Watching the bottom recorder for the characteristic Christmas trees that indicate fish, Wynn Mickley backed the Just Rite over the reef. The snapper gather on top of the reef in columns that form a peak, he'd explained, creating the solid inverted vees we were looking for.

This 12-pounder fell for a goggle-eye.

Sure as his prediction, a large upside-down vee came across the screen, that, once highlighted by the multiple colors, took on the appearance of a yuletime decoration.

"Grouper will also look like a Christmas tree during the winter, but you can tell them apart by the depths of the water," he said. "In winter, genuine red snapper are at 100 feet, while the grouper will usually be out deeper or in the shallows. You usually mark grouper like that when they're spawning."

Ten years back, genuine red snapper were a rare catch on the Treasure Coast, as most of the fish fell prey to fish traps and overharvest. The elimination of the traps in federal waters and the advent of 2-per-day bag limits and a 20-inch minimum has led to a major resurgence of these tasty bottom dwellers on Treasure Coast reefs.

"You take the rod with the live goggle-eye, and I'll use the chicken rig," said Mickley. "You should know right away if they're hungry."

I pinned a small goggle-eye through the nose on the 6/0 livebait hook and watched the line peel off the spool as 18 ounces of lead towed the baitfish down about 180 feet. The lead hit bottom and I cranked the reel twice to keep from snagging the reef. Ten seconds later, I found myself pinned to the transom in a struggle to maintain a hold on the doubled-over rod.

"Amberjack, or maybe a big grouper," said Mickley, as I moaned my displeasure at the thought of what my back would feel like later that afternoon.

The fish found the reef, and the line went slack.

"You need to keep the rod under your arm, so you can get more leverage, and reel as hard as you can when you feel the hit. Don't strike the fish, because there's a large bow in the line and the fish will feel the tug and spit out the bait. Reel hard, the fish will set the hook itself, and then use your shoulders for leverage instead of your back."

Right then, Mickley got a strike, and proceeded to wind line as fast as his hand could turn. The line came tight, and Mickley kept on winding.

"If you can get the fish 15 or 20 feet off the reef, you got a good chance of getting them in," he said, as he kept the fight a standoff, some 20 or more feet over the reef. "The fish will tire out, and you can reel it up with no problem after that."

Moments later, a pair of 4-pound genuine red snapper came to the surface.

"It doesn't look like they'll make the 20-inch minimum," said Mickley, as he unhooked and vented the fish before releasing them over the side. "We know they're down there, we just have to weed out a few of the smaller fish."

The second drop produced a legal fish on the chicken rig, and a 10-pound genuine red snapper on a live goggle-eye. Two more drifts yielded another pair of short snapper and an 18-pound gag grouper.

Once the bite tapered off, and it became obvious these fish were on to us, Mickley entered the coordinates for another spot and fired up the engines.

As a rule, Mickley prefers to fish the shallow reefs in 60 to 100 feet of water, but to assure a good chance at a few reds, we headed north of Fort Pierce Inlet to an area just inside the 27-Fathom Curve. The other parameter of Mickley's fishing spots is a special no-fishing zone closed by the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council to protect rare Oculina coral formations, so it pays to know exactly where the boat is stationed at all times.

Using standup rods spooled with 60- and 80-pound-test line and 18 to 20 ounces of lead, we dropped our baits to the bottom through a heavy northerly current.

We worked five different spots, picking up a legal fish or two at every location, and by the end of the morning, we had a limit of snapper for everyone on board. At one spot, Mickley marked the fish on the recorder, but couldn't get them to bite. Insisting the fish were seeing the line, he geared down to 40-pound leader and immediately reeled in a legal fish.

Be forewarned, deepwater snapper fishing is not a sport for the weak and feeble. If the constant dropping and reeling of the weights doesn't wear you out, a mammoth amberjack or bottom-hugging grouper will surely pin you to the transom and put you in your place.

"Snapper will hit anything from a bonito strip to squid to a live sardine, but the best bait is a live goggle-eye," explained Mickley. "Live baits work best for the larger red snapper, but a squid is a good back-up, because it's always available."

As goggle-eyes go, the smaller baits are more likely to catch the eye of a hungry snapper, while the larger baits tend to be quickly scarfed by any reef-patrolling grouper. Mickley catches his own goggle-eyes at night using quill rigs under the spotlights of his boat.

Fort Pierce is on the northern end of the goggle-eye's range, and sometimes these prized baits can be difficult to find. Spanish sardines and threadfin herring make productive substitutes that can be utilized live, or cut in half and placed on the chicken rig.