Peak Season: Fall & Winter

Gag Groupers are the most popular type of grouper that can be found throughout this area. They are brown in color and hang out around rocks and shallower reefs. When hooked, they make a strong escape attempt and will break you off on the bottom rocks if you aren’t paying attention.

You want to use fairly heavy tackle for Groupers. You really want to use a rigid line on a reel with just the right amount of drag to keep them from retreating into sharp reefs. You also have to get the location just right. In fact, the shallower the reef is the more work it takes it is to get them on the boat. You really don’t want to give them much room to pull because they will get away from you.

After your hook is set, pull hard and fast, and don’t give up until they are in open water or on the boat. Although they do pull fairly hard at first, they have very low stamina, making the fight short and sweet. That said we like to use heavy tackle with minimal drag to keep them away from getting away. Sometimes you can hook them near the surface by chumming the water, which is much easier because they are further away from the rocks.

Gag Groupers are delicious and are considered one of the best-tasting fish in the area. It is very mild and has hardly any ‘fishy’ flavor. It has a sweet flavor that resembles lobster or crab but has the texture of fish like seabass or halibut. It’s firm and meaty, but also very lean and flaky.