I've caught two so far, neither of them keepers (too small and one was red) and both out of the same hole using dead bait on the bottom. I read online that people are getting their bag limit of keepers in a couple hours in the AM in the shipping channels trawling with lures. I clearly must be doing things wrong. I'd like to catch one before the season ends and any pointers would be most appreciated.

Wife & I snagged some keeper Gags only about 1/2 mile out, found a "bump" on depth finder (30-25-30), dropped anchor and some simple bottom rigs with frozen finger mullet , pulled up some grouper!




It's easy.

We used to get groupers out there trolling Rapala Magnum plugs pretty fast to get them 25+ feet or deeper. Like one below and I liked red/white while my father liked green/mullet color.  Make sure it has big angled lip so it will dive deep.  Troll over uneven bottom and rocky bottom. If you get a strike mark the spot and go back as they are usually in schools. If you get another one near the first then drift over the spot using live bait down near bottom. I like live pinfish or live sardine but you can use any bait fish.  This was 15+ years ago but I'm sure it's not very different now.
http://t.basspro.com/Rapala-Magnum-Saltwater-Lure/product/1726/

they love live pi nfish  but so do snook, snappers & sea trout- get my drift

if you have caught two so far than you are on the right track. for all the skill / knowledge you can / could gain the biggest part is sheer luck. i have bass fished some of the best areas florida has to offer with the best equipment known to man for more than 30 years and i have still never caught a bass larger than 10 pounds. keep at it, it will happen.

A little secret that has worked for me for years...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD4Wu3AcMTk

Something looks a bit short there

As far as the Gags, no shorties for me.

While I can't remember the exact lengths on those in the pic (two years ago), I always get an up-to-date regulations sheet before we go out, and check with a ruler when they come aboard. I guarantee those were legal. It's not worth it to keep undersized fish.  I'm a real stickler about it and my friends call me a nazi when I go out with them. I will not stand for violations on my boat.

If you're referring to her shirt, the shorter the better.

I have 50lb braid on my rod and I fought something in that same hole that broke it once; I fought long enough that a passing fishing boat stopped and watched. It fought like the two small ones that I caught and I was making progress so it wasn't anchored in, so maybe... I don't have a lot of experience, but it seems I can tell if it's a shark, catfish, grunt or grouper before it comes to the surface. It always seems that sharks fight hard, but I think they must run with me some because it's intermittent, grunts and catfish nibble and the grouper I've reeled in stuck hard and fought hard all the way up.

Edited: quoted wrong post. I've got a feeling that this year isn't the best because it's still so damned hot outside.

  The smallest here is just over 22 in. legal . ...65 lb. braid with a swivel... 6 ft. of 80 lb. mono...a #  2 planer (sea striker ) around $10...30 ft. of 50lb. mono after that with a swivel in the middle...and a 6 in.   Tsunami Pro swim shad ( about $6  for a four pack).

 Start out around bouy # 1E  (  out from Bahia Beach/ Cockroach bay area, a couple of miles from the south shore)...The main channel is around 50 ft....stay in the 35 ft depth on the shoulders...Go from 1E south to the Skyway bridge trolling from 3 to 5 mph. depending on tide flow.   Around 100 to 150 ft. back from the boat. Set the drag and this will snatch them out of their holes. Google up sea striker and it will show planer use.

 You can fish the Manatte channel but it's much harder to stay on the slope...you need a good depth machine...pay little attention to the fish alarms unless you have a good unit and know what your doing.

 Take beer and a sandwich...The bite seems to happen after mind numbing time and then it's hot for two hours..moving tide is good...good luck...

Thank you! Will be back out next week.

It has been a crappy summer for all fishing in the bay...record rains chased all the bait fish south and warm water is the bitch now...A few weeks ago the water temp. dropped a bit and fish went nuts. Now it's back up and the wind has been a bitch also.

 I live on the Alafia river and it's  been a tough year...Windy next week also , Dec. 3rd last day for gags...next year

 Try plug fishing for snook in the Alafia. It's a rush when they hit.

Mission accomplished:



Used the lure in the photograph. Trolled the edge of the shipping channel inside the bay at 4-5mph and did a shallow zigzag to where the depth finder showed the edge and the deep area of the channel. I'm guessing the lure was out on 100-200 ft of line and I'd feel it snag every once in a while. Tide was coming in and I was heading against the tide. I had no drag on the line at all (50lb braid with an 8ft 80lb leader). When the fish hit, I did not stop the boat and handed it off to someone else to drive. I had a Walmart special rod and reel (Ugly Stick with a reel) and thought the reel was going to break off when reeling it in so I'd pull with the rod and catch up with the reel. I don't think I was going for more than 5-10 minutes with this technique before I caught the fish at around 2-3 in the afternoon.

ETA: Thanks to everyone for their help and advice. The fish was at least 22" before the fork, apparently regs are on overall length which I guess were between 24 and 26" on this one. I should include the rest of the pictures for a GD kill it and grill it as I had it for dinner as well.

Took a couple friends out yesterday and they didn't listen to me. I was adamant about tightening the drag all the way down to keep the fish from anchoring in -- or at least that's what I hear they'll do. Lost my Magnum Stretch 30+ and my 50lb braid I went and bought a conventional Penn Senator 113H2 and a rod; they loaded it up with 60lb mono for me, but I'm thinking it may be worth it to switch it to braid. I don't think the lure is running as deeply with the mono.

Had a friend with me this morning; I drove and he caught one the same way; also around 24-26 inches. The one I posted earlier and the one from this morning were caught between 4A and 4B following the red markers. I'm near the skyway; I may go try the 1E area in the morning. I have a pink Magnum 30+ and a gold one; the gold one works every pass and I haven't gotten anything with the pink one yet. Should I expect anything better than these that I'm catching with my current formula closer to 1E or am I already doing it right?

Didn't get a grouper but got a keeper king on the edge of the channel this morning trolling a blue Rap-X at about 5-6mph.  Firing up the smoker for some fishspread later today
 

Oh, and for grouper I troll with braid with a topshot of mono, but I bottom fish them with mono.  I don't like braid for grouper digging.

Back in 70's Grouper was free. The charter boats running out of Clearwater would catch so much that they would dump them on the docks for your taking.


Times have changed!

Supposeldy Redfish (Red Drum) was a commercially fished one too. King is next on my list. I'd love to go catch Dolphin, but I'd need a friend with a second engine who needs a hand and someone to chip in for expenses. I've often wondered if flying my plane out and trying to spot would be of any use before heading out in a boat.

We've been dragging the ship channels in Tampa bay with planers and big plugs since the mid eighties. This year was "unique" with the warm weather. We went twice for a few hours and only got Sea Bass (Not complaining, their great fare) .

Gear tip; We run stout solid fiberglass boat rods with full length blanks and big Penn offshore reels rigged with 80lb mono to a Sampo Coast lock swivel to a #4 planer, another Sampo coast lock swivel to 30' of 60lb mono to a regular swivel and 30 more feet to a big Rebel or Jig. At the end of the day just reel the Coast lock to the rod tip, remove the planer and hook the bottom coast lock onto the open top coast lock and loop the 60' of leader back and forth from the reel crank to the open coast lock at the tip terminating with the plugs rear treble hook or jig hook on the crank handle. Wrapping the last length around the rod/leader to get the correct final length to the crank handle tidy's the whole rig up for transport or storage. Don't forget to loosen the drag for storage after wash down.
Pic of coast locks that we use.