Snapper fishing is heating up all over South Florida. 

You always hear me talking about migration and behavioral cycles when it comes to fish. Swordfish catches have been down lately, but snapper catches have been skyrocketing. This picture is from last week in Key West, where I was fishing with a guy named Kody Michael who specializes in catching big bottom fish. He runs a charter operation called First Light out of the Hurricane Hole Marina.

We probably caught 10 to 15 snappers like the ones I'm holding here. These were some of the best mutton snapper I’ve ever caught on the bottom.

This weekend, you can drift or anchor anywhere inside of 150 feet and will most likely have success with a nice mutton snapper. The yellowtail snapper bite is also really strong right now in 75 to 100 feet of water.

For mutton snapper, we usually fish a live ballyhoo or pinfish on a 30-foot fluorocarbon leader with a sliding egg sinker.

As for trolling and live baiting, the wahoo are still biting, and there are plenty of small blackfin tuna around. I’ll be out swordfishing on Saturday and Sunday, so call the shop Monday for a report.

For up-to-the-minute fishing updates, tune in to the Big 105.9 Paul Castronovo Papa’s Pilar Fishing Report Friday morning at 6:20 AM with RJ Boyle.