April is No Foolin’…It’s Time to “Get The Lead Out”
With the grouper/snapper complex shut down until May 1, it’s time to take the gang out to the old familiar haunts of wrecks, ledges and AR’s to harvest some bottom dwellers. If you can make it out 20+ miles, chances are you will come home with a box stuffed full of pinkies, grunts, sea bass, triggers and beeliners.
The standard two-hook “chicken rig” with 5/0 to 7/0 circle hooks and a three-ounce bank sinker (or vertical jig) will work just fine for terminal tackle. Fished on a stout flounder stick with 50# braid and a level-wind reel will make this sized fish a challenge for anglers of all ages. The problem is you will have to release the gag grouper and red snapper you catch, but if you think about it, you could have worse problems.
I would look for a large bait mark on the recorder that shows me plenty of “feed.” If you see the bait on or near a ledge you know what you are really looking will be present. This has always been my strategy… “find the feed, find the fish.” The only thing you have to keep in mind is that you fish for what you want to catch. If we are fishing for pinkies, grunts, triggers etc., fish cut squid on the tackle mentioned above. BE SPECIFIC! If you find the triggers, scale down the hook size, fish 15-25 feet off the bottom to catch a limit of triggers and the by-product could be some nice beelines. Depth matters… pinkies, grunts and bass will be on the bottom. If we were fishing for gags, we would fish live grass grunts, cigs and sardines on decoy jigs, but that’s next month.
I know some of you are tired of hearing this in my forecast, however, this is the ultimate kid fishing, and is a great time to take them offshore to “get their fish on”. The weather is warming into the upper 60’s and 70’s, but it is CRUCIAL that you make sure they (and you) are prepared for the worst weather with proper fitting rain gear as a shell, and layers that can be added back on in the afternoon, as it may cool down for the ride home. Add with a box or two of squid, and some fuel will put a grin on everyone’s face, (especially yours, Mom or Dad) as you watch them develop into the next generation of fish harvesters. Show them how to be good stewards of all the resources, but also how to be effective “harvesters.”