Damn Good Gag Grouper Fishing Charters

The best gag grouper fishing charters are:

• High flying saltwater charters guided by Wes I.
• Destin Inshore Fishing Company guided by Christian D. with 33 years of experience
• Shoal River Outdoors guided by Chris B.
• Short Skirts Sportfishing guided by Hayden M.
• Salty Endeavors guided by Parker H.

Our Damn Good Guides currently offer 83 gag grouper trips, and the most popular trips are Destin Trolling & Bottom Fishing guided by Kyle, Coastal Catching Fun-21’ Sportsman guided by Justin, and Quick Trips! Kid Friendly guided by Trey.

Our guides are rated a 4.99 out of 5 based on 9170 verified reviews on Captain Experiences.

All guides on Captain Experiences are vetted by our team. You can access their reviews, click through trip photos, read bios to get to know them, and preview trip details like species, techniques, group sizes, boat specs and more.

Looking for kid friendly gag grouper guides / fishing lessons? Check out our beginner and family friendly gag grouper guides.

Deep Sea fishing is the most popular type of fishing for gag grouper as well as nearshore fishing, inshore fishing, and flats fishing.

The most common fishing techniques are bottom fishing, trolling, and live bait fishing but light tackle fishing and heavy tackle fishing are popular as well.

Prices for gag grouper can range anywhere from about $800 to $3,600, but the average price for a half day trip for gag grouper is $1,329. The average price for a full day trip for gag grouper is $2,427.

Hiring a guide provides a number of benefits and many choose to book a fishing guide for a combination of experience, local knowledge, convenience, and cost-effectiveness.

Working with experienced fishing guides who know the best local spots and techniques can dramatically increase your odds of a great day. Having someone who is on the water every day and knows the area like the back of their hand is going to give you the best chances of success.

Booking a guide is also more cost effective, especially if you only get out a handful of times per year. When you consider all of the costs you would incur on your own such as the price of a boat, maintenance, insurance, gas, high-quality gear and tackle, repairs, and more, you’ll find that DIY is sometimes not worth the expense.

Even if you’ve got a great setup already in your home waters, booking a guide also provides a great opportunity to experience new techniques, new locations, or even a chance at a new target species to knock off the bucket list.

The most popular season for gag grouper fishing is summer, and most anglers book their trips 12 days in advance.

See here for more information on gag grouper fishing licenses, gag grouper bag limits, and fishing season regulations for gag grouper. When in doubt, your guide will always know all the relevant gag grouper rules and regulations.

Gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis), also known as velvet rockfish or charcoal belly, are a member of the grouper family. They have a mottled-gray coloring with spots ranging from worm-like, boxy, or even “kiss-shaped” covering their stocky body and large head.

They are often confused with other members of their family, especially the black grouper. They can be most easily distinguished by their coloring, as well as the shape of their preopercle. The preopercle is the middle bone of the gill cover, which with gag groupers are noticeably notched with a very lobed appearance, whereas black groupers have a very rounded preopercle with no lobe below it.

Also, like many of their grouper family, they will use their swim bladder to make low grumbling sounds when they feel threatened.

Over their average lifespan of 16 years, gag groupers can grow up to over four feet and weigh over 50 pounds. However, the average male grouper will reach maturity at eight years old at around 39 inches, and the average female will mature at age five to six, and at about 26 to 30 inches long.

Males over the age of the weight of 30 pounds are called black bellies, and are considered trophy catches.

The world record gag grouper, according to the IGFA, weighed in at a whopping 80 pounds and six ounces. Caught in Destin on October 14th, 1993 by Bill Smith.

Smith was using mingo snapper as bait, and after a 20 minute fight, was able to wrangle in the mammoth grouper. He then took it to the Marina Point Destin, where they were able to officially weigh it in for the record.

Gag grouper can be found in the Western Atlantic Ocean. The highest north they are found is in Bermuda, North Carolina, and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, and sometimes juveniles will be found as far north as Massachusetts. Further south they can be found in Brazil.

They can be found either solitary or in groups of 5 to 50 fish in depths from 30 to almost 150 feet, often among oil rigs and reefs. They also will migrate in late winter to offshore spawning grounds as low as 230 feet.

Cooler weather brings gag grouper closer to shore, where they will spawn from January to March on the coasts of the Atlantic and within the Gulf. October through December will be a good time to catch them migrating inwards, and throughout the summer you will need to head to some deeper waters.

However, depending on the area you head towards, you will need to be wary of season closures. In Atlantic waters, the season is closed from January 1st to April 30th. In the Gulf (except for a select few states and counties), they are open from July 1st until December 2nd.

Of all methods, jigging is far and away the most effective way to catch gag grouper. Use depth sounders to find rocky outcrops and irregular bottoms where gags gather, and then anchor nearby to fish, or begin trolling. Recommended baits are live pinfish, frozen herring, squid, scad, porgies, sardines, smaller snapper, crabs, shrimp or grunts, the smellier the better.

Remember that gag grouper are strong, and have an instinct to bite and drag their prey into hiding areas within rocks and coral, making your line very susceptible to being cut. It is crucial to get the fish up off the ground as quickly as possible.

Gag groupers are an excellent fish to eat, often one of the favored groupers. They have a firm white flesh, with very little red. Many say that filleting and baking the grouper is the best preparation, and the less ingredients the better. Just some simple olive oil, lime, parsley, salt and pepper is recommended.