Florida & Georgia - Red Grouper

We found a big piece of live bottom several years ago in 155ft of water and generally do pretty well on it. Fished it yesterday and found 6 of these. All were in the 28 to 36" range. Caught on live bait. Left the harbour at 4am and returned at 2pm.

Found some AJ's via the sonar on the way back in and fed them the rest of the bait. The AJ's were an easy fight compared to the reds.

The 1st one in the picture is 36 and as seen in the 2nd photo, is spanning a 120qt cooler.

Nice fish! Just curious what region you are fishing in???

Sorry Duffy ...... I'm in Bradenton-Sarasota

Nice fish! We went out on sunday to some closer numbers and almost limited out with 19 red grouper. In the next upcoming weeks I'm gonna head to out my deeper numbers for some similar fish!

Nice job! Tight lines-- Chris

Those are huge puddin heads. I've never even seen one that looked like that.

You've got a great spot. Those are some full grown slobs right there.

did they have worms?

I have yet to cut open a red grouper that didn't have worms. But they are black and stand out against the white flesh. Easy to pick out when filleting

I have yet to cut open a red grouper that didn't have worms. But they are black and stand out against the white flesh. Easy to pick out when filleting

..........it really all depends on their diet. And we all know that red grouper are whores and will devour anything. lol I have caught them on hotdogs and leftover chicken wings.

I have yet to cut open a red grouper that didn't have worms. But they are black and stand out against the white flesh. Easy to pick out when filleting


x2 never caught one without worms. Not a big deal to remove them.

And don't for get u said you would pm me those numbers :)

We found a big piece of live bottom several years ago in 155ft of water and generally do pretty well on it. Fished it yesterday and found 6 of these. All were in the 28 to 36" range.Nice looking fish! It's times like these I have twin-engine envy.

Tipsy

Very nice Chris

Not many worms at all. I was actually quite suprised. Maybe 6 worms total on each fish.

And I must have missed your PM about those numbers.

Great red's!!! At 155' you must be out about 45-55 miles. I'm surprised you were not on the endangered ARS.
Regarding the worms, I stopped picking them out of fillets a long time ago, after cooking they disappear and no change in the taste of the fish. At least I can't tell the difference.

Great red's!!! At 155' you must be out about 45-55 miles. I'm surprised you were not on the endangered ARS.
Regarding the worms, I stopped picking them out of fillets a long time ago, after cooking they disappear and no change in the taste of the fish. At least I can't tell the difference.


:(:o



I can't say that my wife would leave any in there....she does the final prep of the filets...but the ones we are catching in 60' are probably snacks for those big boys, and not too many worms to pick out..

There are so many gags around where I fish, I dont even keep the reds any more due to worms. The last time I filleted one, we held the fillets up to a light to make sure the dark worms were out. My brother suggested that we slice them up even further to be double sure, b/c the gals were eating with us that night................I was pretty surprised that I actually found more worms in fillets I thought were clear of them.............and these worms were about the same size, but WHITE. That did me in for the reds. They are safe with me.

Worms haha they don't bother you once cooked ;)

Yeah, right, neither will a turd.............but I aint going there.

100% stud fish. Na friend of mine told me his friend down south caught a pig 36 in. You know any charter boat guys in clearwater? Stud red one of the biggest I have seen and I have slung miles of fish... Well done

:grin::grin:

That seeker rod is the ticket I told you!

Awesome fire engines!

Yes Phin .... you made a great recommendation on the Seeker rod. I was able to gain about 4ft of line at the initial hook-up and held it there for a few seconds before he decided to head back to his hole. He got about 2 ft back but not quite to his hole (this was against 22lbs of drag). It was a stalemate for 3 or 4 minutes with me gaining a few inches and loosing it a few seconds later. Finally got his nose pointing north and I won after a bit.