Winter 2020 Comes to Florida!!

Handymans342

PickleRick said:

So I've heard guys using iguana as bait, what will iguana meat catch other than crabs?  Shark?  

Goliath Grouper

PickleRick

Its funny you mention tourist.  In Grenada there used to be wild monkeys and iguana, the locals have nearly eaten all of them to extinction.  They have armed guards on beaches that are known for sea turtle nests, they will eat those too.

I wont be fishing anywhere for the goliath grouper, im guessing those will be all deep water reefs/wrecks.  Most of my fishing spots will be within 10 miles of land, ill be looking for some new spots in the bay. 

Handymans342

They have caught goliaths off of docks and in the rivers here

PickleRick

Ive seen juvenile ones snorkeling around structure(rocks) but the big ones I thought kept to deep water, mainly deep water structure.  I bet some like the channels at the bridges but so do large sharks so im not going to snorkel for them there.

randy56

These Goliath Grouper? Are they as good to eat as Grouper? 

PickleRick

Make sure you check regulations before keeping any grouper in Florida!    Keeping a goliath will land you a trip in cuffs.  Might as well take home a manatee, key deer or a bucket of Queen conch

Michael T

Educate me. What have you guys got against Iguanas. I thought they ate a lot of nuisance bugs. Do they crap all over your decks or what? They are sure neat to look at.

Handymans342

Michael T said:

Educate me. What have you guys got against Iguanas. I thought they ate a lot of nuisance bugs. Do they crap all over your decks or what? They are sure neat to look at.

Yes. All over the docks and boats. They also burrow and destroy Seawalls. The tear up mango trees, fig trees etc. The government also asked everyone to humanely remove them. 

PickleRick

They don't eat bugs past juvenile age, they eat mostly flowering plants, many of which are rare/necessary for survival for rare/protected/endangered species native to the keys.


They came to the keys from floating storm debris or released pets.  I think there are 3 species of iguana in the keys. They thrive in the warm tropic island habitat.

Florida has lots of invasive species.  I think two or 3 years ago a family was attacked by the wild macaques that live in Florida.

I believe they were escapes of a testing facility that used to be located in Florida.  That facility shut down after much public outcry and was moved to my great state of South Carolina.  Instead of having the facility inland it is located on one of the many uninhabited islands on the south Carolina coast.  There are warning signs all over not to come to shore but you can boat around there, watch the monkeys on the beach.  

rasbury

They are a nasty creature for sure. Nasty teeth on them too and they will bite.

MarkB

PickleRick said:

Its funny you mention tourist.  In Grenada there used to be wild monkeys and iguana, the locals have nearly eaten all of them to extinction.  They have armed guards on beaches that are known for sea turtle nests, they will eat those too.

I wont be fishing anywhere for the goliath grouper, im guessing those will be all deep water reefs/wrecks.  Most of my fishing spots will be within 10 miles of land, ill be looking for some new spots in the bay. 

Are you in FL?  There's great goliath grouper fishing spots close to St. Pete's, about 100 ft of water ... around ship wrecks. We've fished them off a charter boat ... very fun!

MarkB

rasbury said:

They are a nasty creature for sure. Nasty teeth on them too and they will bite.

And they carry salmonella.

PickleRick

I like to fish in Florida but saldy no, im not in Florida.

Handymans342

Here is one for you MarkB

PickleRick

This is what we usually fish for

PickleRick

But we end up with plenty of these

LaRea

Handymans342 said:

Here is one for you MarkB

For the love of cats.  That thing is as big as a DC apartment.

randy56

So they are eatable. 

PickleRick

They are very edible but on the protected species list.  Their numbers are improving and there is a push for a season with strict limits.  

Most people on the east coast have heard of them, you may know the goliath grouper by its former much less pc name jewfish.   There are quite a few species of grouper.  No offence intended, the name has a very distasteful background, that's what we were told they were called by the people who cleaned our fish on deep sea trips back in the 80s when i was a kid.  

 

aero3113

Grouper is great to eat (I’ve had it a few times). I looked up to see what people say it tastes like and most say it’s like a cross between bass and halibut. Like @PickleRick  said , there are a few different species.

J3ff

Winter is over, 80 in the keys tomorrow, time to go jetskiing (since the mechanic still hasn't touched the boat  )

MarkB

Handymans342 said:

Here is one for you MarkB

That is a tank! I don't even know how they got it up. The one we caught was "only" eighty pounds, and I didn't think we could get it up ... we did, eventually, but the pull was insane.

RiverRat232

Some of you may have seen this. Here is what happens when you catch a shark but a grouper thinks it's bait.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O37HI_AX9nY

RiverRat232

Kayak fishing for grouper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6gQbJiSGNA