F I S H I D H E L P

[BigBoiFishing]

BigBoiFishing wrote: Aside from the Jacko crap. My neighbor caught a Grouper @ Bill Baggs yesterday. No pic because he was in the process of cleaning it & I didn't want to go through an awkward moment photographing his fish like evidence.

It was like 21", not a Gag or a Black. It was a "chocolate" brown with some specks & like a "swirl" of white on both sides, very ugly Grouper. I'm sure its a Grouper because of its head & fat body (even though it was 21").

I looked through my waterproof fish ID book & it short of resembles a Goliath by color but when I google small Goliaths they don't look the same.Any clue? If it turns out to be an undersized Grouper & his catch was illegal....that really sucks bcuz then Bill Baggs will become the next RickenFacker.

[bolo]

Without a picture it is hard to determine to know what it is. It could be a cross bred of different grouper. Jewfish tail are usually round and black and gags have more of a square cut tail. Get a picture of the fish even if it is the head and carcass only. Worst case you can send it to FWC to help ID the fish.

[permitchaser]

Without a picture it is hard to determine to know what it is. It could be a cross bred of different grouper. Jewfish tail are usually round and black and gags have more of a square cut tail. Get a picture of the fish even if it is the head and carcass only. Worst case you can send it to FWC to help ID the fish.

IF IS 21 IN dont do it LOL be carefull with bolo

[BigBoiFishing]

Thats what I'm afraid of, I don't want to screw my neighbor over, especially since hes my neighbor. I'll see if I can get a pic of the head, which by now he probably made into soup.

[permitchaser]

BB one this is for real i caught a snapper with the tail of a yellowtail i took a pic on a regular camera fish do get cross with races just like us look at me in a little CHINO cool pic Scotty

[BigBoiFishing]

Sounds like a nassau to me

Nah, swirly white line only ran once on each side, it looked like a really ugly Grouper bro.

[bolo]

All you have to do is say you took this photo from a guy fishing of a bridge. No one will get in trouble. If it is a Nassau Grouper they are protected.

[permitchaser]

Sounds like a nassau to me

Nah, swirly white line only ran once on each side, it looked like a really ugly Grouper bro.

BB you going to need a lawyer again sorry

[PhishingPhanatic]

Was this it? This would be the only grouper legal to keep at 21"...

[permitchaser]

Was this it? This would be the only grouper legal to keep at 21"...

thats a red i need to get one legal this weekend what depht should i go for 70' to 120' ?

[PhishingPhanatic]

thats a red i need to get one legal this weekend what depht should i go for 70' to 120' ?

I think reds are usually a little shallower, I got my big one in the Tortuas in about 90'.

[permitchaser]

thats a red i need to get one legal this weekend what depht should i go for 70' to 120' ?

I think reds are usually a little shallower, I got my big one in the Tortuas in about 90'.

thanks rory you always come thru i hope i can do some morning fishing tire of the tails the problem is neighbor dont like to get up early he is very nice so i try to please the faquer i think he's going to have to wake up early he's going to cry rory i dont care red/gag /black i know the gags hang out shallow / winter red and blacks get closed but sea is rough

[BigBoiFishing]

I went and asked his son if he had any of it left over so I can ID it out of curiosity and promised that his pops won't get in any trouble. Fortunately he took a pic b4 the slaughter. The pic is dark but it was around that same shade of color.

I wonder if this might be the baby of the Grouper battles of I've been losing there...

I had to resize the pic.

[PhishingPhanatic]

Thats a black.

[BigBoiFishing]

Thats a black.

So is it possible that there I've been getting hooked up to big blacks instead of gags?

Also, he was short 3" now that its ID'd as a black, I'll be sure to tell him to toss em back if he gets another. Even though I doubt it bcuz the groupers I & other people have caught there have always been Gag. Thats why I had no clue what it was since I've never caught one. It doesn't look like the Blacks in my book, are they different looking when smaller?

[PhishingPhanatic]

Sometimes they have different color patterns, I have caught them that look like that. It is usually the bigger ones that lose the checkerboard pattern though. I have caught a couple of short blacks at Bill Baggs so I know there are more there. Blacks are also by far the most common grouper I catch in the Keys bridges, out of every 10 grouper I catch there, probably 7 are blacks, 2 are reds and 1 is a gag.

[BigBoiFishing]

I know a lot of people here think I'm BSing about hooking into big groupers there but I'm not. What do you think is more likely, they are big gags or blacks there. Or is it hard to come across a 15# grouper inshore? I estimate 15 because a friend of mine whos been fishing since the 70's says it felt like that (he hooked up to one when we were fishing 2gether).

[PhishingPhanatic]

I know a lot of people here think I'm BSing about hooking into big groupers there but I'm not. What do you think is more likely, they are big gags or blacks there. Or is it hard to come across a 15# grouper inshore? I estimate 15 because a friend of mine whos been fishing since the 70's says it felt like that (he hooked up to one when we were fishing 2gether).

It is definitely not common to hook into real big big grouper from shore but it can happen. The big ones are smart and as you have found out, know how to rock you and break off. I caught this black in the Keys years ago, it weighed 17 lbs, and everyone on the bridge was amazed, telling me it was the biggest grouper they'd ever seen from shore. When I filleted him, there were about 8 hooks in its throat and stomach, that fish had obviously been hanging around for a while.

[WhoDey]

Ah, the many faces of Rory, in the example above we have BabyFace Rory.

[BigBoiFishing]

I know a lot of people here think I'm BSing about hooking into big groupers there but I'm not. What do you think is more likely, they are big gags or blacks there. Or is it hard to come across a 15# grouper inshore? I estimate 15 because a friend of mine whos been fishing since the 70's says it felt like that (he hooked up to one when we were fishing 2gether).

It is definitely not common to hook into real big big grouper from shore but it can happen. The big ones are smart and as you have found out, know how to rock you and break off. I caught this black in the Keys years ago, it weighed 17 lbs, and everyone on the bridge was amazed, telling me it was the biggest grouper they'd ever seen from shore. When I filleted him, there were about 8 hooks in its throat and stomach, that fish had obviously been hanging around for a while.

That is BADA$$. I just got the itch 2 fish after seeing that. Damn. Thats what its all about. I'm probably SOL because if there MIGHT be a Grouper that size there, you know it might not get caught considering you're fishing right over the rocks and at a bad angle.

[permitchaser]

beauty double points from shore

[snakehead terror]

Get someone you know that has some shark gear there just to see what it is. I don't think you are hooking into grouper, MAYBE a jewfish.

[FysherKing]

that is a nice black qudos Ive been dying to hit up one of those key bridges

[FysherKing]

what kind of bait do you use?

[fishnfool73]

That fish was caught around a few years ago....believe it was on a grunt.

[PhishingPhanatic]

That fish was caught around a few years ago....believe it was on a grunt.

Yeah, I caught that guy about 5 or 6 years ago on a grunt head. Been fishing the Keys bridges 20-30 times a year since then and have only gotten 1 other keeper grouper...they aren't very common.

[fishnfool73]

We could have played this a little better and everyone and their mother would have been heading to the Keys armed with 200 lb test and broomsticks this weekend. Over 15 years of fishing the Keys and I have 6 keeper blacks to my name loads of shorts but keepers are far and few.