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So the pinfish have moved off the flats and I need my grouper bait. Do they act like trout and move into the river, or do they go to deeper water like nearshore rock piles?

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In the winter I have caught pinfish right off the dock at shields and headed out with live bait. I haven't been able to do that in the summer so I assume they probably move with the trout.

I'm not sure though.

I was on the flats on Saturday and was unable to find pinfish as well. Fortunately, the grouper were hungry and took frozen LY's, but the grunts did, too.

John21:6 wrote: ↑November 29th, 2021, 12:57 pm I was on the flats on Saturday and was unable to find pinfish as well. Fortunately, the grouper were hungry and took frozen LY's, but the grunts did, too.

Where do we find the grouper this time of year? I've heard that some grouper will come in shallow in the fall. The Mrs and I gave the St. Marks and Wakulla reef a try this past Saturday but we didn't have any live or frozen bait.

I found some on a public reef in 40-45 feet last week, trolling a blue-green diving plug. I've caught them before on reefs closer to St Marks, but those get a lot of fishing pressure

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I read a scientific article which states they typically move out deeper where temps are less erratic in the winter. Not sure where and how deep though. I think I posted a link on here for the article, I’ll look.

Found it:
http://www.fao.org/3/ap947e/ap947e.pdf Page 20-21

Take a sabiki to any of the nearshore reefs/natural bottom and most likely you will find sand perch, aka squirrel fish. We can usually sabiki up 20-30 in less than an hour.

Grouper love them.

Whenever my bottom machine shows a good sign on the bottom but my frozen bait is just being picked at, I will drop down a sabiki. Most of those times I start catching sand perch left and right.




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Gotcha, I did that the other day. They're good if you use them right away, not as hardy as pinfish in the livewell

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leonreno wrote: ↑November 30th, 2021, 12:52 am I read a scientific article which states they typically move out deeper where temps are less erratic in the winter. Not sure where and how deep though. I think I posted a link on here for the article, I’ll look.

Found it:
http://www.fao.org/3/ap947e/ap947e.pdf Page 20-21

That was a pretty interesting scientific document on the Pinfish, some of it done in Apalachee bay