Tag Archives: fish species
Muttons and More!
Between battling a sinus infection and cleaning up after my Australian Shepherd puppy (he’s not house-broken yet), I haven’t gotten out on the water as much as I’ve liked to.
Fortunately, I was able to get out Sunday for a quick fish/snorkel trip- and I had the opportunity to go mutton snapper fishing for a couple of hours last night with Captain Jason Long of Best Bet Sportfishing.
On Sunday, Jeff Reilly and I headed out to fish a wreck and to see what species were looming below.
On the first drift Jeff hooked up with this monster AJ and I thought he was going to suffer a heat stroke from battling the hard-fighting fish on light tackle in the 90-degree heat (with absolutely zero breeze).
After a few more drops we decided it was way too hot to fish and we headed for the patch reefs to cool off and look for hog fish. The seas were glass calm and the visibility was amazing.
Jeff was able to shoot a few hog fish on the grass and we enjoyed the fillets at a tasty dinner that evening at Ty and Tara’s house where we took in yet another amazing sunset.
Tuesday, it was time to do a little first-hand research for the Florida Keys fishing report (which Captain Long and I do our best to write). The theme of this week’s report was “Escape the Heat,” so we headed out that evening to fish for mutton snapper under cooler temperatures.
Within minutes, Ann Nash and Kyle Witwer were hooked up with fish and shortly thereafter two big muttons were in the box.
One drift later and all four of us had hooked up and reeled in a quality pink each. Captain Long definitely knows where to find the fish and how to target them.
If you’re planning to fish for mutton snapper in the Florida Keys, here are few tips (that I have learned) that may also help you catch fish.
- Fish where the fish are (a bit obvious huh?)- If you search online you can find public gps numbers for wrecks throughout the Florida Keys that do hold mutton snapper. However, these wrecks get a ton of fishing pressure and they are often much less productive than the smaller wrecks that the good charter captains, like Jason Long, know of. My advice: if you’re looking to target mutton snapper on your own, try the numbers you find online and give it a shot. If you come up empty though, you may want to book a trip with one of the many excellent Florida Keys captains who can take you to the spots that no one else knows of!
Use fluorocarbon- at least ten to fifteen feet. Muttons can be very finicky and line shy- you don’t want them seeing your leader.
- Hold the weight on the bottom and use enough lead to keep it down- try to keep the rod as still as possible and always keep the lead firmly on the bottom. Do not lift the rod up and down.
- Reel down on the fish, don’t set the hook- when you feel the fish take your bait, crank down hard and then lift the rod. Do not set the hook in an upward jerk motion- this will cause you to lose fish more often than not.
- Fish with live bait- live pilchards, pinfish and ballyhoo, to name a few, can all entice a hungry mutton snapper.
It’s a Tuna!!!
Now, by no means am I an expert when it comes to the subject of identifying fish.
I can tell you the difference between a Spanish mackerel and a cero mackerel, or a black grouper and a gag grouper, but test me on the different species of shark, or the multitude of colorful fish you’ll catch while fishing the reef or out deep dropping offshore, and I’ll likely not have a clue what’s on the end of your line.
But yesterday, while I was kayak fishing off Key Colony Beach, I was fairly certain that the two gentlemen I saw surf fishing from the rocks at the mouth of the inlet, had indeed misidentified their catch.
While not nearly as good as yellowfin tuna, yellow jacks are actually very tasty.
And while you’d be amazed at the variety of highly sought after game fish and table fare species that you can catch while shore or bridge fishing in the Florida Keys, I am fairly certain that yellowfin tuna is not one of them.
Thus, when I heard one of the guys- in a serious and demanding tone- shout “go get the gaff, it’s a yellowfin tuna,” I nearly capsized my kayak from laughing so hard.
Again, I am no marine biologist, but I am positive that at no time will you catch a yellowfin tuna ten yards off the beach in the Florida Keys, no matter how hard you try.
Not only that, but yellowfin tuna are not that common anywhere in the Keys (unlike their smaller cousins the blackfin tuna), although you may catch one here or there while out fishing the humps or out beyond the Gulf Stream.
So I guess all things considered, if I thought I had a yellowfin tuna on my hook, I probably would have yelled for someone to get the gaff as well.
I can only assume that the fish the gentleman lost in the rocks was a jack crevalle, or maybe even a yellow jack. Both are hard-fighting, extremely fun game fish to reel in (especially on light tackle), but far from the trophy catch of a yellowfin tuna.
This brings me to the point of this post- after all, the goal was not to poke fun at the shore-bound tuna angler. The goal was to advise you that if you’re planning on fishing in the Florida Keys, whether on your own boat, or from shore or bridge, make sure to acquaint yourself with the rules and regulations for Florida saltwater fishing.
I know a few Florida Fish & Wildlife officers and Monroe County sheriffs who will not show sympathy when it comes to writing you a hefty ticket for keeping more than your bag limit, or for tossing undersized or protected fish in your cooler.
Can you tell the difference between a black grouper (shown here) and a gag grouper?
So take the time to learn the species that you’ll be catching before you drop a line into the water. Not only will this keep you from getting in trouble when the law asks to check your catch; but it will also impress your friends when they ask what type of fish you caught.
“Oh that, that’s a schoolmaster; a type of snapper.”
Plus, if you know your species, you won’t have to worry about some local “know-it-all” writing an article about you!
Florida Keys bridges, equipped with new fishing platforms, are a great place to catch a variety of species.
A great place to start is the Florida Keys species guide that can be found on Try CharterFishing.com. This guide shows you photos of the different species you can catch; as well as their food quality, where they can be found, and the regulations and bag limits for each.
Another good idea is to print out an updated copy of the FWC Regulations (regulations constantly change so print a new copy often), and always keep it with you in your tackle box. Throw in a tape measure to measure the length of your fish, and you’ll be ready to hit the water.
Below are some basic regulations to get you started. You can view photos of each here.
- Mangrove Snapper: 10 inches or greater. Limit 5 (included in 10 snapper aggregate bag limit).
- Yellowtail Snapper: 12 inches or greater. Limit 10 (included in 10 snapper aggregate bag limit).
- Tarpon: It is common practice to release all tarpon but you can possess 2 if you have a tarpon tag.
- Snook: Must measure between 28-33 inches and are illegal to keep from Dec.-Feb. & May- Aug. You are allowed to keep one “slot” fish during snook season.
- Jack Crevalle: No regulations but they are very poor to eat.
- Yellow Jack: No bag or size limit and despite what some may say are actually quite tasty!
- Black Grouper: Must be over 24 inches. 2 per angler per day.
- Barracuda: No size or bag limit. Rarely eaten and often contain ciguatera- they can be poisonous to eat!
- Goliath Grouper: Federally protected. It is illegal to keep them!
