Grouper. And Snapper ????
Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels
Grouper. And Snapper ????
I am new to fishing this area (2nd time offshore this past weekend) 1st trip produced a few red snapper and many small grouper in 105 to 115 ft water depth with only 2 keepers...this past Saturday I went to same area and caught nothing after fishing many different areas ..put 130 miles on boat and only kept a few lane and b liners...have the good fish moved further offshore due to 93 degree water temp ? If so , what depth should I be fishing ?? We were south of S tower
Grouper. And Snapper ????
New guy,
I was fishing the same general area you were fishing on Saturday, and we had a better than average day.
If you are new to fishing the Big Bend area, you may be still looking for your honey holes. Finding them on Saturday morning would have been difficult because the tide was very weak and because there is not a lot of obvious structure on the bottom. The area beyond S Tower is known to have potholes or a Swiss cheese bottom that doesn’t show up on sonar well.
As we were heading out, I saw much less fish activity on the sonar than normal. It was like we were passing over dead zones. Even when I reached one of my best spots, I saw next to nothing on the sonar. But we dropped baits down and caught fish.
A strong tide seems to make the red snapper lineup on structure kind of like a flag on a flag pole on a windy day. The fish essentially reveal the low elevation structure.
When we headed back in Saturday afternoon, the tide movement was much stronger and fish showed up everywhere. I marked many of these fish shows for investigation during a future trip.
Another thing to bear in mind is that there are way too many sharks in this area. Big sharks. When the sharks are around, the bite slows down.
With four of us on the boat, we brought back 7 red snapper, 1 mangrove snapper, and 6 red grouper. I will try to write more about this trip tomorrow.
I was fishing the same general area you were fishing on Saturday, and we had a better than average day.
If you are new to fishing the Big Bend area, you may be still looking for your honey holes. Finding them on Saturday morning would have been difficult because the tide was very weak and because there is not a lot of obvious structure on the bottom. The area beyond S Tower is known to have potholes or a Swiss cheese bottom that doesn’t show up on sonar well.
As we were heading out, I saw much less fish activity on the sonar than normal. It was like we were passing over dead zones. Even when I reached one of my best spots, I saw next to nothing on the sonar. But we dropped baits down and caught fish.
A strong tide seems to make the red snapper lineup on structure kind of like a flag on a flag pole on a windy day. The fish essentially reveal the low elevation structure.
When we headed back in Saturday afternoon, the tide movement was much stronger and fish showed up everywhere. I marked many of these fish shows for investigation during a future trip.
Another thing to bear in mind is that there are way too many sharks in this area. Big sharks. When the sharks are around, the bite slows down.
With four of us on the boat, we brought back 7 red snapper, 1 mangrove snapper, and 6 red grouper. I will try to write more about this trip tomorrow.
Re: Grouper. And Snapper ????
Thanks for the reply....do you mind sharing how deep you were catching the red snapper
Re: Grouper. And Snapper ????
Most of our fish were caught in the same depth range in which you fished, but some may have been caught shallower.T00fd0c wrote: July 21st, 2025, 10:01 pm Thanks for the reply....do you mind sharing how deep you were catching the red snapper
Re: Grouper. And Snapper ????
Ok, thanks...guess I will continue to look in that area...didn't know if water temp would drive them deeper
Re: Grouper. And Snapper ????
Sometimes I think we're in the right place but at the wrong time. It could be the tides, temp, time of day, lunar phase, or sharks. Also try hanging snapper baits 20-50 feet off the bottom. Red snapper will be way up in the water column sometimes.T00fd0c wrote: July 22nd, 2025, 11:18 am Ok, thanks...guess I will continue to look in that area...didn't know if water temp would drive them deeper
And, next time, post some pictures on the forum to show us how you did!