A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Use this area to post offshore fishing reports from the area. Please try to include relevant information such as:
Location, date, time, water conditions, weather conditions, baits, techniques, species caught, etc.
Tom is correct! I never go deeper than 20ft when trolling for Grouper. They are there year round, but as Tom stated, the reason you catch them more in the colder months is because the bait that they are used to is not as plentiful.
Tip: If you hook up while trolling in shallow water, make sure to have a second rod ready to pitch behind the fish that you are bringing in. In most cases there will be followers.
Had a few run-in's with sharks. None where I was "threatened" per say, just uncomfortable. I can't remember the last time I saw a shark diving though. I definitely see more deep than shallow.
I will give every shark a chance. Meaning if he comes close, he gets a poke. If he leaves, all good. If he comes back, he gets one more poke a little harder. If he comes back a 3rd time it's time to go.
Now I did witness a feeding frenzy of bull sharks once and that was scary, but not too bad. Never seen a tiger underwater, so I can't say what I would do. But the old saying goes, it's not the shark you see that will get you. I definitely feel safer with a spear gun in my hand.
Tom, typed my message a bit quickly... when I spoke of only getting babies in 10-15 I meant during the mid-summer months. Caught a TON of little gags the pat few years while fishing for bait, trout, etc, during the hot months... but didn't catch any close to being keeper size until things cooled down, and I DO APPRECIATE that there is some awesome bottom in 8'. Few years back when we had almost no spring rains, the visibility was awesome and I saw rocky bottom with coral out of econfina that was just absolutely gorgeous, even if I didn't dive on it. Didn't need to that year. It was CRYSTAL clear.
Wasn't trying to be glib or funny, just being sincere in saying that I don't have any problems catching babies shallow in summer but the keepers seem fewer and farther between until the cold hits. I thought the bait movement and pre-spawning feeding activities drove them a bit shallower, but if you're saying that big ones hang out in 8' to 10' feet year round, I sure can't say what you've seen with your own eyes is wrong.
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SInce non of you have caught any keeper grouper lets just say they ARE in > Caught 10 keeper grouper Sunday and 5 Sat between 14 lbs and 22 lbs. with many shorts . Carlabear. Caught trolling on stretch 30's
As an FYI, a few friends and I dove a spot in 45 feet of water on Sunday. It was just N of the K. We saw around 40 keeper size grouper. Didn't see the first red snapper though.
Tom is exactly right. We used to do most of our freediving south of Cedar Keys and shot most of our big gags (up to 35" plus) from 30 ft all the way in to 4ft. Thats right.....25" gags in 3-4ft that would tear your props off. The big gags are inshore year round, they just don't feed well and are very selective. Many times we have fished a spot hard with lite line, chum, live bait etc. and caught nothing only to dive in and see big fish everywhere. The keeper fish are typically much more wary than the peewee's. I also think that it is tough to get anchored up on shallow spots without spooking at least some of the fish. Dive in and take a look!
Think you are correct! We went back fishing to the same spot and caught 6 grouper this weekend that were keepers but probably 50=60 shorts in 28 feet water on live bottom. Couldnt hook one on the stretches this weekend. I don't think the full moon is the best for grouper. Caught some reds and kings and rock bass / we went to 40 feet also but no takers.
Grouper do migrate, and they move around a lot, especially red grouper. They will move through an area like a pack of wolves and eat everything they can and move on to a new area filled with bait. gags also move around, in the winter the fish will move in from deeper water and congregate around big structure in shallower water. When you dive large wreaks in the summer you do not see many gags but when the water cools down they move in and stack up. Just ask someone who does it for a living like a commercial guy...he will tell you they move because they do
ok well ask a charter captain...grouper move that is the bottom line it is not that they wont eat your bait because there is to much other bait around. the fish move depending on water temp, breeding purposes and food. If grouper dont migrate why dont we catch them all in over 200ft where they spawn? or why are they not all on the flats where they live when they are juveniles? If grouper never moved we wouldnt have a breeding population to meet up with the males far offshore....
So according to your argument at different times of the year, there are no grouper in certain depths? That at time A they are in 200 feet, at time B they are on the flats? Where are they in between? And they move back and forth? Grouper only move offshore to spawn once they reach a certain age. Most of the folks on this board are not talking about a spawning population.
[quote="Tom Keels"]So according to your argument at different times of the year, there are no grouper in certain depths? That at time A they are in 200 feet, at time B they are on the flats? Where are they in between? And they move back and forth? Grouper only move offshore to spawn once they reach a certain age. Most of the folks on this board are not talking about a spawning population.
Those are just examples of movements they make. during the summer the breeding fish are offshore....once it cools down they move into shallower depths, where depending on bait, temp, and structure they continue to move to satisfy their needs. Just as bait moves with temp so do the fish that eat it including grouper. I have dove many spots in the summer that have no legal gags on them...then in the winter they are absolutely stacked.
I never go deeper than 20ft when trolling for Grouper. They are there year round, but as Tom stated, the reason you catch them more in the colder months is because the bait that they are used to is not as plentiful. 
Caught trolling on stretch 30's