Captain's Report - July/August, 2005

by Capt. Dave Mistretta

Expect the red grouper to be at their usual haunts. Eighty feet of water is where we normally start looking during July. Some days there will be plenty of action at this depth, other days require a bit more traveling into the 90 to 100 foot depths. Simply keeping your eyes on the sonar while running, can give you a better idea of where to fish. Look for the grouper shows along the edges of the sand dunes and the hard rocky bottom. They will normally be within a hundred feet of the sand hanging about two or three feet above the hard bottom. Dead bait seems to be the groupers choice during this heated month. There is plenty of bait schools wandering around out there, but a frozen sardine or chunk of squid can often get more attention. Reeling in a vermilion snapper or flannel mouth grunt from the many bait stacks at these outer depths will also give you some different dead bait. Butter flying either of these baits, then sending them immediately down at the same location, can often produce a hefty red grouper. Don't rule out the live bait all the way, but do try a lot of different presentations.

One thing you will be able to count on, is the abundance of bonito offshore. These cousins to the tuna are eager to grab free lined bait on just about every grouper stop out in the gulf. We don't care for their table fare, but a big grouper will gobble down a filleted chunk in an instance. We fillet the bonito, and cut one inch strips, then chill them on ice until needed. These strips are a great accessory to your arsenal of bottom baits any time of the year.

Kingfish will also be present at these same grouper stops, especially if there is good numbers of bait schools huddling the bottom. Last July we had some awesome days of king fishing while grouper digging. Throwing a flat line off the back will entice any king in the area. We often will run into schools of kings this way, with many of them impressively sized. Already we have been hooking some nice fish in the 20 pound class at the eighty foot depths. Spanish sardines and cigar minnows are mixed in with many of the schools of grunts and vermilion snapper, making things quite easy in the bait catching department. As far as I am concerned, there is no better bait for a summer-time king, than a Spanish sardine. Cigar minnows would definitely be my second choice.

Be sure to bring plenty of extra hooks if your grouper fishing in depths of 100 feet or more this month. Small sharks are common on many stops, attacking all baits sent to the bottom. Most of the sharks are offshore specie called dogfish and dogfin sharks. You can identify them by their slit like eye openings and blunt noses. They are all cloned to a slender four foot in length and average about ten pounds. You would think you were catching the same fish over and over again, except for the fact that many or these sharp toothed cartilage fish go back to the water with a hook remaining in their mouth, and it would be noticed on the second catch. Nickel plated hooks are the best to use, since they rust apart in a matter of days.

Big bull sharks are commonly seen around all the wrecks during July. These aggressive fish will often steal many of the hooked fish from your line. We have been retaliating by dropping down the heavy duty tackle. At least 100 pound test is required with a large hook and steel leader. Last week we encountered several bull sharks in the 8 to 10 foot class in eighty feet of water. Spearfiherman should be cautious of the bulls since they will often steal the fish directly off your stringer, putting you in quite a dangerous situation.

As this month progresses expect see more mangrove snapper on many of the deep rock piles. They will begin to congregate in larger numbers as they prepare for their annual spawn. We will be sure to target these great tasting finfish during the full moon phase around the 20th of this month. Night-time action can be extraordinary at this time during the incoming tide immediately after dark.

Captain's Report - July/August, 2005

by Capt. Dave Mistretta

Past Captain's Reports