Snapper action is great this time of year offshore. Now that were past the full moon were starting to see some good day time snapper action, plus this week’s overcast conditions definitely help the daytime snapper bite. Around 120-180 foot of water is a great place to target some big mangrove snapper, lanes and perhaps a yellowtail or two this time of year on the double snell rigs with threadfin plugs. I like to use around 5-6ot hooks and around 40lb test for offshore snapper fishing.
Grouper action has been good offshore around 120-200ft of water. The scamp grouper cooperate better and are bigger the deeper you go but you have a shot at one as shallow as 100ft of water. The red grouper bite has been steady all throughout the offshore waters with some big boys being caught lately on the potholes, ledges, and flat hard bottom. Live bait or big dead bait with medium gear ratio conventional reels and around 60lb test and 7ot hooks is what I would be using this time of year for the grouper.
Triggerfish are still open for a few more weeks before they close May 2nd. It’s a great time to go get some of these incredible eating fish while the weather is good before their short season closes down. Its difficult to go out and specifically target them but it can be done on some quality hardbottom areas using small strips of squid or small cut threadfin plugs. Often, I happen across these guys while fishing for snapper on those 5-6ot double snell rigs and lighter tackle set ups. Also, the deeper you go the bigger the triggerfish will be so around 150-250ft is a great area to find these guys with some big snapper and grouper around too!
Pelagic action has been incredibly good offshore as of late with plenty of kingfish, steady blackfin tuna and the occasional sailfish or perhaps wahoo! Definitely kingfish are most common but there’s lots of blackfins around as well. The wahoo are typically deeper around 200ft or more. The sailfish you could see as shallow as 60-80ft near shore or all the way offshore in the deepest waters we bottom fish which is why it’s so important to have that flat line out and a pitch rod close by rigged and ready.
