With more than 400 species of grouper in the world, they are typically found in similar areas and caught with the same techniques. The different species of grouper usually vary little from species to species making it tough to identify them. Grouper are some of the best tasting fish in the sea and anglers love to fish for them during their open seasons.
Habitat
Grouper are found mostly offshore on the reefs and wrecks in deeper water. Some species of grouper can be found inshore like the gag grouper and goliath grouper. Inshore, grouper can be found along deep water docks, mangrove-lined shorelines, near bridges and smaller fish can often be found on grass flats and shoals.
How to Catch Grouper
Grouper are caught mostly by bottom fishing with live bait. Trolling for grouper with large, deep-diving crankbaits is another popular method for catching grouper on the nearshore reefs. Some anglers will also fish with jigs and soft plastics. Free lining a live bait works well when grouper are in the shallows near the mangroves and bridges. Heavy tackle is needed to pull these strong fish out of their deep water hideouts.
Eating Grouper
Grouper taste delicious. Their mild taste usually wins over people that typically don’t even like to eat fish. There are tons of recipes out there for serving grouper. Baking, grilling and frying are all great methods for preparing grouper for the dinner table.
Grouper Fishing Basics
- Popular Types of Grouper
- How the Tides Affect Grouper Fishing
- Inshore Fishing for Grouper
- Offshore Fishing for Grouper
- Spawning Grouper
Fishing Rigs for Grouper
Fishing Lures for Grouper
Live Baits & Natural Baits for Grouper
Below are some of the best live baits that are used for catching grouper.
- Most Live Bait Fish
- Crabs
- Pinfish
- Sand Perch
- Shrimp
- Squid
For Goliath Grouper
- Jack Crevalle
- Mullet
- Menhaden
- Sting Rays
