Red grouper one of three, but not the biggest. Only 6.1 pounds.
Captain Rick found us fish off of key west. We caught three keeper red groupers, yellow tail snappers, one lane snapper, and a bunch of "silver snappers" (white grunts).
Protected species. And if the bladder is vented there's a good chance of survival. They are almost a nuisance species since they are aggressive eaters and will take your good fish and dive into the reef.
What a catch though.
30 miles or so, about 1.5 hours. The secret spots of the captain.
We had a great day with Capt Thomas and mate Fletch on the pure Florida Sea Flight head boat. We laid into some big Lane Snappers and got caught in some hungry Amberjacks.
The yellowtail wasn't mine, but a lucky preteen with his brother and dad. 20 plus inches.
Went out again today. Boat was very successful, I did well too.
The yellowtail snappers put up a nice fight. 56 years ago, I'm sure the fish were bigger too.
I had a great day of catching with Capt Cory on the Cora Beth.
It's a party boat but limited customers. We caught grunts, Lane, yellowtail, mutton, and Grey snappers for keepers. There were undersized red groupers, too. The mates were great.
You can fish border waters with either state license from a boat. If you live in GA get the GA license
I could deal with many crappie days like that!
I fish with Pepe's charter ( Key West, FL) and we always discuss what we want to fish for and how many we want to keep. I've never been disappointed, except when we had to return 17.75 inch long grouper, 18 is Limit. Heartbreaking but not worth the risk.
Folly Beach pier has some saltwater options and is accessible
I love my mini x. Fits on top of the truck when I tow the fiver. Stable too. It's not fast but I've been happy with it for fishing in the Florida keys, rivers and marshes around Charleston, and Clarks Hill lake. Comes equipped with 2 rod holders and spots for two more.
I tried one. What a waste of money.