# gag grouper spot help..



## jeff912

I have been fishing Pensacola waters for about 15 years and i can never catch any grouper any where i go. will someone tell me a good spot for em, nothing private but public within 10 miles from Pensacola pass. I need some friendly advice on rigs and baits as well.:thumbsup:


----------



## Captain Jake Adams

Try some live bottom to the southeast near the paradise hole. Use a little bigger baits like whole northern mackerel or live baits such as croakers or ruby lips. Use a minimum of 80# leader and hang on.


----------



## younghooker

bigger pinfish... squirrel fish are grouper cocaine !


----------



## Captdroot

Captain Jake Adams said:


> Try some live bottom to the southeast near the paradise hole. Use a little bigger baits like whole northern mackerel or* live baits such as croakers or ruby lips*. Use a minimum of 80# leader and hang on.


Unless some ass hole steals them........ but excellent advice! "Reel baby, reel" ........ is the song that gets them in the boat.

Good luck Capt Jake Adams and stay in touch.


----------



## jplvr

Captain Jake Adams said:


> Try some live bottom to the southeast near the paradise hole. Use a little bigger baits like whole northern mackerel or live baits such as croakers or ruby lips. Use a minimum of 80# leader and hang on.


 Do you go deeper for bigger ones or just bigger baits in the right spot? I'm getting a little more confident about finding scamp, and we've caught the occasional red grouper, but we never stumble onto any gags what so ever. We fish lots of natural bottom too, and I'd say mostly fish natural bottom.


----------



## Captain Jake Adams

Definatley deeper for bigger ones. My favorite depths for real big ones are 180'-220' and out to even 350' but you still can catch some in 100' or less.


----------



## Bikini Bottom

We always fish the edge, yes it is about 28 miles south, and it isn't cheap to get there, but it's a huge location with lots of room for every boat willing to make the trip. It is where we always have caught the biggest fish and biggest variety of fish. Yesterday we had three 17 pound + groupers, AJ (released), two 40" + Cobias, to many Kings to count, bonitas for bait, and sharks. Normally it is loaded with mingos but none where there yesterday and the red snappers seldom go that deep. It is non stop fishing and you never really know what you are going to pull up from there. Have lots of anchor rope.


----------



## pierbound

jeff912 said:


> I have been fishing Pensacola waters for about 15 years and i can never catch any grouper any where i go. will someone tell me a good spot for em, nothing private but public within 10 miles from Pensacola pass. I need some friendly advice on rigs and baits as well.:thumbsup:



I have good luck at destin deep water catching gag:thumbup:


----------



## Mangrovegrazer

Or you could just use your bottom machine and use public numbers. Most rocks aren't just one but in a group. So just search around and then drop half a grunt down and 30" grouper pop up everywhere. Ask around and try to get a private number or make your own by setting down some toilets and tires or sink an old fiberglass hull. Set a free line out the back for kings and just get Spanish sardines and squid.


----------



## jplvr

Captain Jake Adams said:


> Definatley deeper for bigger ones. My favorite depths for real big ones are 180'-220' and out to even 350' but you still can catch some in 100' or less.


 Cool. Thanks. We have plenty of numbers where I'd expect them to be, but I never run into them. I'll figure it out eventually.


----------



## Naby

I appreciate all those who have helped out on this thread.

Jeff, if it makes you feel any better I can't seem to catch grouper either. There has been one legal grouper landed on my boat (2 if you count a just legal scamp). I have fished the edge and everywhere I can think of trying to catch them. I think bigger baits is key from what I have heard from others. I have it on good authority that gags like some relief on the bottom so wrecks or large rocks in deep water would be good in that regard.


----------



## Joeb1957

Bikini Bottom said:


> We always fish the edge, yes it is about 28 miles south, and it isn't cheap to get there, but it's a huge location with lots of room for every boat willing to make the trip. It is where we always have caught the biggest fish and biggest variety of fish. Yesterday we had three 17 pound + groupers, AJ (released), two 40" + Cobias, to many Kings to count, bonitas for bait, and sharks. Normally it is loaded with mingos but none where there yesterday and the red snappers seldom go that deep. It is non stop fishing and you never really know what you are going to pull up from there. Have lots of anchor rope.


How much anchor rope?


----------



## Trophyhusband

Bikini Bottom said:


> We always fish the edge, yes it is about 28 miles south, and it isn't cheap to get there, but it's a huge location with lots of room for every boat willing to make the trip. It is where we always have caught the biggest fish and biggest variety of fish. Yesterday we had three 17 pound + groupers, AJ (released), two 40" + Cobias, to many Kings to count, bonitas for bait, and sharks. Normally it is loaded with mingos but none where there yesterday and the red snappers seldom go that deep. It is non stop fishing and you never really know what you are going to pull up from there. Have lots of anchor rope.



We caught some nice mingos at the edge last weekend and I've caught a ton of huge snappers there while AJ fishing, but none since the season has been open.


----------



## Naby

Joeb1957 said:


> How much anchor rope?


I think the thumb rule is at least 3 x the max water depth you're anchoring in.


----------



## Trophyhusband

Joeb1957 said:


> How much anchor rope?



You need to be able to anchor in 220 feet of water so how much you need depends on how much scope you want to have out. Ideally that would be 6-7 times the depth but I've never used that much. You can get away with less scope by using more and heavier chain.


----------



## capt mike

*Grouper 10 miles out from P'Cola*

You have to go much farther south to consistently catch grouper than 10 miles. 175 feet of water is where I start!!:yes:


----------



## marlinchaser

Joeb1957 said:


> How much anchor rope?


It's not necessarily how much rope but how much chain. I consistently anchor in 160' -200' with 18ft of chain and less than 400' ft of rope out. I carry 600' of 1/2 inch rope.
'


----------



## Bikini Bottom

Joeb1957 said:


> How much anchor rope?


 
We keep 600 feet on our boat, now we have a windlass, but with our last boat, I was the windlass, still isn't bad if you use an anchor rope to pull it up first and then pull it in.


----------



## Starlifter

*Anchor Rode, Break-a-way Anchor, and an Anchor Ball*

When i'm figuring out how much scope to pay out when anchoring; I also account for what the current sea state is. If it is fairly flat 1-2ft then I'm comfortable just using a 2:1 Scope (2ft of rode [chain/rope] for every 1ft of depth) If the seas are around 2-4ft i'll use a 3:1 Scope.

Basically, the less line out; the anchor's shank is more perpendicular than parallel with the bottom. Which causes the anchor not to dig into the bottom as well. Also, in higher seas, the less rode payed out is going to cause the anchor to pull the bow down every time the boat reaches each wave's crest. Which could either just make it uncomfortable, or there is a greater potential that a wave could crash over the bow. Which could endanger your boat's ability to float by becoming swamped.

Lastly, if your using a fluke style anchor; rig it to be a break-a-way anchor like how I have our anchor rigged. What's different here than how a lot of people on the internet have rigged their break-a-way; is they usually attach a shackle to one of the sides of the anchor's crown. My concern with this setup was that when the anchor would lay flat on the bottom, the anchor would lean to one side; causing the pull of the anchor to be to one side instead of straight.

So, I drilled in the center of the anchor's crown, and attached the chain to one side. Then, as I wrapped the chain around to the other side I also crossed the chain. Crossing it because what I found happened was whenever the chain had any slack in it if the chain wasn't crossed, it allowed the chain to foul the anchor if the chain got around one of the side's of the crown due to slack which would have caused it not to set. Also, crossing the chain places the pull of the anchor parallel and in the same plane as the anchor's flukes.

I used stainless steel hardware including a nylon locknut (except for 15ft of galvanized chain) to inhibit corrosion. Also, how I placed the zip-ties around the shank; I have them just snug enough that as the shank goes through it's range of motion, it allows the chain and zip-ties to slide which keeps the chain from binding which would have prevented the anchor's shank from pivoting form one side to the other.

Another thing with the amount of anchor rode payed out, especially if you have 600ft out. Bringing the anchor in hand over hand is not that fun. I'm sure Bikini Bottom can attest to this. So, after a few seasons of tug-o-war; I got an anchor ball. Which I just place a single wrap around the boat's spring cleat on the side of the boat that the wheel is on, and do not wrap it around a stern cleat as is suggested in a lot of instructions that come with anchor ball setups. Especially since we have a center-console with a well; which makes this even a bigger of a no-no for us.


----------



## Sea-r-cy

Mangrovegrazer said:


> O Ask around and try to get a private number or make your own by setting down some toilets and tires or sink an old fiberglass hull.


 They frown on dumping this type of material in the panhandle. Could get expensive. :whistling: Sea-r-cy


----------



## SteveFL

The biggest thing I see people do wrong with regards to catching grouper is not getting them away from their home quick enough. You have maybe 30-45 seconds to move them away from any hole or structure before they dive in and hang up. After that time period, they realize they're hooked and likely won't be in the fish box when all is said and done.


----------

