Brant McMullan, who operates the Ocean Isle Fishing Center, is best known as a king mackerel expert, but when he charters in the fall, he also likes to specifically target gag grouper in the fall. Through trial and error, he has come up with some specific tips for fishermen targeting grouper.
McMullan said that terminal tackle makes the biggest difference in who is successful and who is not. He is a huge believer in Seaguar fluorocarbon leader material and said it really makes a difference when the bite is slow. In addition to being harder for the fish to see, he said that 100-pound test fluorocarbon is much tougher than 130-pound test mono, which can make all the difference in the world when a fish is able to pull your bait down into a hole or against some rocks.
McMullan said the worst thing a fisherman can do when grouper fishing is to break off a fish with a rig still in its mouth. His theory is that the broken-off fish acts erratically and signals the rest of the school that something is wrong. To combat that issue, McMullan double- and triple-checks his knots and changes leaders after each fish, just to be safe.
Finally, he makes it clear that the ability to set an anchor is vital in the shallow-water grouper fishery. He usually targets these fish on ledges and will take his time in positioning the boat right on top of the ledge, even to the point of hauling anchor and resetting it multiple times. He said grouper will hold tight to the ledge or structure, and if you’re not directly on top of them, you may as well not even bother with dropping down your hooks.
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