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No trout today. Went a little deeper
Posted on 4/15/25 at 8:02 pm
Posted on 4/15/25 at 8:02 pm
Headed out 30 miles due west of Tampa Bay this morning looking for the afternoon tide move. Just two of us in a 25 foot bay boat. Was a little bumpy going out but it calmed down around lunch. Looking for Hogfish mostly but also managed a few red grouper keepers and some very nice snapper.
Two of us went through 500 shrimp in about 5 hours and landed atleast 150 fish. Kept a good mess. Keeping some of the hog and grouper fillets out for tomorrow night. Going to sear them with some cajun seasoning.
Had a little bit of everything today. Probably caught atleast a dozen different things and even ran into the tax man a few times. He was a bitch on a spot that we able to catch some big mangroves up in the water column but he just would not let us keep them. Had to move on
Great day in the Gulf of America..
Two of us went through 500 shrimp in about 5 hours and landed atleast 150 fish. Kept a good mess. Keeping some of the hog and grouper fillets out for tomorrow night. Going to sear them with some cajun seasoning.
Had a little bit of everything today. Probably caught atleast a dozen different things and even ran into the tax man a few times. He was a bitch on a spot that we able to catch some big mangroves up in the water column but he just would not let us keep them. Had to move on
Great day in the Gulf of America..
This post was edited on 4/16/25 at 5:18 am
4
Posted on 4/15/25 at 9:04 pm to LanierSpots
That’s a fantastic day. Mangos, Grouper and Hogs are all tops of my lists. You fishing inside TB? I’d imagine so in a 15’ or you really good at picking your days. 
I live in Madeira and don’t know many holes in the bay like you do. All our hogfish are offshore in about 70-100’ of water. I have caught some really nice snook on the the rock jetty’s on the Skyway. Saw some massive bull sharks in that area too. 
I live in Madeira and don’t know many holes in the bay like you do. All our hogfish are offshore in about 70-100’ of water. I have caught some really nice snook on the the rock jetty’s on the Skyway. Saw some massive bull sharks in that area too. 
Posted on 4/15/25 at 10:08 pm to LanierSpots
Hogs are great eating.
Posted on 4/16/25 at 4:00 am to LanierSpots
Cooler full of groceries
Posted on 4/16/25 at 4:51 am to Hog Zealot
quote:
You fishing inside TB? I’d imagine so in a 15’ or you really good at picking your days.
No, we headed out of Tia Verde and went 25-30 miles out. Due west we like to say. We both have 25 foot CC. Winds started a little higher than forecasted but we took our time getting out and they laid a little during the day. No big deal. My OP said 15' but that was a typo.
We are catching them around 50 feet right now. I like to throw my net at the skyway and I do play around in that area when I cant go out. Some good mangroves there near the mouth of the Manatee.
This post was edited on 4/16/25 at 4:52 am
Posted on 4/16/25 at 10:21 am to LanierSpots
what do shrimp cost there? $.50 cents a piece here
Posted on 4/16/25 at 12:49 pm to nolaks
quote:
what do shrimp cost there? $.50 cents a piece here
It certainly depends on where you get them but I think the average is 3-4 a dozen. WE have a store that we deal with and I bought 500 for $110.
Posted on 4/16/25 at 1:51 pm to LanierSpots
Spots, what is your terminal tackle set up look like for those Hogfish? I've done a few 3 day trips to the Middle Grounds and have not seen any caught on rod and reel. That's a nice box of good groceries! 
Posted on 4/16/25 at 2:11 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
It certainly depends on where you get them but I think the average is 3-4 a dozen. WE have a store that we deal with and I bought 500 for $110.
I just want to see what 500 live shrimp look like in a boat livewell. Too rich for my blood in Venice. Hahaha
Posted on 4/16/25 at 2:57 pm to Sea Hoss
quote:
Spots, what is your terminal tackle set up look like for those Hogfish? I've done a few 3 day trips to the Middle Grounds and have not seen any caught on rod and reel. That's a nice box of good groceries!
I will take a few pictures when I get home.
Posted on 4/16/25 at 4:42 pm to LanierSpots
I’d like to see the set ups also I like trying different stuff. Some stuff I end up liking but the most part I’m kinda set in my ways.
Posted on 4/16/25 at 8:09 pm to Sea Hoss
Here are the two rigs that I have been using lately. One is a 1.5 or 2oz jighead and the other is a basic knocker rig. I believe with the hogfish it is very important to have the bait touching the bottom. I like to use a drop shot rig with a short leader when I'm out catching snapper but I can't seem to catch a hog fish on it. I basically use 30 pound braid mainline and a 30 pound floor carbon leader.
The biggest thing I can tell you that helped us was absolutely sticking with shrimp. We have always use Humboldt squid for bottom fishing because it's just easier to use. We started trying to catch hogs on shrimp and would quickly give up when everything else was taking them away from us. But you really have to stick with it if you wanna catch a hog fish. The only other thing that I've been able to catch him all our small past crabs. They're just harder to get the shrimp. We have a pretty good set up in the boat to fish the shrimp as it is frustrating and tiresome. We have champagne buckets on both sides of the boat that fit in the rod holder. We filled them about halfway with water and just dump a scoop of shrimp in there. Makes easier when you're standing on the side of the boat dropping to re-bait without having to go back-and-forth to the live well or to bend down to some kind of bucket on the floor. Those champagne bottle holders are basically waste high and very easy to get the shrimp out of. We just get a scoop from the live well and put them in there every so often.
The biggest thing I can tell you that helped us was absolutely sticking with shrimp. We have always use Humboldt squid for bottom fishing because it's just easier to use. We started trying to catch hogs on shrimp and would quickly give up when everything else was taking them away from us. But you really have to stick with it if you wanna catch a hog fish. The only other thing that I've been able to catch him all our small past crabs. They're just harder to get the shrimp. We have a pretty good set up in the boat to fish the shrimp as it is frustrating and tiresome. We have champagne buckets on both sides of the boat that fit in the rod holder. We filled them about halfway with water and just dump a scoop of shrimp in there. Makes easier when you're standing on the side of the boat dropping to re-bait without having to go back-and-forth to the live well or to bend down to some kind of bucket on the floor. Those champagne bottle holders are basically waste high and very easy to get the shrimp out of. We just get a scoop from the live well and put them in there every so often.
Posted on 4/16/25 at 8:11 pm to LanierSpots
Hogs cooked tonight. They were excellent. Just a tad of oil, butter, lemon and some cajun seasoning. I sear them on one side, flip them and tun the flat top off. Wait a couple mins and take them off
Posted on 4/17/25 at 8:14 am to LanierSpots
Thanks for the info, we never had any shrimp on the boat, just livies and squid. That champagne bucket idea is awesome, I'll have to look into getting a couple of those for the folks fishing off the front.
Posted on 4/17/25 at 10:24 am to Sea Hoss
quote:
Thanks for the info, we never had any shrimp on the boat, just livies and squid. That champagne bucket idea is awesome, I'll have to look into getting a couple of those for the folks fishing off the front.
I have two and will probably get two more. They are expensive but work perfectly and should last a long time if I keep rinsing them off.
If your going after hogs, you will need shrimp or crabs. Id be surprised if you got one to eat anything else. We have never been able to.
Posted on 4/20/25 at 9:40 pm to LanierSpots
The champagne bucket is genius
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