“We had to tab down hard at 30 miles an hour into stiff 3-footers. Heading east for the 100-mile journey home in the dark Gulf started easy, but around 40 miles a strong east wind changed that. We also caught and released probably two-boats’-worth of keeper gag grouper,” Lockard said. The biggest was 8 pounds and we were throwing fish back under 15 inches. “Using pilchards with 1/2-ounce Hogballs on 30-pound leader, we got our limit of mangos by 2 a.m. The group rendezvoused up on a big ledge to mangrove snapper fish that night.

In the calm Gulf, Lockard made plans to meet a buddy boat on the Florida Middlegrounds nearly 50 miles to his north at 10 p.m. On both, when they hit the deck the lures fell right out!” “We keep the boat in gear while fighting the fish to keep the line tight. After 20 minutes, a pair of the striped speedsters hit the deck. Two of the fish stayed tight after one came off. Right at sunset when the moon was rising all three rods went off at the same time!” “There was a show of bait which is light blue and then fish up above them between 20 and 40 feet. When he saw what he was looking for, Lockard changed speeds going between 5 and 7 miles per hour as he did circles around the spot. Trolling a spread of three rods, he searched for bait on the sonar and big structure at the Elbow, which is known to house some distinct depth changes between 250 and 150 feet in the relatively flat Gulf of Mexico. With a few grouper in the box they headed west to start trolling before sunset.

It’s frustrating since they’re out of season trying to vent and release them.” “So you get 10 red snapper and start to leave, but then one grouper keeps you there. It makes you want to move as soon as you get into them, but then someone lands a big red grouper and it makes you want to stay,” Lockard explained. “We got some red grouper but a ton of American red snapper. But as most offshore anglers in the Gulf of Mexico know, there was another problem with too many fish. Heading further west they made another stop in 150 feet to pick at a few red grouper.

1 fish 2 fish red fish blue fish