But for the weekend fisherman who has neither the boat nor the inclination, booking passage on a partyboat like the Florida Fisherman II is the best way to sample some of the hottest bottom fishing found anywhere in the Gulf of Mexico.

The best way to learn how to fish from a Middle Grounds partyboat is to first spend some time observing the regulars--guys who know the drill from making the trip weekly for years. These regulars opt for heavy tackle and bruising technique, often dropping to their knees to use the rail for leverage against a big fish, and are a good source of how-to information for the novice.

Since all fishing stations, livewells and bunks are numbered and assigned, the regulars are usually found on the stern, a spot that's not so easy to rent given the pecking order established by regulars over the years. The regulars with the most seniority take the stern corners, the less senior anglers filling the spots in between.

They have some pretty good reasons for preferring the stern, not the least of which is being next to other regulars who are less likely to foul their neighbor's line. But party boaters have another, more biological incentive to fish the stern--a natural chumline caused when hooked fish are rapidly hauled to the surface and their embolized air bladders cause their stomachs to invert, expelling their contents into the current.

Another argument for a stern position is that many times, the biggest fish in a school will patiently lay back in the current, away from the crowd, watching for the right moment to strike into the school--not at a bait but at a member of the school. Remember, to a 50-pound grouper, a 16-inch vermilion snapper is a light lunch.

Stern anglers, using current and casting technique to their advantage, are in the best position to get their largest live baits past the school of smaller fish and into the waiting maw of a big boy. The jackpot pools are consistently won using this technique. I noticed that when we first anchored at a new spot, regulars fished their heaviest tackle and biggest baits. Sometime during the first half hour, one by one they switched to lighter tackle and began targeting snapper.

The tackle provided is standard partyboat grouper fare--Penn 67s screwed to 6 1/2-foot boat rods and spooled with 40-pound mono for snapper or 80-pound for grouper. Terminal tackle is nothing fancy--doubled 5/0 hooks on 40-pound leaders for mangos, single 7/0 to 9/0 hooks on 80-pound leaders for grouper and amberjack.

To keep the weights from sliding up the line on the drop, a 6-ounce slip sinker rides a foot of leader between two 100- pound swivels in a modified fishfinder rig. Most of the regulars bring their own tackle, but their line class usually matches the stuff provided by the boat. A few opt for 20-pound spin gear for the mangos, knowing from years of experience that gray snapper are wily and more difficult to get to bite.

While gray or "mango" snapper make up half the catch and amberjack about a third, the real prize of a Middle Grounds trip is an outsized gag grouper. Misnamed black grouper by left-coasters, gags have a reputation for preferring live pinfish over other edibles. The pinfish available at bait shops are usually standard snook baits--2- and 3-inchers--so most regulars catch their own live baits shortly before the evening departure, and can be found lugging 5-gallon buckets filled with pinfish big as your hand and spadefish big as a dinner plate to their assigned livewells. Guess who catches the biggest grouper and AJs?

Pinfish, big ones, are by far the best live baits to take along on a Middle Grounds trip. They stay frisky in the well- aerated livewells allotted to each angler and survive the 100- foot drop to the bottom quite well. Be sure to bring along a dip net to gather them out of the well or you'll quickly find out how they got their name. Remember, gag grouper are reared on shallow grassflats and grow up on a steady diet of pinfish, and even though the Middle Grounds don't normally harbor pinfish, a gag grouper's memory for fine dining is long enduring.

Live baits are hooked through both lips or the nose, which makes them more streamline as they plummet to the bottom trailing a 6-ounce lead. A helicoptering bait can cause line tangles with a neighbor, a constant problem when fishing elbow- to-elbow. Regulars have perfected an underhand softball lob that takes the bait out away from the boat 20 feet or so; weekenders usually just let the weight carry the bait straight down, a move that occasionally causes tangles.

Frozen bait is provided, sardines and squid, but again, it's best to bring along your own live bait, either caught beforehand or bought at local bait stores. I only saw one angler, the boat's only lady guest, using live shrimp, and she landed the trip's only hog snapper--a beautiful 15-pounder. She also did quite well on snapper, stringering a mixed bag of vermilion and mango, as well as porgies, tilefish and triggerfish.

One disadvantage of partyboat fishing is the constant threat of tangles with neighboring gunnel-mates. The tangles are a nuisance, mostly because they cut down on fishing time, and losing a big fish to a crossed line can be downright maddening.

"Don't pull, don't pull!" was often heard, barked out by a regular as he cranked a big fish to the surface, feeling the pressure of another's line across his. "Someone is across me--don't reel, don't pull!" But more times than not, the offender didn't get the message and continued to reel, slicing across the stretched-tight line of a hooked-up angler. Close examination of the dismembered tag end revealed a melted squiggle, a clear indication of another line melting its way through the tighter line. Surprisingly, most regulars, showing their years of experience, patiently explained the faux pas to the offender and re-rigged from his rail padding studded with pre-tied leader rigs. I soon learned that a regular's reason for frantically reeling and pumping is not so much to yank the fish out of his hole, but more to get 'em up fast so that their line doesn't tangle in the spider web of 50 other lines in the water.

In spite of a few arguments with the bottom and occasional tangles with a neighbor, Middle Grounds fishing can be enjoyable and productive aboard a partyboat. Back at the dock, the mates hollered out stringer numbers and slid piles of mangrove snapper and single big fish down a gangplank made slippery by hundreds of fish. Not one partyboat angler went home skunked--most dragged stringers heavy with fish.

As I drove home to Tampa with a cooler full of fish, I thought about how Jeff Hubbard had said it right--except for the mosquitoes, it was "just like camping out."