Middle Ground

Tackle & technique

Red grouper

Red grouper live on low limestone ledges and potholed live bottom across the West Florida Shelf, mostly in 60 to 250 feet. Drift to find hard bottom, then anchor and fish live pinfish, grunts or squid on the bottom with stout conventional tackle. Reel hard right after the bite, because they dive into holes, and use a descending device on fish released from deep water.

Bonefish

Bonefish push onto shallow sand and grass flats with the rising tide to root for shrimp, crabs and clams, often in water under 2 feet deep, and fall back to channel edges and deeper flats as the tide drops. Most fish are sight cast to with a small shrimp or crab fly, a light jig or a live shrimp, which takes bright sun, light wind and a quiet approach. They are catch and release only in Florida, and in Hawaii many anglers also fish bait from shore along sand channels and reef edges.

Common snook

Snook ambush bait around mangrove shorelines, bridge and dock lights, jetties and the mouths of passes and inlets, generally in 2 to 15 feet of water. Fish moving water, especially the outgoing tide, with a live pilchard, pinfish or shrimp, or a jerkbait or soft plastic swum past the structure. In summer they spawn along beaches and inlets, and in winter they crowd into rivers, canals and deep backcountry creeks where the water stays warmer.