Hey guys, just went on my first hunt on tuesday. Viz was bad, and the fish were small in p'cola. Spent my time practicing stalking and guesstimating sizes. My question is, how do you tell the difference between a gray and red snapper at depth when the reds fade out? Looking at pictures topside, I see that the anal fin on a red is pointed, where the one on the gray has no definite point. I could have shot lots of 12"+ fish, but couldn't tell if they were gray or red(they all looked gray at 60-75'), so i held my trigger. It was a good learning experience though and I look forward to going out and doing it again! Thanks for any fish ID tips.

Gray Snappers have more of a rounded anal fin..... they usually have more of a blunter and pronounced head and lips. sometimes they have a darkish band that runs from lip across the eyes. Some have faint bars or blotches on their body as well. But they are pretty hard to distinquish... GOOD LUCK!!!

I may see things differently than most but reds turn almost white (very light grey) at depth while the black snapper/grey snapper/mangrove snapper looks like a darker grey to me. The are also my fav snapper to eat so I target them. 10 per person per day in FLA.:yay:

I tend to focus more on the shape of the head than the color of the fish.

Hello,

Relapse, the way I read your post, I think you mean you like the red snapper.

Anyway, the limit on grey or mangrove snapper is 5 per day.

barnaclebill

Hello,

Relapse, the way I read your post, I think you mean you like the red snapper.

Anyway, the limit on grey or mangrove snapper is 5 per day.

barnaclebill

Stand corrected-5 per day. Good thing I have never taken more than 5 in a day with my poor shooting skills. Nope, black snapper is the fav. A little more taste to em, me thinks.

Keith is totally right... dont count on the color, look at the shapeand they are easy to tell apart. Mango/gray snapper are pretty torpedo shaped, the reds have a bit of a rounded head and an arched back. THey also swim and behave very diffenrently.

Yeah, blacks are easier, IMHO.

Someone else told me to look at the shape also. Guess it will come more with experience. Are the size/creel limits for black/gray/mangoes all the same in FL?

Here is a black and white comparison of the two fish. Hope this helps.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/dive4food/bwsnapper2.jpg

Here is a black and white comparison of the two fish. Hope this helps.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/dive4food/bwsnapper2.jpg

great idea.

Thanks!