Grouper of Saint Augustine

Spend Some Bottom Time

Slug-it-out fishing off St. Augustine puts tasty fillets on the table.

"Ugh!"

I'm sure my grunt was audible from a mile away.

"Turn him, Fritter," my friends echoed amid laughter. I thought we would do well this morning, but I wasn't prepared for this. It was all I could do to hold on, my rodtip bent into the water, while 80 feet down, something tugged hard, intent on ending the battle.

My predicament started innocently enough. I grabbed a live bait and made the first drop. I felt a distinct thump when my bait was about halfway to the bottom. I reeled in the slack, planted my feet, and set the hook. Now, firmly connected to a freight train below, I saw the error of my ways. I should have let Al or Steve make the first drop. Then I could be in the peanut gallery joining in with phrases like, "Don't let him pull you overboard."

No way. Several months had gone by since my last decent grouper or snapper. This fish felt good. It turned into a slugfest. For every foot of line I gained, the fish took back two feet.

Checkmate.

After his last run, I gained 10 feet of line and finally began bringing my prize to the surface. Through the clean water, 20 feet below, we identified my fish. It was a grouper. A big, fat gag, commonly called a gray grouper by locals. Al gaffed my fish with a well-placed lip shot, to prevent gouging the fillets.

I'll take this action any day--first bait, first drop and a 20-pound gag. Steve and Al sent their baits to the reef before I finished unhooking my fish. That was fine by me. Our day was young, with a blazing orange sun just peeking over the horizon. It was their turn to grunt and groan.

The night before, a late call from Steve Watson planted the seed for our trip. "Let's go fishing tomorrow. We nailed snapper today. Let's hit it at 4:00 a.m. We need to get an early start."

He must be kidding, I thought. Four a.m.? For a quick jaunt to local reefs? I like to beat other anglers to the reef, but 4:00 a.m. seemed a tad early to launch a fun trip. We were only running 15 or 20 miles to nearby, inshore numbers.

Steve stuck to his guns, ignoring my pleas for a later start. He saw no sense in wasting valuable time. We could sleep another day. Major feeding time was 6:00 a.m. We needed to be on the spot, anchored, rigged and ready for the bite.

I packed my gear and set the alarm. Lifting the cooler lid to take another look at my 20-pound gag, I silently thanked him for insisting on the early start. Early birds get the worm, or in my case, a BIG worm.

That morning, pulling up to Marineland, I found Steve and another longtime fishing bud, Al Zamba, ready to go. I tended boat chores while they caught live bait. Forty-five minutes later we slipped through Matanzas Inlet. Al punched in a Flagler reef number, and we were off, skimming along in predawn light, toward our bottom-bumping destination.

During the ride Steve baited Al and me with stories of his trip on the previous day. He and his wife, Dollie Sue, accompanied Capt. David Stokes and his fianc‚e, Robin, out Ponce Inlet for an impromptu afternoon of fishing. Stokes pointed the bow of the Sea Lover northeast toward a reef in 80 feet, about 10 miles south of our present position at Flagler reef. They made it just in time for an afternoon bite occurring during a major feeding period. The tales Steve told sounded too good to be true.

"Dollie Sue caught so many red snapper, her arms are sore. We hooked snapper after snapper. Most were in the 10- to 15-pound range." Steve's words worked. Al and I were pumped and ready to drop a bait.

After reaching our number, we tossed a marker jug over the side and began a systematic search for the bottom structure. We did not want to drift this small rock patch. Often, drifting scatters bottomfish. Snapper and grouper will follow your bait as you drift off the spot. Scattered fish are difficult to target. We preferred to find the mark and anchor so that baits fell directly into a school of fish.

This strategy often results in more fish. Snapper and grouper will remain tightly schooled if the bait drops directly to them. If drifting is necessary to find fish, we do not make more than one or two passes. One pass does not usually scatter fish. Also, we try not to drift far off the number. When I'm drifting, I keep my bait on the spot, and work it along the sides and top of the reef to find the best grouper and snapper concentration.

Catching grouper and snapper around the Flagler grounds dates way back. In the '50s and '60s Al Zamba's dad, Al, Sr., and Jack Genung made regular runs to these same numbers. Navigating with outdated Loran A, transistor AM radios, and a wealth of dead reckoning prowess, these captains repeatedly put clients and friends on huge schools of snapper.

Jack Genung still owns a tackle shop in St. Augustine at the base of the old Crescent Beach bridge. His shop reeks of history. Old photos depicting boatloads of snapper, freight train grouper and other species adorn the walls. They are testimony to days of fishing past. Yet, as strange as it may seem, these same photos may predict fishing's future in these same waters.

Flagler County began an aggressive artificial reef program in 1993. The combined efforts of county and state administrators and local anglers paid off with Flagler County's first artificial reef, George's Reef, in 1994.

Steve Watson, host of our predawn grouper trip out of Matanzas Inlet, also happens to be the Flagler County Artificial Reef Coordinator. When the first rumblings concerning an artificial reef program surfaced, Watson stepped up to the plate and took the reins. His jurisdiction would be different from others around the state. Flagler County lacks an inlet. St. Johns County, to the north, has two inlets, St. Augustine and Matanzas. Volusia County, our southern neighbor, has Ponce Inlet.

Yet, these waters are perfect for enhancement. Long touted as a red snapper nursery, the Flagler grounds were an excellent choice for expansion with manmade habitat. Spawning snapper migrate to this reef system every spring. Adding additional habitat is a win-win situation. It helps rebuild our depleted snapper stocks, while also increasing our odds of catching a legal fish.

Bottomfishing on these 80-foot natural and artificial reefs occurs in cycles. Each spring large snapper, a.k.a. mules and sows, move inshore, taking up residence on the coquina shelves and riprap. Their numbers continue to grow until mid-May. Spawning continues for about three weeks. After spawning, most of these fish head offshore, to natural bottom in the 21-fathom depths. When an angler finds a roaming, post-spawn snapper school, fishing is often phenomenal. Post-spawn snapper stack up on small rocks, eating any bait that comes their way.

After the main stock of spawning fish departs in June, smaller snapper, what we call eggshells and chickens, move onto the reefs. Eggshells are juvenile, 1- to 3-pound, genuine red snapper that have a quarter-size red spot on their backs, about a third of the way up from the tail. The spot is similar to that on a lane snapper, but close examination reveals a difference. On a lane snapper, the spot is black, not red. Plus, lane snappers have yellow and red markings. As an eggshell red snapper grows, the red spot fades away.

Chickens is a common term used to describe small, legal-size red snapper. An average chicken weighs in the 5-pound class and measures between 20 and 23 inches long. Once a red snapper reaches seven or eight pounds, we drop the chicken nomenclature.

Most captains and fishermen in this area understand their responsibility in rebuilding Flagler's snapper fishery. As Stokes puts it, "If we take all the spawners, how can we expect good fishing next year?"

His comment reflects the views of a new era of anglers, those who take the time to understand and practice conservation.

Grouper timetables are somewhat different. Normally, 5- to 10-pound-class gags begin showing on the 80-foot reefs in late February or early March. These fish are following bait, not spawning. As the ocean continues to warm into June, more fish arrive. During summer, large schools of grouper move from reef to reef. Often a reef or wreck is loaded with fish one day and barren the next.

Al Zamba and I hit a Flagler reef one day in August, and every grouper we hooked or caught was big. Most were 20-pounders. We even hooked several freight trains we couldn't turn. We returned to the same spot three days later, and every fish we caught measured 17 inches and weighed about three pounds. After several short moves, we found the 20-pound grouper schooled around a ledge two miles away. Often, it pays to move around and check nearby numbers.

As for the best bait for grouper and snapper, nothing beats a frisky livie when it comes to enticing a strike from a hefty grouper or snapper. Many types of live bait will do the job. Mullet, pinfish, pigfish and pogies all draw strikes. So do cigar minnows, threadfin herring and grunts. My favorites are pinfish and pogies. Both baits can be cast netted and are hardy enough to survive in a good livewell.

Pinfish are exceptionally tough. I've seen anglers transport them out to the reefs in 5-gallon buckets. While I don't recommend this method--it calls for changing the water every five to 10 minutes--if a boat doesn't have a livewell it does work.

When pinfish are difficult to catch and pogy pods are not on the beach, I switch to jigging live bait off the reefs. Small feather jigs, or sabiki rigs, are a good way to catch a supply of cigar minnows and threadfins. Expect to lose a few rigs. Often, predators hit the livies while you reel them in.

Tackle for targeting grouper and snapper should be stiff and stout. It takes a rod with backbone to turn a mule or freight train. I prefer 7- or 8-foot, 50- to 80-pound rods with 4/0 to 6/0 reels. I spool my reels with 60-pound mono. Braided, no-stretch lines also work well, and some anglers believe it is easier to feel the bite with these lines. Drags on bottom reels need not be smooth. They need to be hammered down. No drag. Period.

If line pulls off the reel, a big grouper or snapper will make it back to safety. Hammer-down bottomfishing is an art. It is also hard work. But if you're looking to pick a fight, stopping a big fish on a Flagler County reef should satisfy your soul.

Flagler Fishing Grounds

Many wrecks, natural reefs and artificial reefs provide shelter for bottomfish off Flagler County. Main Flagler Reef (loran 44711.0 and 62028.2; lat. 29-31.65'N, long. 80-57.00'W) is a good place to start. Flagler Reef offers a series of coquina rocks, ledges and shelves. South Flagler Reef (44692.5 and 62014.2) lies two miles due south of the main Flagler number. Check this entire area for scattered bottom marks. All can hold fish.

Three main wrecks lie north/northeast of Flagler Reef. They are Gordon's (44744.3 and 61895.5; 29-44.67'N, 80-46.77'W); Sailboat (44717.1 and 61982.1; 29-35.528'N, 80-54.313'W); and St. Augustine Shipwreck (44818.7 and 61962.5; 29-46.375'N, 80-55.968'W). Gordon's lies in 72 feet of water, the Sailboat is 65 feet deep and the St. Augustine Shipwreck is in 80 feet of water.

The two new artificial reefs are George's Reef (44717.4 and 61977.7; 29-35.863'N, 80-53.829'W) and Hunter's Reef (44673.1 and 62030.7; 29-27.42'N, 80-57.12'W). Note the proximity of George's and the Sailboat. George's lies about 3/4 mile to the northeast. Hunter's Reef lies a short jog southwest of South Flagler Reef.

FS