With extra-mild November weather, offshore fishing at the Crystal Coast has been good recently for several deep-water species, especially grouper.
“We’ve had excellent fishing and caught several grouper really fast,” said Mike Webb of Atlantic Beach and owner of Pelagic Sport Fishing. “We’ve also slaughtered big black sea bass.”
Using Anthony Ng’s Precision Electric reels and fishing in 60 to 100 feet of water, Webb uses 20-ounce weights to get cut baits (menhaden) down to live-bottom areas and wrecks, Webb’s clients have caught as many as 50 black sea bass weighing 2 to 4 pounds in 90 minutes of fishing.
“We have a three-grouper limit now that includes gag with a combination of other type groupers, such as red grouper and scamp,” said Webb (252-904-3361, www.pelagicsportfishing.com). “Most all of the grouper are running from 26 to 34 inches.
“We also catch a lot of red snapper, in fact, the most and largest we’ve seen in 10 years — but the federal regulations don’t allow you to keep any of them.”
When he’s not bottom fishing, Webb trolls ballyhoo for king mackerel and other pelagic species.
“At times the king bite has been really good,” he said. “We landed 12 kings weighing 20 to 25 pounds the other day. And we are picking up some scattered wahoo as well, along with a cobia or two. The king bite mostly has been in 120 feet of water.”
Webb said his party also landed gaffer dolphin.
“We’re trolling mostly medium ballyhoo with purple-and-black or red-and-black skirts,” he said.
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