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Regulations
22" minimum size limit for all species except Warsaw which has no minimum size; no closed season for any species;
total of 4 fish (aggregate number of all species) per person per day limit; warsaw grouper limit is 1 per vessel per day and
does not count in aggregate limit
General Information
This group of species share an interesting life
history trait. All groupers begin life as males and over time transform into females. The spawning season is in the winter
and spring except for the jewfish which spawns in the summer.
Grouper are usually caught offshore but the younger
individuals live in sea grass beds or around mangroves. Occasionally anglers catch legal sized fish in the deeper holes of
the backwaters. Groupers live close to the bottom and always associate with some type of submerged structure.
Distribution
There are a number of grouper species caught in Florida. The gag and red groupers and the jewfish (a species permanently
closed to all harvest) are the most widely distributed species. Most of the other species - Nassau, Red Hind, Rock Hind, Black,
Yellowfin and Scamp live in and around the coral reefs of extreme south Florida.
Tackle and Techniques
Grouper fishing is primarily an offshore fishery. Drifting a bait a foot or so off the bottom is the typical technique used
by recreational anglers. Slow trolling a bait or lure over hard bottom also produces fish. Standard boat tackle with 20 to
40 pound test line and a 40-80 pond test leader is employed so that anglers have a chance to turn the fish's head away from
an underwater ledge or piece of manmade structure and bring it to the surface.
Bait
Grouper will eat
anything just about anything that comes their way. A live pinfish, piece of squid, or chunk of fresh cut bait are proven baits
when drifting or at anchor. When trolling anglers use deep diving saltwater plugs or jigs Jigs can also work when worked vertically
while drifting or at anchor.
Secrets to Success
Groupers don't move real far for a meal. The prefer
to wait for the meal to come close to where they are and that is usually only a foot or two from some place of refuge. When
you feel a fish bite, set the hook as soon as you think the fish has the hook and reel in as much line as you can as quickly
as possible. Monofilament line stretches up to 28% and that give the fish enough line to duck back into its place of refuge.
What you want to do is prevent this by turning the fish's head up towards the surface. There is a trend among veteran grouper
anglers to use one of the new braided or fused lines when fishing for grouper. With nearly no stretch, you have a better chance
of turning the fish's head before it can get under a rock, a condition in which the fish almost always wins and the angler
looses.
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