Snowy Grouper - Bahamas

[islandshark633]

I caught a snowy grouper today off Nassau, I have never heard of them being caught in the Bahamas before. Made my day! :shock:

Has anyone else caught them here? See pic in the gallery.

[RiskTaker]

Hey Islandshark:

Way to go with that Snowy Grouper. I am new to the deep dropping gig so have no reporting information on the Snowy Grouper feedback.

So by your statement, I suppose the Misty Groupers are the most common catch while patrolling the islands of the Bahamas.

We just got back yesterday from a 5 day stay in the Bahamas. We cleared at Bimini, deep dropped off of Gunn Cay. Then headed to Issacs and chicken and hens, deep dropped there too. Stayed in Lucaya, and also tried some deep dropping around Freeport.

Chris, the owner of the boat we were on, recently got an LP S-1200. So we got it wet for the first time on this trip. I have always been dreaming of getting one of these reels, just that it is a "pretty penny" to own one. But after getting to work with that reel, I like it even more. What an amazing piece of fishing tackle. I am sold: and I would think that anyone that can afford one is making a wise choice. Although in all fairness, I have not used any of the Kristals, so do not know how well they operate.
Just keep hearing that the fuses blow more often than not.

We got a 50 lb. Amber Jack off of Gunn Cay and the reel was struggling a little bit to get that fish to the top. But it was an absolutely powerful fish. When I said 50 lbs., I was probably under-estimating too. That reel brought that beast in. (I thought that it may have had a momentary break in power since it stopped once. I'll do a post on my test drive experience.

Hey maybe we can make that deep drop tourney in September if I can pursuade Capt. Chris to take that challenge. Although we may need some help getting a few numbers since we know absolutely nothing about New Providence fishing spots. (Hint hint, for a PM with some help in that department.)

This was only my second time doing the deep dropping but I think that I have moved along way a good way on the learning curve already. We caught some yellow-eye snapper off of Isaac's. Then two sharks started helping themselves to our fish on the retrieve.

But maybe you can help me along a little bit more by answering a few questions:

Is there a better time to do the deep dropping?

Can you deep drop at night with similar success to daytime dropping?

Would you recommend using a lighter leader material for the weight connection? The ready made rigs use the same size mono as the main leader. I was thinking that if the weight got hung up on the bottom then that would be the weakest link.

When you get to the botton, is it best to keep the weight stationary for a while or can you let it bounce off the bottom if you ? (From what I have heard from most seasoned droppers is to let it rest in once place for a while, then you can do a small retrieve to re-situate to another nearby spot? (But I got a conflicting statement from one man that was our guide.)

Any good advice that you are willing to share here?

The fishing was not that good between Lucaya and Freeport; although, we did manage to get one yellow-eye on some 900 ft. drops around Freeport

P.S. - Did Jimmy Buffet happen to be thinking of you when he wrote the song, FINS?

[Relentless33]

I dont no much about the deep dropping but how'd you do besides that ?? Im heading to Bimini on June 3 wanting to know how you did ....

[islandshark633]

Is there a better time to do the deep dropping?

yes, every time you get the oportunity. No, really. It is non seasonal from what I know here.

Can you deep drop at night with similar success to daytime dropping?

I have never tried at night but I see no reason why not. Watch for severe moon burn.

Would you recommend using a lighter leader material for the weight connection? The ready made rigs use the same size mono as the main leader. I was thinking that if the weight got hung up on the bottom then that would be the weakest link.

yes, I also use those cheap'n'nasty brass snap swivels that will pull apart easily.

When you get to the botton, is it best to keep the weight stationary for a while or can you let it bounce off the bottom if you ? (From what I have heard from most seasoned droppers is to let it rest in once place for a while, then you can do a small retrieve to re-situate to another nearby spot? (But I got a conflicting statement from one man that was our guide.)

I prefer to come back up and drop someplace else, here the depth can change very rapidly so moving 50 yds is more likely to do the trick.

Any good advice that you are willing to share here?

I am willing to share my local knowlege anytime. I have never dropped in the gulf stream so I can not help wioth that subject.

I would love to see you and any other US boats at the deep drop tournament, I can not give out specific drop lat n longs but definately point you in the right areas. ie Goulding cay, SW reef etc. Most of the boats fished SW reef area and did well, it's where I got my pair of 50# Mistys in December 05. I would have maybe won the tournament with one like that! You can only weigh one grouper so you need a fatty!

LP were here for the 05 tournament, they had a couple of their new reels with them. Very nice rigs but oh, my, what a price. Then another $500 for the spool. Yikes. I have a Kristal 655 but turned it into a 651 after the variable speed took a dump (twice). I reccomend the 651 or the new deal they have out, I do not remember the model number.

Also I use a rod from Terry at deepdrop.com, top shelf piece. I am very happy with it. I did some mods to the base so it can lock in position and no longer swings when under load. Real nice SiC guides on it too.

Hope this all helps, may be see you in September, we have lots of boats interested and some sponsors including Kristal......

[islandshark633]

hi Relentless33

we got lots of green snapper and the one snowy grouper but nothing else. I dont know about dropping in Bimini, never been there to try!

we are going to the Exumas in June so I'll report results when I return.

[RiskTaker]

Relentless:

I cannot offer much information about deep dropping around Bimini area since I am so new at it. But I can say that the Bahamas is the right place to be doing it.

You will very likely be able to get Yellow-eye Snapper around Bimini area, although we did not find them yet. I understand Queens can be found on western edge of Grand Bahama too. Again, this is a large expanse of roll off area. But test it out, you never know what you may get. (We pulled in a grunt along with some yellow-eye from 480 ft. of water, somewhere between Great Isaacs and the Gingerbread grounds

Just start fishing the waters and you will find some spots that will produce.

One thing you can do is simply troll fish the areas on the roll off. Keep an eye on your sounder and mark some spots along the way. I think that if you have a quality unit, you may even be able to spot pockets of fish on the bottom. If you can decipher those details, then be my guest and give it a go.

P.S. - remember to tack on a light to your rig to. They make regular white slim lights for the job. I happen to have a tri-color LP - electrolume handy so just used that. If you start losing rigs, then you may need to rapidly adjust to the economical tackle. I would hate to repeatedly lose $50 Electrolumes when I could have been losing $20 lights that may provide equivalent results.

But for this trip, we lost only one 10 lb. lead and half of a rig, due to the pesky sharks. Good luck in June. I will try to manage another trip around that time as well. For now, still in recovery from last trip. What a pump. And still so many muscles still achin.

[cogzwell]

i second that RT, Next time we will have 2!!!

[Disco Lady]

CONO!!!!!! Try 650 to 700 yellow eyes bimini 1000f to 1,100 feet queens/mistys use lights here and troll with sounder on look for profiles on bottom ann fish. GOOD LUCK! :lol:

[Relentless33]

Thats what a friend of ours does and absolutely bails em' 8-[