Alligator Point 1-5-03

[fish finder]

I had the pleasure of taking one of my best clients out on an absolutely beautiful day on the gulf. After picking up Ed Hightower and his son Colin along with my good friend Capt. Randle Ledger at the marina we headed out to find some grouper before the tidal flow went flat. We came off plane in the 35ft area off Dog Island to check things out. Didn't mark much on the bottom so we proceeded to deeper water. We moved on to 48ft where we saw the bottom light up. The bite was a little timid but managed to catch 18-20 grouper with 8 of them big enough to earn a spot in the fish box. It was about 11:30 and the water quit moving. No tide, no wind, no bite. We moved on and managed 2 more keepers and a nice mess of black sea bass as the afternoon progressed. Sensing that our best fishing was behind us for the day, I decided to hit one of the artificial reefs to see if I could put them on some AJ action. We ended up hooking up with a couple of short AJs, even the short ones are a great fight, before calling it a day.
The water temp was a cold 53 degrees, but the water was mostly clear and the wind and seas were great. We had success with both LYs and cigar minnows, and used up some squid catching the sea bass. The boat ran perfect and all aboard had a great day

[dstockwell]

Way to go, nice catch.

[jcflats]

Good report! Does the bite get better deeper when the water temps get lower?

[fish finder]

The usual pattern that most of us think happen is that the grouper move inshore as fall moves into winter and the water temp cools. And this does happen but I think that if we have a colder than usual winter, as we seem to be having this year, the grouper tend to move back out somewhat. Earlier in the winter/fall (Nov.), I was catching good grouper in my "winter holes" in 35-40ft, but midway through Dec and into Jan I haven't been marking or catching much in that depth. I'm back out to 45-50ft. I also think that the grouper bite is more reliant on moving water or tidal flow in this colder water than in the summer. Maybe it's due to a decrease in their metabolism or something, I'm not sure, I just try to pick up on all the factors when I'm catching grouper and when I'm not. Only one thing is for sure, you gotta go to know!
Capt. Jay

[Tidedancer]

FF That's a great report. Nice to see a father and son have a great day on the big pond.

Sounds like you enjoyed the day too. That's good also.

Tide~Dancer

[jcflats]

Thanks Capt. Jay, thats what I was wondering.