Queen snapper also attack deep baits.

For manual gear, Albury favors a single hook rig using a 3-way swivel with a length of leader commensurate with the strength of the current. Stronger current necessitates longer leaders and light current, shorter leaders. The day we fished, he fashioned a leader about 12 feet long for the fairly strong current. He secured the doubled mainline to one loop on the 3-way, a leader on another, and a short length of light mono holding lead to the third. The lead was attached with light line so in the event it hangs in the bottom it can be broken off easily.

Albury says bigger grouper will jump on a big bait presented on a single hook rig. Good baits for grouper include a dead, deboned speedo, small rainbow runner or large whole squid. Prime snapper baits are a bit smaller, for instance deboned ballyhoo, squid strip or whole small squid, and bonito or barracuda chunks. As with any bait, fresh is better than frozen.

In the Straits of Florida—as for pretty much any serious depths—there is no season. Just as the Gulf Stream remains constant throughout the year, so does deepwater fishing. Things just don’t change down deep based on what happens several hundred feet above on the surface. Deepwater grouper and snapper fishing is a year-round fishery best enjoyed when calm seas permit an easy run to the depths.

One thing that keeps bottom fishermen coming back for more time after time is the suspense of not knowing what they’ll pull up on the next drop. Grinding a fish up by hand from 500, 600 or even 700 feet is certainly doable and does not require superhuman strength or stamina. Give it a try; even if you don’t seek world records, most deepwater species make fine tablefare.

FS

Bottom fish in 400 feet and deeper invariably experience lethal pressure changes on the way to the top, so there isn’t much hope for catch-and-release out here. Thus bag limits, with a few exceptions, are the primary regulations which apply to deep-drop anglers (commercial fishers have certain quota seasons). Conscientious anglers who’ve reached their daily bag limit for a particular species generally move on to other fisheries for the day, rather than risk hooking and wasting more fish. “Aggregate bag,” in case you’re still wondering, means any combination of fish from within the regulated family: for instance, two snowy grouper, two misties and a gag.

Regulations listed here are only excerpts of special interest for deep-drop anglers. For complete rules, check with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council at (866) SAFMC-10, www.safmc.net; or the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council at (888) 833-1844, www.gulfcouncil.org/.

South Atlantic Waters

Groupers: 5-fish aggregate bag limit

Includes such deepwater species as snowy, misty and yellowedge, along with the common shallow-water groupers. Also includes tilefish: golden, blueline and sand tilefish.

Speckled hind and warsaw grouper: 1 each per boat (counts in aggregate limit)

Wreckfish: No retention

Snappers: 10-fish aggregate bag limit

Includes all managed snappers.

Queen snapper: 12 inches total length

Silk (yelloweye) snapper: 12 inches total length

Gulf of Mexico Waters

Groupers: 5-fish aggregate bag limit

Includes such deepwater species as snowy, misty and yellowedge, along with the common shallow-water groupers. Tilefish not included in grouper aggregate for Gulf waters; instead, they’re regulated under a 20-fish aggregate which includes almaco jack, lane snapper, vermilion snapper and gray triggerfish.

Speckled hind and warsaw grouper: 1 per boat

Snappers: 10-fish aggregate bag limit

Includes all managed snappers.

No size limit on queen or silk snappers