There are many species of grouper that are commercial and recreational targets; red grouper are among the most popular, but there are sport fishermen that also target black and gag grouper. Some anglers also love the fight of the goliath grouper, one of the most powerful of all wreck fish.
Grouper jig fishing as a specific discipline, specifically slow-pitch jigging for grouper, has increased in popularity as well – and the rhythmic, tantalizing cadence of slow-pitch jigging, as opposed to speed jigging, plugging, or even fishing live bait, is highly effective on these big-bodied, sluggish, ambush reef dwellers.
Here’s what you need to know.
Where to Fish
First, finding grouper (regardless of species) is fairly straightforward. If you can find a reef or a wreck that has some current moving around it, and a lot of bait, there will be grouper in there. It doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily catch them, but finding them is the first step.
As for depth, that really depends on species; red and black grouper can both be found around very shallow structure, as shallow as 15 to 30 feet, but they can also be found at much greater depths, 300 feet or more down.
Find the wrecks and the reefs and target them; the big fish will be there.
Tackle Selection
Small red and gag grouper can be caught on light and medium tackle, but larger black grouper (and especially goliath grouper) will require heavy to very heavy outfits, reels with a big line capacity and rods with a lot of weight.
The best thing to do is overprepare; the same scrabble of rocks that holds hundreds of 5 pound red grouper might also have a black grouper over 100 pounds. It’s fun to catch grouper on light tackle, but at the same time, you don’t want to hook a trophy and get spooled.
Grouper Jig Selection
Grouper eat a wide variety of forage, including slender fish like sardines and wider, flatter fish like pinfish. In truth, there are lots of effective baits for grouper.
You need to mimic these in your grouper jig selection. Both slim, quick falling, and wider, flatter slow-pitch grouper jigs that exhibit a lot of flutter will can be effective.
The truth is, color is not always going to be that important – but profile and weight will. As a general rule, you will need 1 gram of weight per each foot of depth – so if you are fishing 100 feet down, you need at least 100 gram jig to maintain a vertical presentation.
Cadence and Technique
With slow pitch jigging for grouper, the subtlety of your presentation and technique will help dictate your success. Unlike in conventional speed jigging, with slow pitch jigging, it’s all about the drop, the lift, and the darting, rolling, zig-zagging and fluttering of the jig that will entice the grouper to bite. If one cadence doesn’t work, try another.
Where to Get Your Grouper Jigs for Slow-Pitch Fishing
Looking for a new grouper jigging combo, or just some new slow-pitch grouper jigs to fill your tackle bag before your next outing? Check out Johnny Jigs first – they are the undisputed leaders in slow-pitch jigging, and if you need help with jig selection you can give them a call too.
