Help With Grouper And Snags

[clayton86]

I want to catch some grouper here in Kuwait but every time I put anything on the bottom I get snagged like every single time idk whats down there besides sharp sht that cuts my line I think there's a sunk ship or some thing cuz the bigger queen fish always go for a certain spot and get under some thing and saw our lines. I want to get a grouper bigger then the one I did get but like i said the snags are ridiculous it doesn't matter what i try and use live bait, cutbait, squid, soon as it gets to the bottom it gets snagged and if it doesn't and we get a hit we set the hook feel em fight a quick sec then were locked solid in a snag. I tried like a drop shot rig but used a bunch of split shots so when I pulled it would just pull the shots off but nope that didn't work it took the hook and all. are there special sinkers for fishing reefs or what ever is down there or a certain technique because this cast and sit pole watching isn't working

[etommy28]

try a break away rig, basically tie it like a drop shot with very light line dropping from the hook to the weight so when it hangs up it is easy to break off.

[clayton86]

thats what I tried when i did the split shots but used the same line i did it with my yo yo spool but it almost always gets hung up actually not almost it just always gets hung up lol

[Dwight Hottle]

Clayton have you tried any diving plugs like manns strech series? Grouper will bite those for sure.

[clayton86]

no we mostly either jig spoons or live bait like zebra seabream. iv tried some diving type lures but its really hard were 20 feet up and our equipment blows there is one spot were a little lower I could probably get some desired action out of a plug but it would have to be on a calm day and I usually don't fish there but I have seen guys catching red snapper there on raw chicken.

[Bassn Blvd]

Clayton,

Grouper know every hole and will make an immediate run for them once hooked. I fish for grouper using liteweight gear so don't copy me. Many people use 50-80 pound mono leader, depending on the depth and bottom structure. Some make the leader anywhere from 3 to 10 feet long, and even longer.

My best advice is to use a stout rod and 30-40 pound main line. Hammer the drag and horse the grouper off the bottom/reef as fast as possible. This is where the stout rod and heavy leader come into play.

If the grouper goes into the hole and flares out it's gills, then good luck getting him out. The best thing to do is just keep constant pressure on the fish until he gives up or the line breaks.

Give your reel a couple cranks after your bait/sinker hits the bottom (if your fishing straight down). This will give you a headstart getting the grouper away from the holes after he eats your bait.

[clayton86]

Clayton,

Grouper know every hole and will make an immediate run for them once hooked. I fish for grouper using liteweight gear so don't copy me. Many people use 50-80 pound mono leader, depending on the depth and bottom structure. Some make the leader anywhere from 3 to 10 feet long, and even longer.

My best advice is to use a stout rod and 30-40 pound main line. Hammer the drag and horse the grouper off the bottom/reef as fast as possible. This is where the stout rod and heavy leader come into play.

If the grouper goes into the hole and flares out it's gills, then good luck getting him out. The best thing to do is just keep constant pressure on the fish until he gives up or the line breaks.

Give your reel a couple cranks after your bait/sinker hits the bottom (if your fishing straight down). This will give you a headstart getting the grouper away from the holes after he eats your bait.

K ill try that tomorrow im not sure how well it will work because the pier is cement like giant bricks all the way down so there's tons of holes like all the way down so going straight down even cranking up a few times will still put it by a hole. our equipment is super crappy also so that plays a big role. My stuff ist to terrible but still crappy my one pole is just a cheap off shore angler mako combo the other is some no name brand i think it says solid 270 on it its heavy as hell but the reel is a cheap chinese thing i bought at the local market for 6KD which is like 20 usd. For line im using 25lb off shore mono from BPS line seems pretty dang strong for 25lb im pretty impressed with it actually.

[SirSnookalot]

Nothing to add to what Bassn said, except I might try something different. I'm not a bottom fisherman, lost setups are the norm and not the exception. In order to hold bottom split shots don't get the job done, you need 2-4 oz, which means lots of snags. Being a lure man and a guy that likes to work it, I'd be using 1-2 oz bucktail jig (they make grouper jigs) and I would tip it with squid. Drop it down, reel up a few feet above the rocks and jig it, they want it, they'll come and get it. Lures do not work well on piers unless you can cast out some real distance, at least 50 yds, most pier rats use 12' rods and fling it out 100 yds or more.

As Bassn said, you need a stout rod, 30# class is a minimum, even a 5-10 pounder will get you cut off in the pylons, need the rod to hold those fish at bay.

[clayton86]

hmmm so this may be near impossible with what I got to work with

[SirSnookalot]

Hard to give advice without being there.

[clayton86]

yeah I understand I wish I knew what was on the bottom for structure or what but soon as anything makes bottom contact its as good as gone the one grouper i did gt that little guy idk how I got him i had two tiny sea bream on maybe 1.5 long tops i had caught tossed em out there with no sinker just enough line to get them to the bottom hoping to get one of the big queens we seen chasing them before i was sitting there packing my stuff to leave when I noticed i was getting hits rod bobed down I set the hook and I had that little guy on there. Maybe i should just try that getting some small fish to small to drag my rig into a hole and just let em slowly sink down and wait or maybe sardine that cant swim into a hole.

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Pretty hard to add much more than what the above posts offer. Growing up, I did a BUNCH of bottom fishing for grouper. Great fighters, even better on the table. If you go out trying to catch them and you're using little rods and reels, you're going to get worked. Plain and simple. Pretty standard fare is a solid boat rod and a pretty quick reel. You don't have time to mess around dragging them out. Basically think of it as flipping heavy grass for bass. Hook em, and just straight up yank them away from the cover. Once you get them away from the bottom, you can relax a little......unless you've got predators waiting in the area to eat as you drag them up. If that's the case, don't stop reeling until the fish is on the surface.

Lures, 2-6 ounce grouper jig. I usually use a whole ballyhoo. Generally I'll add one or two more hooks depending on the length of the bait. Squid works equally as well.

[clayton86]

Id like to use some squid besides this fake stuff I got but idk where to get it they sell squid jigs at the haji mart but idk if there's any in these waters I see alot of jelly fish though. Also do u think different sinkers would help like a pyramid or flat sinker the ones we have are perfect round balls for like a musket with a hole drilled some what center lol. I was looking at some of the different sinkers on BPS and the reviews on the pyramid and flat types said they worked well in rocky cover so idk if it would help maybe the ball type get stuck to easy.

[SirSnookalot]

Pyramids get caught too, don't worry about a specific kind of jig, they all will work. Plain untipped bucktail jigs have been xatching a lot of fish for me lately, it's more about if the fish are around rather than the actual bait or lure used.

[clayton86]

well I still got 6+ months here so plenty of time to figure them out especialy once we rotate job/missions i will be off every 4 days and only working 3am till noon every day i work instead of the schedule now 9am-9pm then 11am-8pm then midnight till 9pm when we switch and go to qrf from 9pm till 9am then an "off" day spent sleeping or in my case I go fishing or try to followed by 9am-9pm again and over and over so hard to have set schedule to do anything. Im just gonna keep plugging away trying to figure these bugers out.

[Bassn Blvd]

Get a mask and fins and go diving to see what's down there.

[clayton86]

Get a mask and fins and go diving to see what's down there.

I would if I could but were not allowed in the water only the dive team is and they don't wanna be in the water lol. Plus where we fish is so dirty it looks like a garbage truck exploded there its not bad on the end but bout half way down the pier it gets real bad.