A Florida angler reeled in a red snapper with a hidden surprise. What came next
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Florida angler recaptured a red snapper tagged in 2016 with rare longevity data.
- The 34-inch fish had grown 20 inches since tagging and stayed near release site.
- Only 10 of 147,136 tagged fish have been reported more than nine years later.
This year has been a good, but not great, red snapper season for Brian Lambert of Fishhawk Charters.
“No crazy big fish in big numbers. We’re not getting 12 monster red snapper on trips,” said Lambert, an offshore captain. “The sharks are so bad. We lose 30 to 40 fish a day. On charters, it’s a lot of people who don’t fish much, so for them to drop down in 160 to 190 feet of water, they struggle to reel as fast as needed, they can’t do it. So we get a few big fish here or there.”
When the season opened back in June, Lambert was ready on opening day for his charter. On the very first drop he sent an angler down with a big pinfish.
“It was an angler from Iowa. I see he’s in free spool on the drop and the rod is bouncing. I tell him to start reeling and know it’s a big fish,” Lambert said. “When he gets it up, we see it’s a big fish, 34 inches. I was like, ‘Oh great we’re not going to top that!’ sarcastically.”
But that fish story wasn’t done. Lambert moved the big red snapper between fish boxes and noticed something. It was tagged below the dorsal fin, something Lambert is familiar with.
“I help tagging undersized hogfish we catch and release. But I’ve never heard anything back about recaptures. This tag was hard to read and I had to clean it off.”
Tagged red snapper caught after 9 years
Back on land, Lambert reached out to his FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute contact to turn in the data. At first, he struggled to get the correct numbers on the tag that had been in the fish for quite some time.
Eventually, a picture of the tag helped identify the fish correctly, and the data showed why he struggled to get a reading from the fish.
“Tagged in April 2016 at 14 inches, this red snapper had grown to a whopping 34 inches, matching our growth models from the stock assessment,” MyFWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute posted on social media.
“Recaptured only 9.5 miles from where it was released, even after nine years and multiple hurricanes. This is a rare find! Out of 147,136 tagged fish (multiple saltwater species), only 10 have been reported after 9+ years.”
Lambert isn’t the only angler to turn in a red snapper tag in the past year. Last summer, angler Dhru Shah turned in a tag off a red snapper. It was released only three months prior, growing one inch and moving a few miles south from its original capture location.
But that will never compare to the story of Eric Schmidt’s red snapper that he caught off Fort Myers in 2019 while fishing in 287 feet of water. Schmidt, a commercial angler who has also worked with fish tagging programs, turned in data on a 38-inch red snapper he landed.
That fish was originally tagged off Daytona Beach in 2011 when it was 24 inches. It traveled hundreds of miles, something that shocked the Jacksonville office that tagged the fish.
Each time I see a tagged fish reported, it’s a reminder that each fish has a story to tell, even though we often just see it as a number in a fish box at the end of the day. From the length of time between catches or the distance it may travel, it is not only valuable data — it is also a unique look into the life of an individual fish.
This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 10:26 AM.