By Capt. Bart Marx
December in SWFL! If you are reading this article and have not started your Christmas shopping yet, well I can hook you up with a gift certificate for a fishing trip. This is the time of year that we have our northern visitors, family, and friends and some of them like to fish and eat fish, too. With all the activities we schedule making things a little crazy, it might be nice to get in the boat, take a break, and bend a rod. This could be double duty, catch something to eat and take a break. This time of year, the offshore bite is good with the grouper, reds and gags. To harvest the gag groupers, I like to troll X-Raps and other big lipped deep divers. When I troll I use Suffix Performance Braid, usually 30-50 pound. This line is smaller in diameter than monofilament, so it’s easier to get the lures down to the bottom, even in 50’ plus of water. We troll from four to six knots, keeping an eye on the lures and rod tips to be sure they are digging deep and not surfacing. Also if your rod tip is jumping this means you are hitting bottom. So, if you are trolling around ledges or artificial reefs you will need to know how to adjust, so you do not get hung up on the bottom. Leave the drag loose enough that you can pull it out, while you are trolling, by hand. IF it gets stuck, the drag will sound off and you can save your lure. Plus, if you hook a big fish it will not rip the lure out of the fish’s mouth, giving you a chance to harvest it. When we do this, we can troll some shallow running lures from that can catch Spanish, kings, and cobia too.
Another type of fishing is bottom fishing and you can drift or anchor up. Anchoring you want a nice ledge or something artificial/man made that will hold grouper and snapper. I have Penn spinning reels that I use and conventional too. I also use Suffix Performance braid on these rods too, usually 20-50-pound in hi-vis colors with a top shot of monofilament, usually around one hundred feet. When I bottom fish, I use a knocker rig with enough weight to get to the bottom nicely, around two ounces if anchored. I also, depending on the bite, I may us a chicken rig; this puts your weight on the bottom and your bait is above the bottom. I use VMC 3/0 and up to 5/0 inline circle hooks to catch most of these fish in 50’-80’ of water. There is also a method called drifting for grouper (this is mostly red grouper). This usually takes more weight, depending on the wind if you don’t have a drift sock. You can end up with as much as eight ounces of weight, just to keep your bait close to the bottom, again depending on the wind. Always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{
So, let’s talk about some snapper fishing; I like to anchor up on good bottom that holds fish and do a little chumming, while getting things ready. Snapper usually will bite on lighter tackle, their eye site is very good, sometimes I need to use fluorocarbon leaders. This material is almost invisible under water and it works well. The type of hooks and rigs are similar to the rigs I use for grouper, just on a smaller scale. I like to start with thirty-pound leader with a 1/0 VMC circle hook, a knocker rig or a chicken rig, one to two ounces of weights. I may start with a knocker rig and if the bite is slow, I will change to a chicken rig. These rigs work well to harvest snapper too, for dinner. Plus, the FWC still has a closure on snook, reds, and trout till May of twenty, that leaves a short list of inshore fish to harvest. So, if you are interested in a trip or a gift certificate contact Capt. Bart Marx at 941-979-6517 or e-mail me at captbart@alphaomegacharters.com and always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{