UTER
Photo: Albert kok, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Epinephelus itajara
How to catch Goliath grouper in Florida
Goliath grouper feed in 68–90°F water and bite best at 74–86°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 9 waters.
200 pts · trophy at 60"Feeds 68–90°FBest 74–86°FIn season nowWreckBridgeLedge / hard bottomArtificial reefPass / inlet
About
The giant: five hundred pounds of grouper on the wrecks, under the bridges, in the passes, eating whatever you're reeling in. Protected, catch-and-release, and the fish must stay in the water — a photo alongside the boat is the trophy.
How to fish it
Rope for line, a 16/0 hook and a whole jack on a wreck; it's a tug of war you mostly lose. Release in the water; never lift a big one.
What it eats
whole fishyour snapper on the way upbig live baits
Live bait for it
Blue runners (hardtails)Nose-hooked and slow-trolled on a wire stinger rig for kings; bridled for sailfish and cobia.
PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader30–60 lb fluorocarbon
Hook2/0–7/0
Braid30–65 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereHarvest prohibited except by a limited annual permit-and-tag program; catch-and-release, fish over 36" must stay in the water — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule at MyFWC →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Florida