Grouper Jigging

[gottaflylee]

Ok, lets get with it on for Groupers on light tackle.
Rod and reel. As most of you know I only fish Penn spinning reels. Rod is a 6'6" Saint Croix with a Penn Slammer spinning reel ( I forget the size, 650 or 750 I think, just don't have one in front of me now.) spooled with 20 pound (I did say light) blue Diamond and a 3" piece of 50 pound Fluorocarbon. This outfit works best for jigs in the 56 gram (2 oz) range. My "go to" jig is a hot pink "Maria" jig. I like the slimness and the length of it as well as the way it moves when you jig it. I keep the Treble hook on it as this is for killing and grilling...not catch and release. The first jig from the left is a well used "Maria" jig that is retired, second is a new one in the true color. These Jigs are not cheep but I think they are worth the price. Next is a Sting Silver in a Hot pink and Chartreuse color. Next 2 are lead jigs, again in 2 oz; last is a flattened lead in 2 oz. The last one is about 7/8" wide and much slower on the fall and much wider "flutter"...takes longer to fall to the bottom. The one I did not get a picture of but it is one that I keep on hand is one we all can make...knife handles. Now think about it before you go cutting all the knifes in the house and go to the flea market and you can find all the old knifes you want and their cheap and most are around that 2 oz mark...Slow down now ICM...I know how you are...save some for me when I get back.
Now tolmaz, I must apologize to you, a while back you sent me a jig that you made that I wanted to try on grouper...well I did and lost it to a fish on the first drop. Unfortunately I think it was on a AJ and not a Grouper.





Ok, next step is boat control. When I fish these jigs I am drifting all the time. I do not anchor at all. I fish both hard bottoms as well as ledges. You need to start on the high side of the ledges and fish to the deep to keep the "hand ups" down...this is also done to move the Groupers out of their homes. As you jig, most fish will follow the jig before they hit it.
This picture is a 18 pound Warsaw that my buddy Dick Gray caught on 8 pound test while we were jigging for Black Sea Bass



Because we were drifting we were able to catch it even though it was a 20 minute fight. Think about it 18 pound grouper on 8 pound. As I said the key is getting them out away from their home.

As we drift I make a couple or 4 jigs with the rod, depending on the wind and current, and let a rod full or 2 of line out, jig a couple of times again and then burn the jig back (while jigging rod) to the surface and start the process over again.

When I'm dropping to the bottom, I do it with loose line to let the jig fall faster. This also helps me know when I should be on the bottom. I can count out the depth by putting the rod tip to the water and lifting the tip, with the bail open, over my head...this distance is about 10', so say in 80' I will do this about 9 times and should be on the bottom accounting for the drift. If you have tension on the line the jig will move away from the boat and not toward the bottom.

Here are a couple pf pictures from some Grouper trips!








You will catch a lot more than just Groupers doing this. I think on one trip we had over 30 Trigger Fish, Kings and Black Sea Bass up the...

As allways...this is my way, not the only way!

[cbaker77]

the picture of the warsaw is cool. I did not think we had those around here.

[gottaflylee]

cbaker77, We got them all. Hines, Speckle, Yellow Fin, Nassau, Goliath and most of the Tropicals to name a few. I've caught most of them.

[JMS-ILM]

man, i love seeing the deck fish box on a 23' whaler stacked full like that....some good memories!

great thread Lee. jigging bottomfish is a blast...you never know what the next drop might bring, especially out there along the break.

[hrdcor32]

Great post Lee, thanks for the info!

[hunt4fish]

Great write up Capt.Lee,I think I will be trying the jigging technique before long.

[cbaker77]

gottaflylee, do you find most of those groupers in deeper water or inshore in the 100 or so foot range. I have only caught reds, gags, and scamp but would love to catch some different species. I am interested in dropping some heavy jigs in deeep water to see what you might come up with. Just got back from key west and on our charter down there, our guide made a few comments about dropping jigs in 400 to 500 feet of water down there and catching massive black grouper. I would not doubt it if there were some forty and fifty pounders lurking around in that deep water off our coast. I would sure like to give it a try.

[paul708]

thats some great looking fish and Jigs. what series St croix were you using...i was just talking to someone today about the st croix rods..the SW series.. they make a great jigging rod for our area for flounder, seabass..we were talking about using them in "the deep" for tilefish..

[gottaflylee]

gottaflylee, do you find most of those groupers in deeper water or inshore in the 100 or so foot range. I have only caught reds, gags, and scamp but would love to catch some different species. I am interested in dropping some heavy jigs in deeep water to see what you might come up with. Just got back from key west and on our charter down there, our guide made a few comments about dropping jigs in 400 to 500 feet of water down there and catching massive black grouper. I would not doubt it if there were some forty and fifty pounders lurking around in that deep water off our coast. I would sure like to give it a try.

Here in Wrightsville Beach area we don't have to go deep for bigger Grouper My personal best Gag was 53.5 pounds in 70' of water. Another friend did one in 60' that was 48 on one of my numbers. The Warsaw came in 65' of water. I have been on the Break when the Cabarets (sp?) bit one day and had one that pulled a 28' Atlantic inboard against the stream.
Out of Wrightsville Beach as a rule of thumb, most of your Gags will come in 20 to 100'. From 100 to 200' you will find Reds and Scamps, Your tropicals will be in about 125 to 150' of water Once you get over 250' You will catch mostly Snowies. In the fall and winter time the Gags will move inshore and if you have- know the small hard bottom spots you need not go past 65' for a great day of jigging.

Here and in the Keys are 2 different worlds...what I do or how I fish in Florida and how I fish for them here is very different for the most part. I think it is do the long shelf we have compared to the short shelf in the Keys and along the East coast of Florida. Most of my guide buddies are surprised the find that we have the Tropicals here as well as I was when we were catching keeper Grouper in a foot of water on the flats. A Bone fish has nothing on a Grouper in a foot of water...Bone will lose every time.

[cbaker77]

Awesome! Thanks for the info.