Captain’s Corner: Ed Walker

The Tampa Bay Times

By Ed Walker

Red grouper season opened on January 1 and since then we have been blessed with several days of unseasonably nice weather. This has allowed us to go out to deep water and target these curious bottom dwellers. To find the keepers, the longer run has been helpful. Off North Pinellas and Pasco counties there have not been many legal sized fish in less than 80 feet of water. There are lots of red grouper, but nearly all of them are undersized. The deeper you go the bigger the fish seem to get.

On a recent trip to 150 feet earlier this week, Alexandra Spring caught a near record red grouper weighing in at just over 24 pounds. This was within a pound of most of the IFGA womens records for the species. Interestingly, the fish was hooked by her boyfriend C.J. Peppe first and during the fight his swivel broke in half and it got away. A few minutes later he got to watch his girlfriend haul the monster up which still had the other rig and broken swivel in its mouth.

Although obviously not very picky, we do find that larger cut baits seem to work a little better than live bait or smaller sardines. An 8 inch slab of fresh bonito is a great choice if you have one. Mullet heads are another great bait and readily available at local fish markets this time of year.

The size limit on red grouper is 20 inches overall length with a bag limit of two per person.