My best friend keeps his 267 Pursuit in Hudson Beach, FL just above Tampa. We wanted to squeeze in a grouper trip before the season closes Dec. 3. and got a small but good weather window forecast for the weekend. My wife has been battling cancer the last few months and I haven’t been able to get out much lately. She was doing good, weather was looking good and she told me to go, so I did Didn’t take many pictures, too busy having fun! This is my best friend…
This time of year the gag grouper move into shallow water in the GOM, 20-30 feet, and the most popular fishing method is trolling. We were loaded up on trolling gear, plus 5 dozen live pin fish in case the trolling didn’t work out. And 10 pounds of dead bait just to be safe.
Left the dock at 0600 and had lines in the water shortly after sunrise. This part of the gulf is shallow with the depth dropping roughly 1’ per mile, so it’s a 25 mile run to 25’ of water. We were pulling big drone spoons on #3 planers and had our first fish on in about 3 minutes, and continued to catch one about every 3 minutes. Most were slightly short, the legal size is 22", but we had set our personal cull limit at 25" because there are plenty of fish to catch and the mortality of releases is very low when fishing so shallow in cool water. It’s a completely different way to catch grouper than east coast fishermen are used to, but it sure does work!
Did that for a couple of hours and put a few nice fish in the box, released a lot of shorts, then decided to move out a little deeper and try bottom fishing. Headed out another 6 miles and dropped some baits, and it was game on!! It didn’t take long to finish up a 4 man limit of gags, even with our 25" cull limit. Also caught 1 good red grouper, the only one of the day which was odd, we usually catch more reds than gags
Thanks. Great day, great friends, great fishing, life doesn’t get any better than that
The hog actually bit a spanish sardine, dead and smelly, go figure. That swiss cheese bottom is loaded with hog fish but we almost never catch them on hook and line. It is very rare. Drop a diver in the water and it’s a whole different story:smiley:
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Thanks. Great day, great friends, great fishing, life doesn’t get any better than that
The hog actually bit a spanish sardine, dead and smelly, go figure. That swiss cheese bottom is loaded with hog fish but we almost never catch them on hook and line. It is very rare. Drop a diver in the water and it’s a whole different story:smiley:
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
It would be incredibly hard to get more than a few hogs on rod and reel in SC because somehow you have to get past all of the pinks, triggers, black sea bass, etc. which are incredibly aggressive feeders. I've seen hooks descending from a divers perspective, and black sea bass rocket off the bottom and usually are on the bait when it's still 20 feet from the bottom. They can get from under a rock to your bait in the blink of an eye and it looks like piranhas feeding.
I do know of guys in South Florida who catch 10-15+ per day on R&R. If I am not mistaken, I think they use shrimp, and there is even special “hogfish chum” sold in the keys from what I have seen.
We have also tried targeting them with hook and line, small shrimp, cut squid and such, but like you said, the trash fish wear you out before the bait even gets to sit long enough for the hogs to find it. I think the best we’ve ever done on H&L was 2 in a day, and it was a lot of work.
They are dumb as a rock when it comes to spear fishing though. All you have to do is shoot one and leave it on the bottom with a shaft in it, and all of it’s friends come to investigate their dead buddy
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
We have also tried targeting them with hook and line, small shrimp, cut squid and such, but like you said, the trash fish wear you out before the bait even gets to sit long enough for the hogs to find it. I think the best we’ve ever done on H&L was 2 in a day, and it was a lot of work.
They are dumb as a rock when it comes to spear fishing though. All you have to do is shoot one and leave it on the bottom with a shaft in it, and all of it’s friends come to investigate their dead buddy
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Ha, you should see how they act in the keys though. They are pretty smart down there. They just about **** themselves when they see a human. Way more pressure down that far though. I think that red grouper are probably the easiest target in SC waters. I quit shooting red grouper years ago.
quote:Ha, you should see how they act in the keys though.
I’ve fished the Keys a couple times a year for the last 45 years, don’t think I’ve ever caught or shot a hog fish down there. Never even seen many, except a few in the Looe Key marine sanctuary. I’m sure we have more right here than there is down there. The Tampa Bay area gets a tremendous amount of pressure too, but as with anywhere, 5% of the fishermen catch 95% of the fish It’s all about knowing how, when and where.
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Good for you and hope everything works out for your bride.
NN
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Thanks Glenn, so far, so good. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her now after 40 years of marriage.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Thanks for posting the pics Larry…and you just remember…and keep saying …she will be fine. Glad you got a trip in with your friend…and im sure she was happy too. hugz to you both!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. Our true Blessings are our family and friends…and being able to fish now and then
Hugz back to you too, Penny, I can’t thank you enough for being there for us. What do you want for Christmas?
Happy Thanksgiving to you and to everybody else reading this. No matter what we have, or how little, or whatever our troubles might be, somebody else has it worse than we do. Give thanks for whatever you have, don’t waste a day of it, and share some of it with those who don’t. That’s what it’s all about.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
quote:Ha, you should see how they act in the keys though.
I’ve fished the Keys about 3 times a year for the last 45 years, don’t think I’ve ever caught or shot a hog fish down there. Never even seen many, except a few in the Looe Key marine sanctuary. I’m sure we have more right here than there is down there. The Tampa Bay area gets a tremendous amount of pressure too, but as with anywhere, 5% of the fishermen catch 95% of the fish It’s all about knowing how, when and where.
You probably do have more up that way than in the keys.
We had several 15+ hog days in Marathon, and saw many more than that on an average 4 hour trip. I have a buddy down there who catches them fairly regularly on R&R, but really only when he targets them. Even though they are numerous there, they were tiny. Essentially as soon as one hit’s the legal size of 12", they end up on someone’s dinner plate. Local hogfish is on virtually every menu in the keys and you can get them year round. Most of our hogs came in 8-20’ of water. Down there a 15" hogfish is a “big one”. I have seen pictures of better hogs further south towards Key West, but in Marathon, I saw several hundred hogs and nothing more than 15-16" or so. Unfortunately, they have no interest in raising the size limit down there because there are “plenty of them around”.
I have a friend that lives in Ft. Myers and they do quite well in 40’. Hes been here the last few weekends so he could get some Hogs with shoulders on them. That’s him on the right in the pic!
I also have a buddy that has been going to Swanee Fla.the last few weekends and killing the grouper at those depths.
Glad you got to go with your buddy and your wife has been put on our prayer list. Invitation is still there!
I’ll agree to the small hogfish in the Lower keys. I’ve shot plenty but nothing over that 15" range you’re talking about. I was showing pictures of SC caught and speared hogs to people down there and their jaws dropped!
They can be dumb as bricks until you shoot at them and I find you can get relatively close before they spook. I’ve shot them in 10’ on patch reefs, in 75’ on a wreck and in 95’ at the base of the reef line as well and have not found them to prefer one depth over another besides the seasonal depth trends many fish experience.
Didn’t take many pictures, too busy having fun! This is my best friend…
