You don’t have to go offshore to catch gag grouper in Tampa Bay, local fisherman says
When most Gulf Coast anglers think of gag grouper fishing, they reminisce of heading offshore to fish deepwater ledges and rock piles where big gag grouper pull hard in an attempt to head for cover.
“The majority of the time we usually head offshore,” said angler Jacob Crue when asked where he likes to gag grouper fish. “But over the past week, I’ve been seeing a lot of people on the Skyway catching keeper-sized fish. There might not be as many, but for a quick meat trip, when it’s good, we go there.”
Crue, who lives in St. Petersburg, headed toward the Skyway Fishing Pier early Sunday at 2:30 a.m. after gag grouper opened on Friday, Sept. 1. Fishing the pier allowed Crue to bring his 7-month-old son and fiancée along for the trip with the safety and comfort of the car close. But for a few hours, the fishing was slow.
“Even bait was hard to get. Maybe a dozen pinfish and a dozen greenbacks. But once the sun came up, it started getting good.”
Using Google Maps, Crue bounced around from rock pile to rock pile. He said with satellite view, the rock piles are visible and allow him to get his bait near the structure-loving gag grouper. Rigged with 50-pound leader on a Shimano Saragosa 10000 spinning reel, he let the outgoing tide bring his pinfish naturally toward the piles without weight.
“Around 6:30 I got hit and missed it. I grabbed another bait and then that one got eaten. I had the drag on deadlock and it still pulled out drag. I knew it was a keeper at that point. Smaller ones hit and won’t pull any drag and then come up to the surface,” described Crue. “He was digging down.”
Able to turn the fish before it reached rocky salvation, Crue guided it to the surface where it was netted. There it measured just short of 25 inches, clear of the 24-inch size limit needed to keep.
Soon after, Crue’s friend landed a second fish while using a weighted pinfish on a conventional rod. His measured over 26 inches.
“We figured that it would be good around that time. Some days it seems like there are more gag grouper in the bay than offshore,” Crue said.
While it can be good for a quick trip with anglers on land, those fishing the Skyway fishing piers will soon need to abide by new rules that start Oct. 1.
An education requirement will need to be completed annually for bridge anglers and all treble/multiple (sabiki rigs) hooks will be banned from Nov. 15 to March 15. Anglers will be limited to using two fishing rods at a time.
