Captain’s Corner for Jan 13 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

Catch and release trolling for large gag grouper is as good as it can get right now in almost any area in the 30 to 40 foot depths that contains ledges and limestone outcroppings. We have been devoting a portion of our trips to this method and have had very positive response from our clients, especially those that have brought children or grandchildren. Trolling large lipped plugs or plugs behind a #3 planer brings the fish away from the structure and makes it possible for a younger person to experience the joy of catching a large grouper that would have been almost impossible to pull away from the bottom structure if conventional bottom fishing methods were employed.
Although there are a few mackerel and kingfish around water temperatures have dropped to the point where it does not pay to spend a lot of time fishing for them. We have been concentrating on anchoring and bottom fishing for white grunts, grouper, triggerfish, sea bass and mangrove snapper. On our family trips we have been equipping the youngsters with lighter tackle and 2 hook snapper rigs with the sinker below the hooks baited with squid strips. The activity often is non stop because of the smaller hooks and it is not unusual for the adults to ask that their rods be rigged the same way when they see how much fun this light tackle bottom fishing can be.
Tip: Use 2/0 or 3/0 2x hooks because the larger fish will be brought into the area because of the activity and can easily straighten a small wire hook.