Stanley Russell from Huston, TX showing off a monster scamp!
Big red grouper have been biting well for us offshore. We’re fishing closer to 140 foot of water or more right now and generally doing really well on some big fat red grouper. We’re also finding some decent scamp grouper in this depth range too. The scamp Grouper are always a welcome addition while targeting those red grouper in deeper water. Scamp grouper generally feed on small Pinfish for threadfins for the most part while red grouper will bite those baits plus squid, and just about anything else. Red grouper much less picky compared to a scamp grouper. and generally red grouper are more plentiful as well. However, a scamp Grouper is a great eating fish. They just generally are a little smaller than the red grouper.
We’re also seeing some pretty good numbers of mangrove snapper offshore, too. These definitely are better targeted with a cut threadfin and double Snell rig. Once you get into deeper water beyond 100 to 120‘ of water using a shrimp becomes more and more unrealistic. As the deeper depth makes sensitivity to your hook extremely more difficult. The deeper the water, the harder it is to feel that soft bite that will steal your shrimp. Shrimp come off the hook extremely easy which means it’s very easy to lose your bite without feeling it offshore. That’s why we prefer the double snell rig especially in deeper water. It’s going to give you a much better chance to get those mangrove snapper with better efficiency.
We’re also seeing some mutton snapper right now! The mutton snapper bite is generally sporadic and rarer for us and central west Florida but lately we’ve been seen some decent numbers. Generally, we catch them while targeting the mangrove snapper and using that Double Snell rig with cut threadfin. We’re also seeing big numbers of large vermilion snapper and the deeper we go, the vermilion snapper get even more prolific plus they seem to be in larger sizes. Along with the vermilion snapper, we see the same phenomenon with Porgy’s as we get deeper they get larger and more prolific. Another random species that we’re seeing offshore heavily right now are the African pompano. African pompano vary in concentrations but this time of year we seem to be seeing quite a few. Generally we find them beyond 120 to 140 foot but that that range and deeper seems to be the hotspot.
Pelagic action has been going really well too. We’ve been seeing decent numbers of blackfin tuna while trolling or flatline fishing. Kingfish action has been going really well, too. Trolling between spots with the Rapala Xrap or the nomad DTX has been a great option. We’re also finding these pelagic species on the flat lines with either a dead threadfin, or will use a sabiki rig to sabiki up some live sardines or a live threadfins. But many people will make the mistake of waiting till they have the perfect flatline bait to set out a flat line, but remember some truly large trophy fish are caught using dead bait on the flat line.
REMEMBER, when fishing deeper near shore and especially offshore the Descend Act is in effect so when in federal waters you must have a descending device or venting tool ‘rigged and ready’ so be prepared with that venting tool if you know exactly where to vent the fish, but if you don’t here’s some helpful tips – https://bit.ly/3L5HTnv Plus, keep in mind using a descending device is super easy and doesn’t take much practice or as much precision as venting does, and right now you can get over $100 in FREE DESCENDING DEVICE GEAR by visiting this link and taking a short course on barotrauma mitigation techniques that will help more fish survive! The course is only about 10-15 minutes, and it will really help you preserve, protect, and proliferate our offshore fishery so spread the word -> https://returnemright.org/
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