• Yellowtail snapper associate food with the sound of fishing boats.Deep sea fishing in winter for pleasure image by Peter Baxter from Fotolia.com
  
  Yellowtail snapper are opportunistic bottom feeders that live in and around reef structures, such as coral reefs or reef patches. When pursuing yellowtail snapper in clear water you should fish in depths of 60 to 100 feet; however, if the water is murky or cloudy, fish in more shallow water ranging from 40 to 60 feet on a depth meter.
  
  

Chumming

• Chumming is the first technique that is important in fishing for yellowtail snapper. Chum is made up of ground fish and used for bait; however, to increase your chances of catching a good amount of yellowtail, soak oats in water for a few days and add this to your chum mix. Not only does this lure the fish in, it also makes the water cloudy so that the fish will bite the baited hooks without knowing it. Also, when selecting a chum bag, make sure it has large slits so that there will be plenty of chum to keep the fish busy in a feeding frenzy while you are dropping your lines.
  
  

Bait

• Live bait works best for yellowtail snapper, especially when used in conjunction with a chum bag, which keeps the fish close to the boat and eagerly looking for something to eat. The types of live bait that work best for this type of fish are cut-up pieces of squid and live shrimp; sardines and glass minnow will work well too.
  
  

Tackle

• The smaller the hook the better so use a 1/0 or smaller. Choose a small conventional reel; a ten-pound spinner will work wonders and allow for maximum angler action. Line selection is also very important because yellowtail can see fishing line really well in clear water. Use the clearest 12 to 15-pound test line you can find; you can also use a pink tinted line to prevent the fish from seeing it as well.
  
  

Boat Motor

• Yellowtail snapper associate the sound of boat engines with food because they have learned to follow commercial fishing boats that dump their own chum at the end of the day. Because of this peculiar activity, leave your boat motor running for about 10 to 15 minutes to draw the fish close to the boat.