‘A slap in the face?’ Local anglers say Gulf’s gag grouper fishing season is too short
In June, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council announced that 2024’s recreational gag grouper season would open Sept. 1 and close Sept. 16.
The disclosure of only 15 days for one of the Gulf’s most sought-after fish was not a catch with the fishing community.
“What a joke this has become,” replied Josh on Facebook, an angler from Odessa.
“What an unfortunate situation we find ourselves in. Resources being governed on emotion, you know, under the guise of poor science. It’s a shame,” said Jeff from the Nature Coast.
To anglers, gag grouper season is a time of year when we ready our best spots that we have been saving. It’s tricky to find the right fish and get them to eat at the right time. They fight hard, and bigger fish are often tough to pull away from structures, keeping them free another day.
After studies and quotas and all sorts of angler/government/legal interaction, this is what we have been left with. A short two-week window in the middle of hurricane season when the water is the warmest. It is almost a slap in the face to anglers.
Gag grouper fishing is best when waters are cooling off and days are shorter. Bigger fish are spread out and typically in deeper water during long, hot summer days. Will the weather even allow a trip offshore?
I will admit that gag grouper landings have been more sparse in my recent fishing experiences than years past. But much of that is because I actively try to avoid them. I do more snapper fishing on light tackle than fishing heavy for the popular grouper, since snapper are able to be kept and I prefer eating them over grouper.
Even then, we catch gag grouper as by-catch or get broken off when they eat a bait up in the water column. Catching one is often met with disappointment and who knows how many are eaten by the sharks that are more and more prevalent in the Gulf of Mexico. Other anglers have noticed this as well.
“Just caught more gags this year on accident that we had to release than in the last five years,” said angler Sean. “Sharks get most of them on the way up. Two weekends to catch an abundant species seems a bit ridiculous. Change the limit and let us fish longer.”
Stelios from Tarpon Springs agreed that gag grouper are turning into meals, but not for anglers.
“There are more undersized and out of season fish basically fed to protected sharks and protected Goliath Grouper. If you were out there fishing and diving… you’d know,” Stelios said.
With the short season, captains are looking to cash in — many are offering gag grouper charters in search of one for the table. It’s one of the rare species that allows both inshore and offshore captains to target them. No doubt the channel edges of Tampa Bay to Port Manatee and offshore shallow structures will be hit, with nearshore captains looking for a meal.
But how successful will each be? Anglers pre-fishing have caught legal-sized fish, but they haven’t been in extreme abundance. The only way to find out is to get out and experience it firsthand. And with such a limited opportunity, many anglers will be doing just that over the next two weeks, hoping for good weather and good fishing.
