Rare catches are becoming more common in Tampa Bay area waters

A few years ago, if you had told me that red snapper were being caught inside Tampa Bay, I’d have asked for multiple forms of proof.

A deep-water species all the way in the bay? Hard to believe.

As the years have passed, multiple people have now caught red snapper in the bay, with some even being legal sized. Last week, I happened across a red snapper only three miles out into the Gulf. It was baby sized, but further proof of an ever evolving fishery with species we don’t normally expect arriving in shallow Gulf waters.

Bee Yang recently ran into a species that is known more for being further offshore and in waters further south, all while fishing from the southern Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier.

In winter months, Yang heads out to the piers to search for grouper dinners. On most visits he sabikis up pinfish for bait or uses big plugs. Fishing toward the rocks, gag grouper are the normal catch.

“The biggest gag grouper I’ve caught this year is 29 inches,” Yang said. “Last year and this year have been really good.”

To pull grouper out from the dense rock piles off the pier, Yang uses heavy tackle with 80-pound braid and leader up to 150 pounds with 9/0 hooks. When the current his light, he prefers using no weight for a more natural presentation.

With this setup he landed something quite memorable.

“I was freelining a live pinfish on the slack incoming tide and got a fish,” Yang said. “I thought it was a big gag by the way it was fighting. But when I pulled it up I saw all the spots on it and knew it was a black grouper.”

A black grouper, or carbo, is one of the largest of the grouper family, having been caught up to 124 pounds. They’re more solitary than most grouper, with catches of multiple fish being fairly infrequent on hook and line.

“My friend caught a 22-incher two years ago. Mine was 24.5 inches,” Yang said, as he added the fish to his dinner plans.

“I was excited, I couldn’t believe it at first. I tried a few pieces raw, then made the rest into tacos. It actually tasted a lot better than other grouper!”

Yang’s phenomenal catch adds to the ever growing list of rare catches becoming more common in local waters.