Yay For May!
Grouper season opens on May 1, this highly anticipated fishing season opening brings excitement to anglers from Florida Keys all the way rip as far North as the Carolinas. This seasonal window marks the start of opportunities to target popular tasty Florida Keys reef fishing bottom species like gag grouper, red grouper, scamp, and more across the offshore ledges, reefs, and rock piles of the Atlantic coast.
Here are some Key Details
Season Opens: May 1
Region: South Atlantic (federal waters from North Carolina to the east coast of Florida to as far South as Key West)
Species Targeted: Gag grouper, red grouper, black grouper, scamp, coney, graysby, rock hind, and red hind
Minimum Size Limits: Varies by species – e.g., gag and black grouper must be 24″
Bag Limits: Typically 3 aggregate grouper per person per day, with species-specific restrictions
Gear Requirements: Use of dehooking tools and descending devices is mandatory in federal waters to ensure healthy fish release and sustainability
Why May Matters?
This time of year offers peak conditions for grouper fishing. Waters are warming, baitfish are moving, and groupers are actively feeding on the reefs and structures they call home. Whether you’re fishing out of Florida’s Atlantic coast, up near Charleston, or North Carolina’s Outer Banks, or down off the Florida Keys waters. May delivers great weather and very consistent action for reef fishing enthusiasts.
Popular Florida Keys Grouper Fishing Spots
- Reef fishing For Grouper off Key Largo and Reef fishing off Islamorada is a quick and easy shot to the patch reefs and deeper reef on the Atlantic side.
- Marathon reef fishing holds some great red grouper on the patch reefs.
- The Lower Keys reef fishing is amazing and vast. Our Lower Keys reef fishing guides have little pressure to deal with East or West on the Atlantic side.
- Key West reef fishing might be the best of all. With the choice of the Marquesas Keys and all the way to the Dry Tortugas fishing.
Methods For Grouper Fishing
Reef fishing targeting grouper is a specialized form of angling. A Florida Keys fishing guide will not only have the right spots to target grouper but also the equipment and rigging to do it right.
- Jigging for grouper is one of my favorites. Using a buck tail jig or a slow pitch steel jig is a really fun way to get surprised with a hard hit.
- Live baiting as with any form of fishing is a great way to hook up. We use anything that is alive and legal to use for bait. Pin fish, threadfins and Spanish sardines are some of my favorites.
- Trolling is an effective way to find good spots and cover lots of ground. Using down riggers or large lipped lures are very common ways to get a monster of the reef to bite.
Grouper For Dinner
There are few that can argue the value of “Tasty” in a species of fish such as a grouper. Grilled, blackened, or fried are very trendy. May folks go to great lengths to find creative ways to eat this extremely tasty table fish. Here is a recipe from Island Genn at The Key Wester who does amazing Fried Grouper Fingers
