Panhandle deep dropping

[seacat100]

New to deep dropping and fish out of destin.So far have caught tilefish up to 4lb(averaged 1.5-3lbs)in 780' along with gulf hake(1-2lb) and dropped at the spur in 1700-1900 range(caught 2 3lb gulf hake).Ive heard theres yellow-edge and know people that have caught some snoweys,however am unclear if silk and queen snapper are present in this area and if so at numbers large enough to target?

[Boboe]

The silks I have caught have all been by accident. I have caught them as shallow as 60' (NO BULLSHIT! Caught one when fishing for red snapper last year in October in 60' of water off of San Destin Resort), but most of them (the 4 others) came in about 250. I've never targetted them. We caught them about 80 miles sw of Destin...really off Alabama. We were fishing for snappers and groupers and chanced into them. It wasn't until I was icing the fish down that I noticed the bright yellow eyes and the longer pectoral fins.

There are some decent Bearded Brotulas (we usually called them "cusk eels" and they're very similar to a Gulf Hake) out around the Warsaw grounds. They aren't in numbers enough to target really. They're bycatch (and a hell of a bycatch!) when fishing for snowies etc.

For scamp, look for 200-350 and fish small live baits. For snowies and yellow edge, look for 300 + and fish like you would for gags or red grouper. Dead bait works pretty well in that deep darkness, but a ruby lips is always a hard bait to beat. They're nearly impossible to kill in the livewell, they live multiple drops, and they get eaten. When you're fishing for deep water groupers, be patient....but then be ready for them to fire up all at once...and then shut down just as quickly. There usually aren't a lot of fish down there and there's not a ton of food for them. It just takes them some time to find it in the darkness