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Get Ready To Go Ga-Ga For Grouper

Photo by FRANK SARGEANT

April is usually one of the best months of the year to catch keeper-sized grouper, such as this one shown by captain Joe Maisano.

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By FRANK SARGEANT

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 28, 2009

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, Bay area anglers should be out in droves starting Wednesday. That's when the gag grouper season in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico reopens for the first time since Feb. 1.

Though most experienced anglers say they are catching more gags than ever, federal fishery managers called for the closure because of concerns that not enough gags are reaching 9 to 10 years old - the age necessary for them to convert to males and participate in spawning. Nearly all gags begin life as females, according to biologists.

A new bag limit has been put in place as part of the tighter regulations. Only two gags per day, 22 inches or greater, can be kept.

The strict regulations will mean it's tougher to bring home a big fish fry, but they also likely mean bottom-fishing action will continue to get better. Knowledgeable anglers already report catching 30 to 40 "shorts" per trip in prime seasons, a good sign there are plenty of fish ready to grow into the slot. And hopefully, enough of these also will escape the hook long-term and add to the spawning pool offshore.

Gags can be caught anywhere from far up inside Tampa Bay to 100 miles offshore. There's an excellent fishery in the shipping channels of the bay, where water depth averages more than 40 feet in the cut. The fish hang around the rocky edges of the channel, and anglers troll with downriggers and large jigs, spoons or wobbling plugs to get them. Most of these fish are 20 to 25 inches, but occasionally a jumbo approaching 30 inches is taken.

Another good fishery not too far offshore exists starting from Anclote Key northward to Crystal River. Rocky outcroppings in water 8 to 20 feet deep provide endless grouper habitat, and many anglers find good spots by pulling big diving plugs around known "hard bottom" areas until they get a strike. The spot is marked with a float, and they return to put down live or cut bait to add more fish to the bag.

Gags sometimes show up on rocks in scarcely 5 feet of water, particularly in early spring. Anglers out of Homosassa, including captain Mike Locklear, sometimes catch them by casting floater-divers to visible rocks.

They use heavy tackle - typically stout spinning gear with 50-pound microfiber line - because it's a challenge to pull the fish away from the rocks.

"They just about break your arm when they hit and you lose a lot, but it's great sport," Locklear said.

The more traditional way to fish gags is to head offshore to known GPS numbers where rock ledges, reefs, holes or ship wrecks exist to attract the fish. As with other bottom fish, gags are nearly always found around some sort of hard structure.

Anglers anchor the boat uptide of the GPS location, so the stern hangs close but not directly over the mark. They then lower live pinfish, large sardines or threadfins, or cut bait from any sort of fish, to attract the bite.

Expert skippers such as Sam and Joe Maisano of Treasure Island advise dropping frozen threadfins down first.

"That frozen bait comes off the hook easily and creates a sort of chum line that gets the fish active and brings them out of the reef," Sam said. "And then when you drop a live bait down a few minutes later, it gets eaten right away."

Most bait anglers use revolving spool reels loaded with 60-pound line or heavier, 80-pound-test leader, 6/0 or larger circle hooks and egg sinkers of 3 to 8 ounces, depending on depth and current.

Grouper offshore of Clearwater/St. Petersburg and southward are typically found at depths of 30 feet and more. The largest fish, 20 pounds and up, are much more common as you go farther offshore, with an outstanding fishery at the edge of the continental shelf in 225 feet of water, about 100 miles west.

Gags make great table fare, with light, delicate flesh in even the larger fish. They're easily filleted with a large, sharp knife. They can be fried as narrow strips ("grouper fingers"), baked, broiled or cut into chunks as a delicious addition to clam chowder.

For more information on reef fishing rules, visit www.gulfcouncil.org.

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