Big black and gag groupers can be speared in SE Florida waters, but they’re never easy!
Experienced spearos call big blacks “carbos,” a commercial fishermen’s term and big gags are often called “rusty bellies” because of the black algae found on their bellies, from years of hiding on dark sandy bottoms. Both species are very smart and even the barely legal 24 inchers take off shortly after spotting a diver.
Grouper season runs from May 1 through December 31, so here’s some tips for local divers to increase their chances of stringing up a big one. “The deeper you dive, the bigger the fish,” has been my slogan since beginning spearfishing training and charters decades ago. No question, there are more and larger fish where there is less diver traffic on our deeper wrecks and reefs.
So, whether you freedive or scuba dive, taking advanced dive training can get you deeper. In freediving it’s called Level 2 and 3 Certifications and for scuba it’s beyond Advanced Open Water and is called Technical Diving. Fishing pressure is reduced at greater depths as well, because hook and line fishermen, as well as spearos, have much greater difficulty reaching big fish and getting them up off the bottom around large structure.
Freedivers are quieter than scuba divers and can approach skittish fish with more stealth. They are also faster which can sometimes help them get off a long shot or reach a speared fish before it tears off. However, swimming fast underwater will usually spook fish. Many scuba spearos wear freediving longfins because they allow greater cruising distances at a pace that doesn’t spook fish, until you get in close. I started wearing them in the late seventies.
Spearguns need to have long range for big smart fish, and how they are rigged is very important. If you can’t hit ’em you can’t get ’em! Many non-spearfishing people think that you must bring the fish up immediately, or you’ve lost it and wasted the resource. This is far from true, as a very large number of successful spearos retrieve their fish after multiple dives and repeat shots. In fact, one of the best techniques for big fish hunting is called freeshafting, where there is no line attached to the spears and they can shoot farther and more accurately than any line gun. Hawaiian slings shoot freeshafts and are famous for their range. Many line spearguns now shoot thinner faster shafts, and have spear tips that penetrate better and hold better too! Improved reels and float-lines are also being used for bottom fish like grouper.
Capt. Chad Carney
(727) 423-7775
www.floridaskindiver.com
email: chad.carney@yahoo.com