The offshore waters are dominated right now with stories of prolific gag grouper and some really nice sized but picky mangrove snapper. We are also seeing the occasional big kingfish and nice blackfin tuna.

The gag grouper are biting very well for us on our 39 hour trip but they really require a grind of the full trip to get some good numbers bouncing from ledge to ledge getting a few here, few here and a few more there and really requiring the full 20 hours of fishing time to amass a good number of keeper fish after much work and many many many more fish lost to the bottom in break offs. The trick is finding the right depth they are feeding well in from 120-180ft of water and then working that depth range from spot to spot with big frisky live baits, big tackle, a little luck and a lot of patience. Typically around 80lb test is the lightest you’d want to gag grouper fish with and a reel with 40-50lbs of drag or more with a beefy rod that still gives you the sensitivity needed to feel that fish start to eat so you can put the hammer down and start cranking as hard and fast as you possibly can while lifting at the same time. When these guys hit you have to act as though your life depends on gaining every inch of line into your reel as quickly and aggressively and as hard as you possibly can to get these guys out of the rocks and into the boat. Once you get them up off the bottom slow it down and then really start the finesse game as often the start of the fight they have damaged your leader or bent your hooks a bit and you don’t want to fight em hard once they are away from those sharp ledges you hooked them on.

Mangrove snapper can be tricky to get on consistently too, but with some effort, lots of practice and the right gear you can really dial in on these guys and produce consistent catches of these great eating and fun to catch fish. Once you master the mangrove snapper bite you can pretty much hook any bottom fish around. These guys are super smart and very quick and aggressive feeders. Plus, the larger mangroves we see this time of year put up a pretty good fight too. The higher speed reels, lighter rods with sensitive tips, floro carbon leaders, and thinner extra sharp hooks really help. Plus, you cannot do this without the double snell rig and a threadfin, sardine or cigar minnow plug.