boats. But up against the shore, under the mangroves, the water dropped of to 8 feet deep in some places. These deep holes are where we fished.
Using small nylon jigs tipped with small mullet strips we caught snapper until our arms literally hurt. Using spinning tackle means having the reel stem go between you ring finger and your pinkie finger. Those two fingers were so swollen the next day I could not move the. We probably caught over 100 snappers all in the 12 to 18 inch range. And I do believe that , pound for pound, a snapper is the hardest fighting fish there is.
My theory on fishing mangroves is really quite simple. Any jig will work as long as it is a white bucktail with red tying thread. I have fished these mangroves all my life and tried numerous colors. White with red always produces more for me than any other color.
Look for the deep side of a mangrove island; they all have at least one deep side. This is where the fish will be located. Sometimes I have had to get out and drag my boat across a very shallow flat to get close enough to reach a deeper mangrove hole, but it has always been worth the effort.
Cast as close to the overhanging branches as you possibly can. The deep water will go back under the overhangs as far as 6 or 7 feet sometimes. Work the jig up and down more than back to you to give it more time in the deeper water strike zone.
And then hold on! Be prepared for anything from a small snapper to a 20 pound snook! Even a small jewfish is apt to take your jig, although they usually will be seen chasing the smaller fish on the end of your line. Jewfish are protected in Florida, and they are making a remarkable comeback. They are fine eating, and when and if the ban is ever lifted, these mangroves holes will be an ideal place to catch dinner.
As I was growing up, I spent my afternoons after school walking he banks of, and fishing many mangrove lined saltwater canals. I carried a spinning rod, several 30 lb test leaders, and a total of 4 lures. All four of them were white/red bucktail jigs. They simply caught fish better than anything you could tie on your line. They could be worked shallow or deep, fast or slow, flipped under limbs, or slung a long distance. They were to me, the perfect mangrove lure.
What is your favorite lure? What do you depend on day in and day out to produce fish? Let us know on the forum!
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