Gold Coast Grouper

Northeast Florida bottom fishermen frequently speculate for grouper and when discovered it’s always hush-hush, much like discovering a vein of gold!

Recent visits to my cleaning table revealed that grouper had stomachs chucked full of small crabs,” Captain Allen Mills said. “During a following fishing trip with long time fishing companion Mallory Smith, we brought along a couple of bags of two-inch Berkley “Gulp”, artificial crabs.”

Anchored over one of Captain Allen Mill’s favorite near shore sunken wrecks both seasoned fishermen soon barbed artificial Berkley “Gulp” crabs to 6/0 grouper hooks and sent them down deep to the wreck. Mallory Smith was soon hooked up to a big grouper and immediately the hard fighting grouper dove straight into the wreck, cutting the 80-pound leader.

“Soon, a second big grouper took Mallory’s Berkley crab,” Captain Allen Mills said. “This time Mallory was able to wrestle the big grouper up and away from the sunken wreck following a lengthy seesaw battle with the big gag grouper trying desperately to swim back to the safety of the wreck”.

A solid minute later, Captain Allen Mills slipped the boat’s landing gaff into the lower lip of Mallory’s, massive, 30-pound gag grouper!

Northeast Florida gag grouper can weigh upwards of 50-pounds. Bill Smith owns the IGFA all tackle world record gag grouper while fishing out of Destin, Florida. Smith’s big “Gag” weighed 80.6-pounds and was caught on October 14, 1993.

The warm months of spring, summer and fall find excellent gag grouper fishing action from Fernandina to St. Augustine. Look for some of the best gag grouper action to come from near shore fish structures where a big attraction is plenty of forage foods including pinfish, cigar minnows, menhaden, Spanish sardines and grunts.

A favorite warm weather grouper tactic includes deep trolling minnow type plugs with downriggers. The Mirr-O-Lure 113 MR-20 in the Spanish mackerel color pattern is an excellent choice when trolled from a down rigger release clip, using a twenty-foot drop back distance. Next the lure is lowered to within ten-feet of the bottom and trolled from 2-5 knots over the bottom structure.

A fifty-pound trolling rod and 5/0 fishing reel filled with fifty-pound braided line is highly recommended when targeting hard fighting gag grouper. Next a six-foot section of 80-pound fluorocarbon shock leader is attached to the braided fishing line using an 80-pound black barrel swivel. Finally a loop knot is used to tie the business end of the shock leader to the plug. The reel’s drag is adjusted to the full position.

With this setup, once the grouper hits the plug, the angler can work the big grouper away from the dangers of the wreck, or big ledge.

“Deep Jigging” is also a deadly fishing tactic for “Gold Coast” gag grouper. A four-ounce yellow buck tail jig works best when tipped with a chunk of squid, or cut bait. Jigs can also be tipped with live finger mullet, or cigar minnows. A fairly stiff spinning rod, or special purpose deep jigging rod works best while filling your spinning reel with 20-30 pound braided fishing line. A six-foot length of 80-pound fluorocarbon leader is attached to the jig using a “Loop Knot”. Drop the jig down to the bottom and jig the lure slowly, just off from the bottom.

“Gold Coast” grouper can also be targeted with bottom fishing tackle while fishing with fresh local squid, cut baits and live baits fished dead on the bottom. One of the more popular hooks includes a 5/0 to 7/0 circle hook which automatically sets itself when a grouper strikes. The size of the hook is determined by the size of the baits. One of the more popular bottom fishing setups includes a double, triple and even foursome multiple hook bottom rig. The multiple hook set up is made with 80-pound fluorocarbon leader using six inch dropper leaders from the main leader while using 3-way, 80-pound swivels. A 10-inch dropper line is attached to the bottom 3-way swivel using 40-pound monofilament line. Here an 8-12 ounce bank sinker is attached. Also the lighter line
allows the weight to break off first saving the main leader and hooks.

Finally, drifting over bottom structures is a preferred fishing tactic for Amelia Island grouper. However when winds and currents are strong, drop the anchor and
fish smack in the deepest portion of the structure.

Favorite Fernandina Beach grouper waters include the “Fernandina Snapper Grounds” GPS 30-40.07’N/81-09.34’W, “FA” reef GPS 30-38.13’N/81-13.22’W, “FC” live bottom GPS 30-36.35’N/81-04.52’W.

Jacksonville grouper hot spots include “Montgomery Reef” GPS 30-26.47’N/81- 13.12’W, the “Ponte Vedra Grounds” GPS 30-12.11’N/81-04.52’W, “Haddock’s Hideaway”GPS30-34.03’N/81- 08.26’Wandthe“AmberjackHole”GPS30-32.49’N/81- 03.10’W.

St. Augustine Grouper hot spots include “Nine Mile” GPS 30-23.32’N/81-10.11’W, “Main Flagler” GPS 29-31.65’N/80-57.00’W and “Drydock” GPS 30-07.05’N/80- 33.25’W.

Current FWC grouper regulations allow fishermen to keep one grouper per day measuring at least 24-inches with a season running from May 1st –December 31st. I also recommend visiting www.myfwc.com for the latest saltwater fishing regulations.

Terry Lacoss Amelia Angler Outfitters 111 Centre St. Fernandina Beach, Fl. 32034