I was able to peel myself away from work to get in a few days of fishing. On day one my wife tagged along but just my son and I for the next two days. We really wanted to do some experimenting with grouper fishing and wow did we learn something. So many times in the past we get broken off within 3-5 seconds of hooking a big fish so I decided to upsize my gear. 80 lb braid, 100 lb 25’ wind on leader with a 150 lb terminal leader. Over two days we boated a 20 lb red grouper and three gags weighing in at 30, 35 & 40. Gags are closed so we were able to release them after only having to vent one. Caught some really nice trigger and snapper as well. Triggers are open so that was a plus and we also got our share of jacks on the jig. Sunday was terrible and my better judgement told me not to go but the lure was too strong. Should’ve stayed on the beach to cobia fish but did manage a really nice black snapper. Many more are there but have to wait on the right conditions to chum them to the top for light tackle. Here’s a few pics from our trips. Can’t wait to go back but it will be a while.

Nicely done 👍

Awesome!

nice fish Chad, congrats. Those are some fine gags.

Heck yeah!

Nice catch. Thats a monster mangrove. Do you fish more to the east for the grouper? I've never had much luck catching them, but I mainly fish due south or southwest.

Some quality fish right there!

I usually run SE or South. These were south and not too far out. I’ll usually run 45-55 nautical miles to grouper fish.

I'm probably not going out far enough. Thinking about going this weekend. Looks like the seas are supposed to be pretty good. Probably just check out some public wrecks and see whats on them.

HUGE Mangrove.

Anchor up and chum. Some days they’ll jump in the boat.

Did you get rid of the big boat and charter business?

Yes. I learned a lesson on that one. I will never have another business unless I will be the one doing it. I sold that boat last year and got a Grady White 336 Canyon. It is a great boat and has one feature that absolutely allows you to kill fish which is set point. Push a button and the engines hold the boat on the spot.

Sweet!

We got a beautiful gag in 60 ft of water yesterday on a diving plug we were pulling while looking for cobia. It was painful to have to release that one. We also released 10 cobia and kept one in 2 days of hunting. We did not see a fish over about 30 lbs or so but there were more of them than I have seen in quite a few years. I am hopeful this is a good sign for the future.

Nice!

Sounds like a fish killer you got now. Congrats

I wondered why outboards weren't being equipped with gps positioning yet. That absolutely is a game changer for boats too big for the trolling motor solution.

That’s good to hear something positive out of the cobia world.