Bait 1. 12" Ladyfish freelined till dead
then chunked on bottom. (at night around
full moon phase)
Bait 2. 6 " swimbait at night in the rocks.
( use a small orthodontic rubberband
wrapped around the jighead, and under
to hook barb to reduce snags)
3/4 moonphase to 3/4 moonphase
Bait 3- the biggest live Pin or Pigfish
you can get your hands on freelined
to rockpiles
(hooked in the nuts so it swims down)
best time is 45 minutes before slack tide
till 45 minutes after turn.
New Moon- Day fishing
Full Moon- Night fishing
in summer.
King of all Gag Grouper baits?
Sand Perch-AKA- Squirrellfish.
Sworn enemy of the elusive endangered mythical
keeper Gag (lol) usually does not survive the swim.
I chose Pelagic baits as my last choice because
of the number of shorts Ive caught on them,
but theres no doubt to their effectiveness,
and I have, and know people who have
caught keepers on them ( Spanish Sardines, Cigar minnows, Scaled Sardines ("Whitebait, Greenback,
Pilchard") or Threadfins will all murder the Grouper
on thier given day.'
Also dont shy away from small Jack Crevale, Blue Runners, or legal sized Bluefish.
Im not going to recomend cut Mackeral or Bluefish
here for fear of reprisal from the local trolls and
fish police, but I hear its deadly (😉wink wink)
100# test guys
and no Googan rods and reels unless
you just want to put on a rockpile show
or get broke off.😐
match hook to bait size
8/0-10/0 (I prefer Octopus beak style
to circle but whudeva)
fact is Skyway Gag Grouper are oportunistic predators, part time scavengers and while theyre not as smart
as Mango Snapper I believe they do lear
from thier mistakes, and can get warry, and
contract lockjaw very quickly under pressure.
(which is why I discourage and detest out of season
purposful catch and release of them outside
of the average useless carnage taking place out
there at any given time.
(the fkng Dolphins love it by the way)
Crank dont Yank folks😜
gotta walk the mile
