Fishing For Grouper On Key West Fishing Charters

The best place to fish for grouper are the Florida Keys, particularly Key West, the Bahamas and down through the Caribbean Islands. Grouper are considered bottom fish. They like to stay closer to the bottom and close to rocks and solid structures so they can hide or escape into them. You can find grouper in water as shallow as 10' but they still like to stay closer to the bottom. Ship wrecks are a great place to find grouper. Grouper are a white meat fish and they're very tasty to eat.

Goliath grouper are protected in Florida waters. That is, it is illegal to catch goliath grouper (jew fish) and not release them. Grouper generally like warmer water. Gag grouper, red grouper and Nassau grouper in particular like water temperatures 65 to 75 degrees.

As mentioned, grouper are generally a bottom fish. They will however come close to the surface for a tasty smaller fish. Usually, when you fish for grouper you're going to use pretty heavy tackle and you're going to want to drop it to the bottom. They like live bait but will strike on cut bait. Another way to fish for grouper, particularly in shallow water, around 10 to 15 feet is to by 'trolling' which means cruising at a very low speed while dragging your line behind the boat. Grouper, particularly smaller grouper in shallow water will come up and strike the bait.

The general rule with grouper is rather intuitive. Smaller grouper live in shallow water and take smaller bait. You can fish for grouper in water as shallow as 10'. Larger grouper such as the huge Warsaw grouper are in deeper water, as deep as several hundred feet deep. Ship wrecks are great for deep grouper fishing.

The rig you use for bottom fishing should be rather heavy. You want a good strong rod with a reel that can take a good hard drag and 60 to 80 lb. test line. You want a big hook, 5/0 to 10/0. You'll want to put a 6 to 8 ounce egg weight on the bottom with about 2' to 3' of strong steel leader; 50 to 100 lb. test. For bait a good sized pinfish or a grunt should do fine. Remember, bigger bait & deeper water for bigger fish, smaller bait and shallow water for smaller fish. Of course the smaller fish are easier to catch. If you're on one of the Key West fishing charters just tell them you're after grouper and they'll set you up with the right tackle for the job.

You want to find out which way the tide or current is running. You want to find a place where it's running away from your boat, toward the structure. If you can find a smaller rock pile away from a larger structure that's preferable, so the grouper can't run for the larger structure. Drop your line in and let it drift up real close to the structure, right in front of the fish.

When a grouper hits the bait he'll usually hit it pretty hard and fast. He'll try to swallow the bait almost instantly which works in your favor. Immediately after he hits the bait he'll duck under a rock or some structure like part of a sunken ship if he can. You should be positioned so that you can immediately pull him away from his refuge. Once you've got him out in the open you should be able to get him into the boat. This is not a case where you want to let him run if you can help it. He'll run right into the rocks and chances are, you'll never get him out.

If you've never been grouper fishing then do yourself a favor. Get yourself onto one of the Key West fishing charters that go out grouper fishing every day. They can help you set up your rig and catch that big grouper. They'll even take care of your fishing license and make sure you're legal limits are OK for you.