How to catch Gray triggerfish

Gray triggerfish feed in 62–84°F water and bite best at 68–80°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 6 waters; in October they are at their peak in The Golden Isles, The Lowcountry, The Southern Outer Banks & Cape Fear.

20 pts · trophy at 16"Feeds 62–84°FBest 68–80°FIn season nowArtificial reefWreckLedge / hard bottom

About

A leathery gray fish with a locking dorsal spine and teeth that steal bait like a dentist. One of the best-eating fish on the reef, and one of the hardest to hook.

How to fish it

A small, strong hook with a tiny piece of squid, dropped tight to the structure, and set on the first tap — there is no second.

What it eats

squidshrimpcut bait, small pieces

Live bait for it

SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.

Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.