Who told the Gag Grouper and Red Snapper they are out of Season?

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John21:6
Posts: 191
Joined: October 14th, 2017, 7:11 pm
Location: Tallahassee

Who told the Gag Grouper and Red Snapper they are out of Season?

Post by John21:6 »

On Tuesday, we launched the boat from Carrabelle again looking for red grouper and lane snapper. We started off the trip by loading the live well with pins from the flats. Then we headed south for about an hour to where I've filled the cooler with red grouper on a previous outing.

About as soon as our baits hit the bottom, it was tug-of-war with big fish (no sharks yet). Unfortunately, the fish were mostly a mix of gag grouper and red snapper. It was as if the fish knew they would get a free meal and immediately released; they don't bite like this when they are legal. Eventually, the honey hole produced a 28" red grouper and the bite died.

Hoping to find more red grouper, we moved a mile or so away. Despite seeing only a little structure on the bottom and no fish, we immediately started catching red snapper after red snapper. And something BIG hit the pinfish on the flat line. I start reeling, but its of little use because the the line keeps peeling off the reel (feels very sharky by now). To keep from getting spooled, my buddy cranks up the engines and we chase the fish down and fight it for a while in hopes that is a giant red grouper. The leader broke, lucky for me. Anyway, the guy with the boat, venting tool, and dehooking device is tired from fighting sharks and releasing red snapper.

On the way back to the ramp, we make a few more stops and find two more red grouper for the cooler. We finished the day with three red grouper, a trigger fish, a beeliner, and few lane snapper, mangrove snapper, and grunts.

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Last edited by John21:6 on June 1st, 2023, 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Hit-n-Miss
Posts: 3476
Joined: May 20th, 2004, 12:15 pm
Location: Boston Ga.

Re: Who told the Gag Grouper and Red Snapper they are out of Season?

Post by Hit-n-Miss »

Great report. The easiest way to post pics is to look up bigbendfishing.net on Tapatalk app. Can load directly from phone with app :-D
John21:6
Posts: 191
Joined: October 14th, 2017, 7:11 pm
Location: Tallahassee

Re: Who told the Gag Grouper and Red Snapper they are out of Season?

Post by John21:6 »

Hit-n-Miss wrote: June 1st, 2023, 12:00 pm Great report. The easiest way to post pics is to look up bigbendfishing.net on Tapatalk app. Can load directly from phone with app :-D
Thanks.
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Hit-n-Miss
Posts: 3476
Joined: May 20th, 2004, 12:15 pm
Location: Boston Ga.

Re: Who told the Gag Grouper and Red Snapper they are out of Season?

Post by Hit-n-Miss »

:-D Nice haul :-D Glad to help
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Red Beard
Posts: 641
Joined: March 16th, 2020, 9:06 pm

Re: Who told the Gag Grouper and Red Snapper they are out of Season?

Post by Red Beard »

Nice haul!

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