Life, work and weather have conspired to keep me off the grouper grounds for far too long... That was remedied yesterday.

We left the marina at 05:30 not knowing exactly what we'd find for sea conditions. The forecast was for 6' at 8 seconds, not ideal but fishable if we could get there. Once we cleared the jetties, it really wasn't bad at all. We managed a solid 20kts all the way out to 170'.



We are still learning every time out and weren't exactly sure where to start since it had been so long since since I had been out there. The amount of bait on the bottom was staggering. We were into fish immediately. In between the usual bottom fish (and sharks), we managed a few scamps. The hits were aggressive, the hook sets hard. Note the shark shadowing the scamp:



We moved around quite a bit searching out new humps and bumps from 200' to 140', dropping waypoints on the best looking stuff for future use. Everywhere we stopped, had bait and fish. By 11, we had managed to get 4 scamp past the sharks. The overall size was ok, but we decided to start moving shallow in search of bigger ones. This is my first fall out there and have been told by guys who know a lot more than I do that the grouper will begin to move shallow now so... We had marked some good looking structure on previous trips 10 miles to the west, they were barren in the warmer weather but we figured it was worth a shot.

The second we pulled up to our numbers in 112' the screen lit up with bait and better fish...


On the very first drift, Dave got smoked. Initially we were thinking grouper but the fish continued to fight the entire way to the boat so we were second guessing what he had. Turns out, it was a nice scamp.


Normally, the fish get placed in a bleed bucket and iced asap but with the screen absolutely on fire with bigger fish, we left the fish on the deck and dropped right back down. Dave got whacked again... Different fight this time. After a couple of minutes head shakes we had a Red snapper boat side! I've not eaten snapper before but I understand it is outstanding, can't wait for the season to open again.


We went our separate ways, took care of Dave's scamp and moved back up for another drift. I dropped down and the second I engaged the reel, I was tight. Never felt the hit... The fish felt brown. A couple of minutes later, we had our limit of grouper. I slid the fish to the transom and dropped back down and again got hit. This was not a grouper... Another snapper! Dammit! I hope they are there if and when we get another season for them.


I'm not sure if it was the shallower depth, water temps or a combination of both but the fish (including more grouper) we released had zero trouble returning to the bottom. The warmest we saw out in 200' was just shy of 67. We had 63 at where we were seeing the snapper.

By the time we got back, cleaned up and home, it was too late for me to cook anything but I will be eating good the rest of the week. Sashimi, blackened, baked and, if I have the time, smoked...
We kept a couple each of Porgy, Trigger and Mutton

Great, detailed report. You are sure living the life.

Nice trip and some great grouper. Down in Florida some of the guys on one of the websites I frequent have basically stopped some of their off-shore trips because there is almost no red snapper season and the bottom seems paved with them. Drop down and catch one right away. Can't catch the species that are available.

Those are some big fish for down there! Last Spring, Reel Adventures, Air1ck and I went out on the Hurricane Fleet for their shakedown cruise. I was camping at Myrtle Beach, and we went just over the border in NC for our fishing charter. I was surprised how small the fish we caught were - for an offshore trip. The people on board were keeping just about everything they caught, like Black Sea Bass that were smaller than anything I'd even think of keeping in CT! I've used fluke baits bigger than what they kept! We caught rudderfish, triggerfish, grunts, snappers, BSB, something like a porgy, and very few grouper or red snapper.

Here is a picture of my one and only grouper. (a strawberry grouper if I remember correctly).



Jack with a snapper.




and (if you can believe it) this rudderfish won the pool! That's how small the fish were on this trip!



We gave away all the fish we caught, and were probably the only guys on board releasing small fish.