Muon but a Good Time!

By Astrid DeGruchy

There’s a wide variety of snapper species in the Florida Keys, including mangrove snappers, yellowtails and cuberas. However, the mutton snapper is a distinct and noteworthy member of this group. ey are a ton of fun to catch, delicious to eat, and they become easier to target in summer.

During the summer months, typically from May to September, mutton snappers spawn in large numbers, gathering in groups around reefs and wrecks to reproduce. Since these spawning aggregations are typically found in deeper waters, this makes conditions for ghting them more challenging and more fun. ese sh are renowned for their impressive power, strength and agility, so successfully reeling them up from deeper water requires good angling skills. Muttons make strong runs and sudden dives, so it’s important to have 20- to 30-pound test and a little heavier gear than you’d need for smaller mango or yellowtail snapper.

Landing a big deep-water mutton is a rewarding and exciting experience.

I caught my personal best mutton while shing with Capt. Brandon Storin, aka Capt. Bean. It was a 16.2-pounder on light tackle, and it was such a fun and challenging ght. Muttons will de nitely test your endurance. Even with heavier tackle, they will give you a ght to remember!

In fall and winter, muttons can also be caught in shallow waters, and this is also exceptionally fun. When conditions are right, a good inshore/backcountry guide can put you on a few of these skinny-water brawlers, along with the other species found in the backwaters of the Keys.

Mutton snapper make excellent table fare, but it’s important to remember that you should only keep what you plan to eat out of respect for the shery, especially when they aggregate to spawn. A fully grown mutton snapper could feed ve or six people, so keep that in mind when you’ve got a boat load of people throwing sh in the box.

If you want to experience and immerse yourself in the Mutton shery here in the Florida Keys, I recommend booking an o shore charter with Bud N’ Marys Marina.

Check out Capt. Bean’s inshore charters, visit

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