Gag Grouper
 

Taking my Seacraft out the furthest I have ever done tomorrow, as I am taking an older man from my church and we are going to catch some Gag Grouper.

Quick Question, I do not have Sea Tow, if I sign up for the membership tonight, can I call tomorrow if I get stuck?

I would say yes. You would have to sign up and pay up on the computer. You would probably get a confirmation # and the name and # of the Sea Tow operator in your area. Might be worth the call tonight so as not to worry Tomorrow. Cheap Insurance for sure. Catch em up.

thanks for the response linesider, of course I probably should clarify my statement, I normally fish around the St Marks lighthouse never really going very far at all. Tomorrow we will be going to a rock hole that is 5 miles off shore so its not far compared to what some people do but its the furthest offshore I have taken my boat in the year that I have owned it.

Pretty sure it's a 24 hr wait.

Well we didnt catch any, but we did catch some Rock Bass and had a good trip out on the Seacraft

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3842/3...1bc4e7cf_b.jpg17757565_10211043517616780_5229695427280668926_n by TomParisOBC, on Flickr

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2909/3...d0e5c64b_b.jpg17626314_10211044543442425_5954938535947699268_n by TomParisOBC, on Flickr

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3943/3...b673224e_b.jpg17626491_10211044543722432_5067179686737719968_n by TomParisOBC, on Flickr

Any day on the water is a good day Tom, gags or not. We need to get you set up to troll for the grey ghosts. This is a very successful method that not only puts them in the boat but gives you the opportunity to find your own "secret" spots to fish. All you need is a couple of decent boat rods with 65lb braid, 80lb fluorocarbon leader and some Mann's stretch 30s. You'll catch not only grouper, but kings, jacks and tuna as well.

"to find your own "secret" spots to fish. All you need is a couple of decent boat rods with 65lb braid, 80lb fluorocarbon leader and some Mann's stretch 30s."

^^^^this works. Really fun if you or someone like to dive down and check out the spot once you catch one.

Do NOT, however, drag these lures around in 20' of water off Cedar Key. While you will probably pull up some Gags or Kings, you will also lose a few lures :) They really do run 25' or more deep at 7-8 kts. Somehow that doesn't work well in only 20' of water. Ask me how I know !

Thanks for the tip frank, I am learning, but in the process making memories on the seacraft with my boys and as Ken said enjoying a day on the water is fun even catching 0 fish

Try pulling those Manns lures in the area of the buoy 24 barge in the fall and winter once the water gets cold. That 24 barge is popular, but a there's fish there (or used to be when I still lived at home down there) and is a good place to cut your teeth on it and start figuring it out.

Get on the FWC website and get the numbers for all the artificial reefs. Again, very popular and you'll be sorting through lots of small fish. But they're easy to find and good start for you cutting your teeth on it, learning to read your bottom machine, and getting your anchoring down. You'll need to become very accurate with your anchoring. If you're 20 feet off the hole, you can forget catching keeper grouper.

Grouper move out to deeper water as the water warms up, and come in shallower during the fall and winter. We used to run to 80-120 feet during the summer, which is a fricking haul out of St. Marks to the SW, but we were in a 29 Mako, not a run you'll do a single engine 20 footer. But keeper grouper can definitely be caught within 10 miles during the cooler months.

Also, if you want to get into grouper fishing considering going and learning Carrabelle. Even just that little bit of a drive further west gets you to some deeper water much quicker than St. Marks. Haven't been to it in years, but we had a small unmarked hole not 5 miles off the beach at Dog Island that was loaded with grouper. Great for a day in a 20 footer or quick run out there for a couple hours. Grouper holes don't have to big big wrecks. Sometimes it's just a 1 or 2 foot ledge, or a depression the size of a boat. Some of the bottom out of St. Marks looks like swiss cheese full of holes. You won't see much at all on the bottom machine, but it's there.

I have a 3 ring binder slammed full of bottom fishing numbers from St. Marks to Panama City. Some we found, some gifted by good friends who are life long gulf grouper fishermen. Unfortunately, they're old and probably 90% of them are in Loran.

Rods and reels, all you need is a Penn Senator 113H loaded with 50 lb mono. You don't need to spend a ton of money on braid. You can catch all the grouper you care to catch out of St. Marks or Carrabelle on 50 lb mono. And you're better off with the mono if you're going to troll with them too. We always used Star rods, 5'9" or 6". We've always been in camp that believes in short stiff bottom rods. There's another camp that believes in big azz 8' rods, but not me.

Cutiger, thanks for the info, I have been given some holes to try that are only a 3 miles off shore. We will see how it goes, I'll report back Saturday evening.

Caught one today!!

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3935/3...606c5422_b.jpg17904452_10211183231029528_4009153622027538369_n by TomParisOBC, on Flickr


but seriously, we caught almost 30 legal rock bass, they taste pretty good.

Yes you can go that far offshore in a single engine 20'. I used to take my 20' Seafari 105 miles offshore out to the Florida Middle Grounds launching from Cedar Key or from Fort Island in Crystal River. I did it several times and never had an issue.

That being said, I never went as a solo boat, but in the company of other boats, most often along with a 23' SeaCraft Tsunami and a 44' Cruisers, which served as our floating hotel. Your boat has to be in good condition, as does your boater, and your complete boating plan. If any of the three are even a little questionable, don't go.

I've also run a 20' SeaCraft from Lake Worth/Palm Beach over 50 miles of open Atlantic Ocean to the Bahamas more than 30 times, not to mention in other boats as small as a 13' Whaler. You'll find that lots of CSC members have made this same run many times.

The only time I ever had trouble was in 1984 in a 25' Robalo with twin 200 Mercs when the owner hit a coral head north of Grand Bahama with both motors at about 25 mph, making both motors inoperable. Fortunately, he had a kicker bracket and a 15hp Chrysler kicker stowed in the forward fish box, which ran like a fine Swiss watch, getting us all the way back to Ft. Pierce. (There was no such thing as "Sea Tow" or "TowBoat US" back in those days.

If the boat is right, the plan is right, and the boater is right, go have fun!

Ugh, not this again... I know you can go that far in a single engine boat. And I have also and still do in a single engine boat. Nothing groundbreaking, congratulations on all of your past, current, and future successes.

Using what exchanges I've had with the OP here on CSC, I was using deductive reasoning to make an assumption that he wasn't planning to fish that far offshore on his boat, at least not this year. And he seems into it for the fun and enjoyment of fishing with his boys, and using deductive reasoning again, I assumed he wasn't planning to take them 65 miles offshore in a 20' SeaCraft with only a single Evinrude FICHT. Thus offering any specific locations in that depth of water off of St. Marks would not be helpful to him. Main point was, IMO, focus on nearshore grouper fishing when the water is cool in the fall and winter.

Now here I go on the side tangent...
Boy we were glad that Mako of dad's had two engines. Unfortunately, they were 225 FICHTs. Approximately 1 out of every 3 trips we made, one of the FICHTs broke down in some way, shape, or form. 4-5 years of that, plus 1 fire, then one explosion and big fire, the FICHTs finally got replaced with Etecs. Lucky to have had the 2nd because with the big fire the wind blew flames right into the cockpit. Would've been disastrous without the 2nd motor to turn it around into the wind. One year dad's boat broke down the weekend before the Big Bend Saltwater Classic...of course. With the chit luck of those two FICHTs, the marina owner loaned up his 28 Mako to fish the tournament in. Trailered to Apalach with intentions to fish more to the SW. You guessed it, day 1 on Friday, one of those FICHTs broke down. Made it back into Apalach around 2 AM Saturday morning on one engine. Loaded it up and headed on back to St. Marks.

All this talk about grouper fishing has prompted me to get my tackle out and evaluate. What color trolling lures typically produce the best results in the gulf?

I`m gonna put ficht stickers on my twins. Nobody will think of stealing them. Ever.

The engineers told Soros not to release the ficht bombs. The rest is history in more ways than one. The old ocean pros just keep on runnin`.

"The old ocean pros just keep on runnin`"

Yes Sir Sandy they do.....and Exxon-Mobil, Shell Oil, etc. thanks you from the bottom of their $$$$ line!!