Big Bend Florida Sportsman Guide

Fishing Tactics

Grunt Snatchin’

by Capt. Ken Roy

Grunts have several things going for them.  They are easy to catch, they are great to eat and there are a lot of them.  Some of my clients cannot land Grouper.  When we are getting lines broken time after time, I sometimes rig up dropper rigs (Rig #4) for some of the people.  After several Grunts are brought aboard, everybody wants the same rig and to heck with Grouper fishing for a while.

It is way too easy to catch a hundred Grunts.  I try to impose a limit of 10 Grunts per person but I sometimes wind up with a hundred for 5 or 6 folks.  I don’t mind cleaning Grunts too much but a hundred is too dang many for one guy to clean.

If you keep a rig baited with a half a Grunt or with big live bait, you often catch a nice Grouper or Cobia that is attracted by the thrashing of the Grunts you are snatching.  A  big bait will be wolfed by a Jewfish just as some of the Grunts you are jerking up will be eaten.  Grunts really respond to a smelly chum bag.

A 2 or 3 hook dropper rig will catch lots of Grunts, Sea Bass, Trigger Fish and an occasional nice Grouper.  Bait is a matter of personal preference and I personally hate frozen squid.  In my opinion, Remora and Bonita make the best Grunt Snatchin’ bait.  Both are bloody, smelly, tough and mighty attractive to Grunts.

 Small circle hooks catch lots of Grunts and circle hooks are seldom swallowed.  Unfortunately, circle hooks are not very efficient Trigger Fish hookers.  With circle hooks, we catch more fish because I don’t have to spend so much time taking fish off the hook.

Grunts, Porgies, Triggerfish, Sea Bass and several other small species can help fill the box on slow Grouper fishing days.  These fish are a hoot for little kids to catch.