Grouper
Grouper have a stout shaped body and a very large mouth, they are generally mottled, striped or spotted, and can range from being colored mostly brown, brown-white, olive, reddish-orange and other shades and colors, depending upon the type of Grouper.
Grouper are a bottom feeding and mostly a bottom dwelling fish, and they love hanging around natural and manmade reefs, debris and structures on the bottom, such as shipwrecks and rocky ledges and rock piles.
Grouper seem to like staying around the debris and structures, for two reasons, these items bring about many of the smaller fish and other creatures that the Grouper feed on, and they also can use the debris and structures to hide when predators are near by. Grouper are a fish that is a joy to catch my many anglers, commercial fishermen, and others, their meat is very tasty and enjoyed by thousands.
Grouper can grow to be real dumbo's and by that I mean they get very big, in fact it's not uncommon to catch one that weighs over 100 lbs. Young, small Grouper will tend to stay in groups or schools, but as they become adults and larger in size, they tend to be a solitary fish.
A large sized Grouper will give an angler quite a battle when hooked, they will often seek any nearby debris or structure to flee into, this alone can get the line to become entangled or broken, if you manage to reel the grouper away from the debris or structure, he will still give you a heck of a fight, which is one of the joys of catching a Grouper.
When fishing for Grouper using bait, remember to get the bait near the debris and structure, on the bottom where the Grouper tend to stay, and you can do this by using a sinker on the end of your line. Some favorite live baits are; crabs, small squid, and smaller baitfish that live in the same areas as the Grouper. When live baits are not available you can also use any of the same baits, cut into chunks or strips.
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