Grouper Archives

July 16, 2016July 15, 2016 by Joseph Simonds

Have you ever seen a lionfish up close before?

The are a strikingly beautiful and exotic looking fish that looks like it belongs in a fancy salt water aquarium…

However, these fish are cold-blooded, venomous, predatory killers!

They kill off fish communities (eating other fish in one bite), disrupting habitats all over Florida, stinging things with their venomous spiky fin rays, and causing nothing but mischief.

In fact, it is probably the only fish that the state of Florida it basically telling angler to “kill/harvest” as many as possible…

One main reason is that besides this brave grouper in the video, Lionfish don’t have many natural predators…

And the female lionfish can carry up to 15,000 eggs!!!

So you can understand how quickly they can take over and dominate an underwater habitat.

But in this video, the grouper gets the last laugh on the lionfish.

Lionfish eating Grouper = Salt Strong

P.S. – If you think your angler friends or fishing networks would like to see this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

June 18, 2016June 18, 2016 by Joseph Simonds

Note: Stick around until the very end of this video as you will find out who wins the battle…

If you are an inshore angler, you probably aren’t the biggest fan of puffer fish (aka porcupine fish or blow fish).

Why?

Well, they are constantly biting the tails off of your artificial lures, stealing bait, and getting in the way of you catching the fish you are targeting.

And it is especially painful when you are fishing with expensive plastic lures like these Berkley Gulp shrimp.

The Puffer Fish vs Grouper

So when I came across this video that had a thumbnail of a puffer fish in a grouper’s mouth, I just had to watch.

And once I saw the ending, it was too hilarious not to share with you.

Also, some pretty cool up close footage of that grouper with the puffer in his mouth!

I can only imagine because the Grouper was too choked up to move…

Hope you enjoy and don’t forget to share with your friends and fellow anglers.

I am certain they will thank you for this one.

Related Video: “How To Make A Grouper Rig That Saves Money, Saves Time, And Saves The Environment” (see it here now)

P.S. – If you think your angler friends or fishing networks would like to see this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

April 25, 2016April 25, 2016 by Joseph Simonds

Talk about underwater highway Robbery!

These Goliath Grouper sit down by wrecks and just wait for a free meal…

Whether it be a hooked fish or speared fish, the Goliath Grouper doesn’t care.

Check out this wild footage of multiple Goliath Grouper attacking spearfishermen’s catches.

It was like the entire school of grouper were teaming up against this diver!

The grouper at the end actually pulled the driver around like it was nothing!

I bet he doesn’t go spearfishing on this wreck again.

Tough to compete with hungry Goliath Grouper that weigh more than you do…

As a final note, thank goodness this guy was underwater while he was yelling… otherwise, I am pretty sure we the language would have prevented it from getting on Salt Strong!

Enjoy!

P.S. – If you think your angler friends would like to see this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

April 22, 2016 by Joseph Simonds

Yep, that 400lb Goliath Grouper making the news yesterday was caught by our very own Ryan “The Wrench” Hein.

I was scrolling through the Salt Strong “Fishing Tribe” private Facebook group feed yesterday afternoon and saw that someone had posted this ABC News video about a Goliath being caught using a Stanley wrench!

Note: Click here to join the Salt Strong Fishing Tribe private Facebook group

And shortly after I realized that Ryan was actually part of the Tribe.

Pa-POW!

For those of you wondering what gear was used to land this 400lb beast of a Goliath Grouper, here is everything according to Ryan Hein:

Ugly Stick Tiger Lite (Medium-Heavy) Rod
Fin-Nor Lethal LT60 Spinning Reel
50lb high vis pp braid
80lb Seaguar leader
11-inch Stanley Wrench with 6/0 Assist J-Hooks

Well done Ryan.

Salt Strong for sure!

Enjoy.

P.S. – If you think your angler friends or fishing networks would like to see this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

March 17, 2016 by Joseph Simonds

If you like snook, you are going to love this video!

About a month ago, we posted a video that went crazy viral of a few guys taking a GoPro down to the bottom of the Sebastian Inlet (you can see that video here)

So when I saw that two other guys did an entire NEW drift dive of Sebastian Inlet, I knew it was going to be awesome.

And as you will see below, it didn’t disappoint.

I don’t think there is anything cooler than seeing exactly what is down under the water of places that you fish (except for catching the fish of course…)

Here are the notes from the owner of the video (311Pope):

“In the summer, Sebastian Inlet opens up with gin clean water and a small group of us take the annual incoming ride. It was filmed at the switch of the tide under the north catwalk. Seems like those fish came out at the switch because I did 4 or 5 drifts that day and didn’t see them until the tide slowed.”

Check out all of the Snook and Grouper sitting down there just waiting for your bait!

Enjoy!

P.S. – If you think your friends or fishing networks would like to see this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

February 18, 2016 by Luke Simonds

If you are like me, watching snook underwater (or leaping out of the water to hit a topwater plug) never gets old.

So when I found this older footage of a diver stumbling upon an awesome snook hole (with one unlucky grouper) I had to share it.

As you will see, this a great “old school” video showing some awesome underwater footage of tons of big snook on a wreck off of Stuart, FL.

Some of the snook were absolute bruisers that would be close to impossible to pull out of that structure if hooked.

And at the beginning of the video, this diver even filmed a goliath grouper that had a pair of Boga grips latched to its jaw…

Important Note: Always be sure to latch your Boga grip to your wrist so you don’t let a fish swim off with them – especially when dealing with larger fish. Not only are you losing a $100 fishing device, but it is almost impossible for a fish to shake the Boga grip off by itself.

At any rate, enjoy this underwater footage.

Related Video: “You’ve Got To See This Monster Snook Stalk And Crush This Pinfish!” (watch it here)

P.S. – If you think your friends or fishing network would enjoy seeing this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

June 28, 2016January 20, 2016 by Joseph Simonds

Would you ever dive down to the bottom of the Sebastian Inlet?

I can only imagine that these divers (Josh Rhein, Vaughn and Nikko) did this dive on an absolute perfect day (and slack tide) for the Inlet.

Because the last time I was fishing the Sebastian Inlet the water was incredibly choppy, not to mention, the water was ripping so fast through the pass that most boats were scared to go through it…

Also, the Sebastion Inlet has been known to hold a few bull sharks… or two… or one hundred…

If you aren’t familiar with the world famous Sebastian Inlet, it is about 12 miles north of Vero Beach, and it is one of the favorite land based (and boat based) spots for anglers to catch snook, redfish, tarpon, Spanish mackerel and just about anything else that swims through the inlet.

There are tons of places to fish the inlet from land, and anglers from all over the states (and even abroad) head over to Sebastian Inlet State Park every year to wet a line.

So when I saw that a couple of guys had the courage to free dive the Sebastian Inlet, I knew this was going to be good.

You will be blown away with how many snook are just hanging out down there!

Not to mention, some goliath grouper, mangrove snapper, cubera snapper, and even some lobster.

Enjoy.

Related Post: “5 Shortcuts To Catching Snook In Florida”

P.S. – If you think that your angler friends or network would like to see this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

Fish On.

January 14, 2016January 14, 2016 by Luke Simonds

Wait til’ you see this big ol’ Goliath Grouper attacking a spearfisherman that had just plucked off a nice snapper.

This beast of a fish certainly shows the diver who is the boss of the bottom of the ocean!

I can only imagine the person filming this was just as shocked as he/she watched this big goliath come out of the blue and steal a free meal from the diver.

I bet they are still talking about this wild dive!

The lesson here: Never turn your back on these greedy aggressive grouper… luckily the only thing hurt was the diver’s pride… and perhaps a soiled wetsuit…

Enjoy.

P.S. – If you think your angler friends or network would like to see this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

Fish On!

January 11, 2016January 11, 2016 by Luke Simonds

Coming home with a 19 lb red grouper that breaks a new world record on a freediving trip is pretty darn awesome…

Well, can you imagine bagging an 8 lb lobster (by hand) on the way up!

This is one of our all-time favorite videos from our friend Cameron Kirkconnell, and we wanted to play this one today because yesterday was Cameron’s birthday!

Happy birthday brother.

We hope you spent it out on the water with friends and family.

Check out this sick video by Cameron Kirkconnell below and prepare to be amazed!

P.S. – If you think your friends or network would like to see this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

Enjoy and Fish On.

The Puffer Fish vs Grouper

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