Breeding males have a destinctive bump on their forehead and turn a beautiful blue color. 21lbs 4 oz, Bayou St. John, New Orleans, LA, 1982. Most often found around shallow water rigs near structure and pilings. A pain to clean. Red snappers are common to about two feet and anything over thirty pounds is a whopper.
Mature snappers love offshore platforms.
Snappers feed on most any animal they can find, and are not particularly selective. Cigar minnows and poggies are very productive. Nevertheless, they are nibblers and browses rather than strikers and a soft touch is required to be productive. They are also known to feed at selective depths that must be determined to highly be productive. They prefer bottom of moderate depths, anywhere from about 60 to 400 feet, with the older populations of larger fish preferring the cooler water of deeper spots.