SE of Dog Island

[SoleSearcher]

A nice day greeted me and my party of 6 for a day of offshore Grouper fishing. We headed deep to the SE of Dog Island with a livewell full of Pinfish, Blue Runners and fresh LY's.

Our first stop was a limerock bottom in 75 feet of water. Grouper were hitting fast on both LY's and Pinfish for the first 45 minutes, then the bite slowed as the current picked up with the outgoing tide. A snake King found a Blue Runner under a flat line during the morning bite. This first stop was productive with 9 keepers in the box ranging between 8 to 18 lbs.

As the bite slowed, I decided to head to another hole in 100 feet of water and get on anchor before the tide change (roughly 11:30 AM at our location). This spot has always been a good producer for Grouper, Snapper, and big Kings and today was no exception. As 11:00 AM approached, the current slacked off and the bite was on! Big Grouper in the 15+ pound range were coming up on every line until the classic "V" shape signature showed up on the Furuno Sonar...the unmistakable mark of Snapper. For a short time, you couldn't get a line down before a Snapper hit it. However, My party didn't mind a bit. 12 Sow Snapper and another 8 Grouper made their way into the cooler before the current picked up once again and shut down the bite.

With 17 Grouper (11 Gags, 6 Reds), 12 Red Snapper, and a 15 LB King in the box, it was time to try for something else, so I headed back north to try our luck at the Bryson Memorial Reef. On our way to the reef, we came across a huge weed line. I quickly shut down the engine and cut up LY's for chum. Within minutes, we were spotting Dolphin all along the weed line and they were hungry! Everyone on the boat got a chance to hook up and fight these fast running brutes. I was amazed at the size of the Dolphin since our area (south of Dog Island) really doesn't hold numbers of big Dolphin within 20 miles of land. Nevertheless, they were here and in big numbers. My party were not grilled Dolphin (Mahi Mahi) fans but they did keep 2 of the biggest for show and tell before we continued on our was to the Bryson Reef.

As we approached the reef, I could see that it was littered with boats so I entered in another number in the GPS which is roughly another 3 miles north. This spot is mostly flat limerock with a few scattered humps and it usually holds big Red Grouper.

With the current running with the incoming tide, I rigged up very sharp "4 "J" hooks on 3 feet of 40 LB Fluorocarbon leader and used 8 Oz egg sinkers to keep the rig in place. Small chunks of cut LY, Blur Runner and Grunt were used for bait. The lines were dropped to the bottom and given a fair amount of slack. This method has work well for me when the bite slows or shuts down. The theory is that Grouper are a lazy fish and don't like to work for their meal. The long leader and slack line keep your bait down current well away from the lead and produces a slow teasing action which keeps the Grouper interested. They will usually take the bait slow and ease off with it. And, by the time the Grouper feels the line tighten, they will usually have already swallowed the bait and hook. This method worked well today and we ended up with another 12 keepers between 10 and 18 lbs.

By late afternoon, a cluster of thunderstorms began to build and move SE off land so we made way back to Carrabelle with our catch of 29 Grouper, 2 Dolphin, 1 King and 12 Red Snapper and a boat load of tired but happy anglers. A great day on good seas with the Colson Family from Elkton, MD.

This coming week, I have a mix of inshore and offshore trips, all with repeat customers who are all experienced anglers. These trips should produce excellent catches and have to admit, I'm probably more excited about our upcoming trips than my customers...because I get to fish on these trips!

Until next time, sharpen those hooks!

Capt. Bob Soderholm
Sole Searcher Charters
Carrabelle, FL
(850) 899-0455
Member, National Association of Charterboat Operators