Shallow Water Grouper
Another perfect day fishing, my brother was down for the week, so we decided to head out for some shallow water grouper. We could not have asked for better weather.The day started out good with a full live well of frisky whitebait. We did get a late start and the tide had all ready begun to fall. I like to fish the top of the tide since this gives the bait and chum the best chances of reaching fish that may be a little further out.
We started out of chumming with lots of live whitebait. For the first ten minutes of so , the chum just drifted along. Then we started to the mackerel hit the surface. Then finally a few grouper. The whitebait on the hook was the biggest in the live well. Which means the fish will have to work catch them. The first grouper chased and popped the water about 5 or 6 times. Then finally decided he had enough and sky rocketed the bait. The 29 inch grouper came completely out of the water like a large mouth bass and slammed the bait. That alone made the trip worth it. But we caught several shorts, lots of mackerel and two other keepers that came in just over the line. After a few hours things slowed (pretty much a complete stop) down and we moved to the cuts for a little trout fishing.
In the cuts we did come across another big school of trout just on the outside of marker 7. There must have been about 50 trout. We caught a few then headed in. Over a great day, we usually do not have such good weather around Thanksgiving.
I have some pictures of the trip and the grouper, but I will have to find them. This post has been sitting around for sometime.
Tide : 2.4ft falling
Water Clarity : Light
Moon Phase: 24% full
Temp: 78 F
Water Temp : 74 F
Wind: var 5mph
Bait: Whitebait
Results: Mackerel, 3 Grouper, trout.