Conventional wisdom says you need a boat for grouper fishing. And, yes, the bite is strong now in 70′ to 140′. But, it’s also good standing on the Merry Pier on 8th Avenue in St. Pete Beach. Of course, there were plently of snapper and mackerel around, even a few sheepshead. But the highlight this weekend was grouper:

There were big greenbacks- and I mean BIG, like 6″-7″- that were popping on the surface soon after sunrise. Although they were scattered, it was possible to get a few with a sabiki. And they were just the ticket for big grouper, like the 23″ and 24″ pair pictured above.

Sunday’s fish fry brought over a dozen guests, who dined on blackened grouper fillets, panko crusted deep fried grouper fingers, and a grouper-peppers-onion-sausage creation, along with salad, veggies and pasta. Yum- gotta love fresh grouper!

 

Memorial Day weekend brought some great fishing opportunities. I caught tons of grouper and snapper at the Merry Pier on Saturday and Sunday. But the real fun was on Monday, when I was joined by Cap’t. Dick and three of his friends for an extended day trip offshore on the Getaway.

We were all a bit hung over, and the seas were unforgiving in the morning. After a couple of quick bait stops, we had a bumpy run in 2-4 footers out to 105′ due west of the Don Cesar. First up on the agenda- amberjack! As soon as the engines were cut, and a handful of greenbacks thrown out, the reef donkeys appeared in force. A freelined live bait was taked immediately, and the fight was on. We quickly boxed our limit of 5 fish, up to about 35 pounds. My arms still ache.

Next up – grouper and snapper. We made a few drifts, and a few anchor sets. There was a nice show of fish at each stop, but the bite was a bit slow. No problem- we still managed plenty. Using a variety of baits including cigar minnows, pinfish, lizard fish and whitebait, as well as frozen sardines, we managed 2 keeper reds, 3 nice gags, 4 large mangrove snapper and a giant lane snapper.

As always, the Captain and crew on the Getaway were fantastic, working hard to make sure everybody had a great time and caught plenty of fish. The boat performed flawlessly in some fairly demanding conditions. And the weather was perfect, except for that pesky 15-20 knot East wind.

So, tonight it’s grilled amberjack, and tomorrow fresh grouper fillets. Thursday will be a snapper dinner, then anything left (and there will be plenty left) will be vacumn sealed for the deep freeze.

And, just so eveybody knows that not ALL of the big grouper are offshore… here’s a 23″ gag that was caught Sunday morning on the Merry Pier, using frozen sardines:

In typical May style, the Merry Pier in St. Peterburg is loaded with grouper and mangrove snapper. And they’re highly cooperative. Fishing on Saturday, I managed a limit of snapper, and threw back over a dozen. Gag grouper, ranging from a foot up to 19″, were mixed in. They were hitting live, tail hooked shrimp, small pinfish and mud minnows.

Sunday was more of the same, and I stopped counting after 30 fish. I got slammed a couple of times, but the big grouper made short work of my 20 pound test spiderwire. Interesting, for the third week in a row, I caught ‘the’ tagged grouper again. Same spot, same time, same bait, same technique- and the same fish. I also saw a tagged snapper caught- but the tag was half missing. Poor thing had probably been mobbed by the rest of the school, and they chewed the tag off.

There was a giant sheepshead prowling the pilings, but I couldn’t tempt him into biting. Tarpon continue to roll in the mornings, and there are lots of jacks around- but surprisingly few macks, for some reason. I landed a couple of huge filefish- maybe next time I’ll remember to snap a picture.

Sunday evening’s fish fry consisted of beer battered grouper fillets, and blackeded redfish. I’m cleaning out the freezer, now that the snapper are back in force!

As the water continues to heat up, so does the fishing. I spent a few hours both Saturday and Sunday hanging out at the Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach. Live shrimp was the bait of choice. The technique- tail hook a medium shrimp on a #2 Owner hook with a foot of 30″ flourocarbon leader and a 1/4 ounce weight, and drop down next to the pilings of the Pier. And I mean RIGHT next to the pilings- a foot or two away, and you’d get no action.

The bite consisted almost entirely of gag grouper and mangrove snapper (no snook around, although I did pull in a 20″ filefish). The snapper bite was the typical tap-tap-tap, while the grouper would announce their presence with a heavy ‘thud’. My friend Tim ventured down from Tampa on Sunday, and we probably caught 50+ fish between the two of us. The grouper ran to around 19″ (no keepers- yet), and the snapper were in the 8-12″ range. Plenty of keepers mixed in with the smaller fish. Pictured above was a fat 16″ mangrove snapper that I caught on Saturday.

Tarpon were rolling, although individually and not in schools. Lots of Mac’s were popping the clouds of glass minnows that hung by the dock, but they seemed oblivious to a freelined shrimp. Odd. A manatee family grazed by the pilings north of the pier. I had a report of a ‘true black’ grouper caught on the dock last week- very unusual for inshore, and much rarer than the occassional red grouper that I pull in. There were a few Jack Cravelle caught, but no big schools showing yet. Won’t be long, though…

It’s a great time of the year to be a Florida fisherman! The weather is fantastic, the water is clear, and the fish are biting. Fishing this weekend in St. Petes Beach, I caught, hooked, or saw just about everything that swims. How’s this list:

-Grouper
-Mangrove Snapper
-Lane Snapper
-Snook
-Sheepshead
-Spanish Mackerel
-Sailor’s Delight
-Atlantic Spadefish
-Ladyfish
-Jack Crevalle
-And the usual trash fish

I caught my first tagged fish ever- a 12″ gag grouper. Tarpon were rolling within 30 feet of Merry Pier. I had a few ‘freight train’ hits that must remain unidentified. Yes, it’s a great time of the year…

On a different note… my company is participating in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life on May 16. This 18 hour event raises funds for cancer education, treatment and prevention programs, and is a VERY worthy cause. This marks the third year that we have participated. If you’re reading this, I would invite you to come to the event (Stetson University, Gulfport Florida) or make an online donation. Any help is greatly appreciated. Here’s a link: http://main.acsevents.org/site/[…]team&fr_id=4974

So, I had a big hunk of grouper to cook this weekend. Cap’t. Dick provided an outstanding recipe. In a large aluminum pan, add 2 cups of chicken broth. Place grouper fillets in broth, and season with Everglades seasoning. Cover the fillets with sliced onions, green peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms. Cover with aluminum foil, and place on the grill at medium heat for about 45 minutes. Enjoy!

So, it was a glorious weekend for fishing- lots of sunshine, clear water, ample bait, decent tides. I hit Merry Pier Saturday mornign, stocked up on select shrimp, and freelined a big one under the pier on a 7′ Star rod and Shimano 6500 Baitrunner spooled with 20′ mono. BAM! 1 shrimp, 1 snook. It came in just under legal size at 27″, so back it went. Only snook of the day, as it turns out. There were lots hanging around, easy to spot in the gin clear water. There was a scool of about 30 cruising around, including some real bruisers, but they weren’t chewing. Think I’ll try again this week after sundown.

But, while the snook were reluctant to bite, the grouper were not. I must have caught two dozen, up to about 19″. They were in the pilings, under the dock, and in the rockpiles in front of the pier. Even caught a couple of red grouper! Spanish Mackeral were patrolling in packs, occassionally slashing through the schools of glass minnows. I caught a few nice jacks, always fun for a fight.

Another encouraging sign was my first mangrove snapper of the year- a fiesty foot long specimen. I saw a few more hovering around- soon, they’ll be so thick that they’re a nuisance. Also, I saw a guy pull up a 17″ pompano that hit a live shrimp on the outgoing tide. He was only fishing about 30 feet in front of the pier. Yes, it’s that time of year- everything starting to fire up!

Trolling for kingfish? Sure! Trolling for grouper? Why not. But… trolling for snook? This was a new experience for me. On Saturday, I met my friend David and we headed down to Bellaire Beach for a little surf fishing. It was a beautiful day, but the fish weren’t cooperating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later that afternoon, we headed to the Seminole boat ramp in Clearwater, and met up with Captain Mike Homer, a Clearwater Inshore Fishing Guide. We headed out to a local creek that emptied into the bay, tied on some YoZuri crystal minnows, and began slow trolling the deeper channel, as well as the dock pilings. Conditions seemed perfect, and we did get a couple of strong hits, but no hookups. I’m convinced that the snook were there; they just weren’t biting. Well, that’s fishing.

We eventually switched gears, and began casting gold spoons. David soon hooked up to a nice redfish that was hanging out over the oyster bars. We hit a small spoils island, and I jumped a fiesty little snook. David was next up with another snook. We continued to see signs of activity around the island, and had a few more strikes, but no more fish. After a couple hours, we were headed back to the marina. Lots of fun, and definately something I’d like to try again.

On Sunday, the sun was shining, and Merry Pier was calling. The grouper were stacked up, and hungry. I caught a couple dozen, up to 18″, on live shrimp and small pinfish. Most were hanging around the pilings, rather than on the rockpiles. I hooked and lost a big snook, and landed a 17″ sheepshead, which was released unharmed.

The winds were howling Saturday, quashing any chance of getting offshore. I did manage to get in a little St. Petes Beach shore fishing, with sheepshead, grouper, ladyfish and Lane snapper to show for the effort. I’ve been getting a number of St. Pete’s Beach area fishing reports, though..

Tarpon have made their official appearance. I saw them rolling in Boca Ciega Bay, and got several more reports ranging from Ft. Desoto to John’s Pass. Looks like they’re early this year!

There are schools of smaller snook hanging out around docks and structure in Blind Pass. They’re reluctant to bite during the day,but it may be a different story after sundown. At the Jetty in PassAGrille, there have been some great Pompano catches over the last week or so, with plenty of ladyfish and a few mackeral mixed in for good measure.

Seawalls have been yielding a mixed bag of flounder, sheepshead, trout and macs, although none in great quantity. The redfish SHOULD be around, but I’m not hearing of any consistant catches. Ft. Desoto would be the prime area to target, with all of the grass flats down there.

Offshore is a big question mark. Winds have kept the boats in, but there should be plenty of kingfish, grouper, snapper, bonita, sharks, barracuda and all the rest out there. I hope to get a trip together later this week. Stay tuned…

While the main push of kingfish is still a few weeks away, I’ve been readying the tackle box in anticipation. Meanwhile, I managed to spend a couple of hours in St. Pete Beach fishing at the Merry Pier. I saw a couple of undersized snook caught over at the ‘bowling alley’, the old piling immediately north of the pier, along with some small sheepshead.

I managed a mixed bag of grouper, Spanish macks and ladyfish. There’s still not enogh bait around foy the macs to show up in force yet. One interesting note- I saw a nice 3 pould pompano caught by ‘Lita, a Merry Pier regular. Good fish! From the rumor department, a guy came into the bait shop talking about a tourist who hooked a doormat flounder (in the 10 pound range). He got it up to the seawall, had no clue what it was, and cut the line when he saw the teeth. Yipes!

With the wind Saturday, and the fog Sunday, I wasn’t able to hop a boat and head offshore. Still got in some good fishing, though. Sheepshead were the target, and they’re finally starting to show reliably. Using fiddler crabs, a bagged about a dozen of ’em on Sunday, ranging up to about 4 pounds. Man, they sure bite LIGHT. You need to be focused constantly on the rod tip if you want to hook them.

 Other reports are coming in- I saw sheepie’s landed at Blind Pass (by Woody’s), and I heard about a big run of early Pompano at the Jetty in Pass-A-Grille. I may have to check that out…

Meanwhile, the plan is to head out to the deep water on Friday afternoon and bag some grouper now that they’re back in season. Then, the fishing will change to snapper under the full moon. Should be fun!

Crispy Fried Sheepshead

Fillet sheepshead, making sure all bones are removed. Heat peanut oil. Dust the fillets with flour; then dip in a milk/ egg wash, coating completely. Next, roll in a seasoned flour and breadcrumb mix (I always throw in a couple pinches of Paul Prudohme’s Seafood Seasoning, fresh ground sea salt, and a seven pepper blend). Deep fry till golden brown, drain on paper towels, and serve with lemon, Tobasco, and ice cold beer. Enjoy!