The gag grouper bite offshore right now is going VERY well. Our last 39 hour had a pile of gags fishing right ahead of a front and we have another 39hour trip leaving today with nearly the same variables at play so were hoping for similar results this weekend. They have really liked the larger and more frisky live baits this time of year as the water cools but its not too cold yet. Big tackle is key to landing one of these 15-25lb monster gag grouper in the deeper waters. The big dead bait has worked, but this past week it seemed they wanted the live bait most. The 12 hour extreme trips have also been landing some big ole gag grouper too on the Flying HUB 2 racing out there offshore to grab some gags before heading back home.
The red grouper bite has been going well too, this past week we had a Flying HUB 2 private fishing charter hitting some potholes around 140-180 and they had some great luck limiting the boat out with some fat red grouper. They had one that was over 20lbs and was a true fire truck. The red grouper were cooperating better than the gags on the dead bait but the live bait was working well for them too. Red grouper won’t rock you up quite as badly as a gag would so you can back down your tackle if you know your only seeing the red grouper. However, I like to start heavier and if the fish are biting on the heavy tackle you mine as well stick to it right?
The mangrove snapper are doing very well out there too we are seeing some very healthy sized mangrove snapper biting well on the smaller live pinfish and the threadfin plugs. I personally use the double snell rig for mangrove snapper even when using live bait which goes against what we normally would do. However, they really bite fast so that extra hook works well to guarantee you don’t miss them. We have been seeing some great action on the mangrove snapper as of late!
The blackfin tuna have been thicker offshore right now too we are starting to see them in pretty good numbers out there past 120ft of water. Plus, there’s still plenty of kingfish out there too while trolling or flat line fishing.
Great time to get offshore for snapper or grouper fishing in Tampa as long as you can time your trip around the weather and get out there when its not so bumpy!
