Where gag grouper live
Adult gags live offshore over hard bottom: reefs, wrecks, live bottom and especially rocky ledges, usually somewhere between 60 and 500 feet, often in small groups. The young ones grow up inshore, in seagrass beds and estuaries, before moving out. It's a big fish, too: gags can live 26 years and reach 58 inches and 81 pounds.
Where they are on a given day depends a lot on water temperature, and cold water pushes them shallow. Right after one of the hardest freezes in years, our crew found them stacked in 30 to 50 feet of water off Crystal River, on Florida's Gulf Coast. At the other end, Ryan Smith has had reports of big "rusty belly" gags up to 50 lb from 240 to 350 feet off Pensacola, Alabama and Louisiana.
For what the fishing looks like on Florida's coast in early fall, see our September fishing guide.
Three ways to catch them
Gags eat jigs, swimbaits and live bait, and our team has caught them on all three. The best approach is to carry all of them: some days the jig can't miss, and some days only a live pinfish will do. On one scouting trip, a break full of fish gave us nothing but short strikes on the jig; two of the crew switched to bait and pulled up quality gags right away, including a 26 lb fish.
On the jig
Slow pitch jigs are our favorite way to catch them. On a trip out of Crystal River, our crew started on the 220 g WYLD in deep water: the first gag ate within a minute of the first drop, Derek landed a 30 lb personal best, and by 10 a.m. we were done keeping gags. Moving shallower, the 120 g WYLD got hit on the drop almost every time.
In shallow water, go lighter. With the gags stacked in 30 feet, a 50 g DEEP went five for five: five drops, five gags, almost all of them within seconds. On another trip, an hour of non-stop gags on the jig ended with Ryan's personal best.
Pick the jig by the current, then the weight by the depth. Our rule of thumb is about one gram per foot of depth, adjusted for current.
| Jig | Current | When we use it |
|---|---|---|
| WYLD 220g / WYLD 120g | 0–1 knot | Calm days over reefs and ledges: 220 g in deeper water, 120 g shallower |
| DEEP 50g / DEEP 200g | 0.5–2.5 knots | Moderate current: 50 g when gags are shallow, 200 g as it gets deeper |
| STRYKE 240g | 1.5–4 knots | Strong current, when the lighter jigs won't hold bottom |
For more weights and colors, see our full range of grouper jigs.
Swimbaits in shallow water
When gags push shallow, swimbaits come into their own. On that cold morning off Crystal River, the captain threw live pinfish behind the boat as chum and the gags went into a frenzy: we caught around 60 in the first hour, most of them on swimbaits and jigs. You'll find ours in swimbaits.
Shallow gags will also hit deep-diving plugs trolled along the reefs, another classic way to find them.
Live bait
Live bait is the classic way to catch gags, and a lively pinfish is the top choice; grunts, sardines, threadfin herring and squid all work too. The usual setup is a Carolina-style bottom rig: a sliding sinker above a swivel, then a heavy leader, around 80 lb, down to the hook.
Chumming with live bait can bring gags up off the bottom and get them feeding, which is exactly what happened on our Crystal River trip.
Win the first few seconds
A gag's first move is straight back into the rocks, and the fight is decided in the first seconds. Fish a tight drag, lift and turn the fish's head the moment it eats, and keep it coming up and away from the structure. Give it slack and it will find a hole and break you off.
That's also what makes gags some of the most fun bottom fish to catch on jigging gear, as Ryan puts it. Use a rod with enough backbone to stop them; you'll find ours in grouper rods.
Releasing gags the right way
Gag seasons are short and plenty of fish go back. Fish pulled up from deep water can suffer barotrauma, with gas expanding inside the body, and they often end up floating at the surface. A descending device sends them back down to depth to recover. When our crew hit an hour of non-stop gags out of season, every fish was vented and sent back down on a descending device.
Mistakes that cost you gags
- Loose drag. The first seconds decide the fight. Tight drag, turn its head, keep it coming.
- The wrong jig for the current. WYLD for calm water, DEEP for moderate current, STRYKE when it's ripping.
- Staying with the jig when they won't commit. If all you get is short strikes, put a live pinfish down.
- Running offshore when the water's cold. After a front, check the shallow reefs first.
- Skipping the descending device. A gag you release should go back down to depth, not float away.
Before you go
Gag seasons, size and bag limits are set separately for the Gulf and the Atlantic, change often, and come with gear rules for reef fish. Check the current rules with FWC and NOAA Fisheries before every trip.
