Advise on bottom fishing setups please

[Sea Level]

I'd like some advise on what you would use for bottom fishing. I live in the Florida panhandle and am going to be doing more offshore fishing in the near future. I have done some before but it has always been on charter boats where they took care of the rigging. Now I will be on my own. Also, that fishing took place between Panama City and Pensacola where I fished in water between 100'-200' feet deep. Where I will be fishing now I expect the depths to range between 25'-50' deep while occasionally I might run to water as deep as 75'.

I have two setups that I consider heavy and two others that are medium to med/heavy. The heavy setups are a pair of 5 1/2' Penn Slammer stand up rods rated for #40-#80 line. On them I have one Penn 45 GLS and one Daiwa 400H. They are currently loaded with #50 mono. These are the rods I have always used for bottom fishing.

One of my medium to medium setups is a #20-#50 Penn Power Stick and Penn 320 GTI with #30 Silver Thread. The other is a Star Custom Crafted series rod with a Penn 750. The Star rod is a model GS 16/20 CC. If it is supposed to be rated for #16-#20 line it is the stoutest rod I have seen rated for line that light. I also have #30 Silver Thread on that setup. I have used these rods for 2-4 ounce jigs and enjoy catching amberjack on them.

All of my equipment is fifteen years old or more but I have taken care of it. Below are some questions I'd really appreciate some answers on. Thanks in advance for your help.


Do you like the short stand up rods for bottom fishing or would you get a couple of longer rods?

What size mono do you think is best when bottom fishing for grouper and the occasional amberjack or red snapper?

How much weight would you use for water up to 50' deep?

How long should the leader be and do you think fluorocarbon worth the extra expense?

Would you use setups as light as the Power Stick/320 GTI or Star/750 when fishing structure?

[reel fishy]

I prefer my bottom fishing rods to be 7'. My conventional reels are loaded with 50lb Momoi Diamond. Lead size really depends on the amount of current. 3oz is the norm up to 100' but if the tide is ripping go bigger. fluorocarbon all the way, anything that gives you an edge is worth it. 30lb for small snapper, up to 80lb for the bigger fish. Leaders in the 4'-6' lengths work around here but have used up to 25' fishing Muttons out of Ft. Pierce. There is nothing wrong with using tackle you already have. If loaded with the proper line and leader you can kill some fish. My dad used a 320GTI and Power Stick for years until I introduced him to a Daiwa 450H. I use Torsa 30s and Accurate 665Ws for bottom fishing and they have not let me down yet. Don't worry about your tackle, what you have will get the job done.

[blueoceaneyez]

I fish those 100 to 400' depths out of Destin...It was a drastic change from fishing 30-100' out of Wilmington, NC when we moved here. But we pretty much use the same gear both places though..the Penn 2/0s, 3/0s and 4/0s...320, 345gti....even spinners like a Penn 8500, old Penn 704s.

We do NOT like our bottom rods to be over 6'.

I think the gear you have now is fine.

Fluoro - I don't think it makes a difference, imo. We use it inshore but offshore bottom fishing we normally use regular clear mono or sometimes the camo colored leader mono.