Fishing For Grouper

When I was invited to go out on the Gulf to catch Grouper I was delighted and excited.Grouper is a wonderful white fish which has become a favourite of many people here in Florida and across the nation. They are caught in many places but the Gulf of Mexico is the main source for most commercial fishing. Because of the desire for this fish , close controls make sure that the stock is protected. The season closes for two months every year and the number and size is controlled by wildlife management.

My friend and golf partner has a great fishing boat and he knows the good fishing spots. He marks the good reefs and fishing holes on GPS for future use.Yesterday was a perfect day for fishing as the Gulf was calm and we were preparing to travel some 40 miles out into the gulf. When we left the dock we made our first stop some ten miles out to catch bait fish. Within a few minutes we had plenty of sand perch and grunt. Pin fish were captured as well and after we had enough bait we headed out to deep water for Grouper. The Gulf is really quite shallow by open water standards and you have to travel well out to get deep water.

Travelling at 30 + mph we arrived at our first stop some twenty five miles out. The water depth was 50+ feet deep and we had instant luck.I caught three fish quickly but none were the  right size for keeping. We moved every half hour and travelled even further out. Land was not in sight but dolphins, birds of every kind and other fishermen seemed to be everywhere as this was the last day for grouper fishing for two months.

Octopus must have been  migrating as we caught dozens of these little fellows, They are hard to handle and can escape easily from any container which does not have a good cover.As we began our day at 7am and sailed, fished and enjoyed the environment until late evening we decided to call it a day. Any day fishing is a good day but this day was perfect. The weather, the crew and the fish all co-operated in making this day special for me and I cannot wait until the next chance to go back out on the Gulf.