# how do you catch jewfish at skyway



## daniel.t (Jan 13, 2008)

can you help please


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## HellRhaY (Jul 6, 2007)

daniel.t said:


> can you help please


it is ILLEGAL to target them.


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## rob762 (Oct 22, 2007)

And the "new name" is Goliath Grouper...


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## rsieminski (Jun 13, 2005)

stick the head of a decent sized fish with 1 12-16/0 mustad circle hook, and cast 10 feet out. The problem is, what to do with them once you hooked a 300# fish? It's illegal and detrimental to the fish to hoist them up, and not the responsible thing to cut the line 30' away from the fish. They're there, but I don't see a way of C&R from the bridge.


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## barty b (Dec 31, 2004)

HellRhaY said:


> it is ILLEGAL to target them.


No it isn't...It is illegal to Kill them and it is technically illegal to take them out of the water. They still have shows where charter cap'ns target them.

daniel t, Catch a leagal blue or some other legal size fish OTHER than a gamefish. Hook it on a 12/0 or larger circle hook on a very heavy duty bottom rig and send it back down.. I would use like 100lb Ande leader and probably 60-80 lb mono on at least a 4/0 size Penn senator. Unless you wanna be sporty and go lighter. Thing is, there are some monsters down there,you will get your arse handed to you more often than you might think,but you will get some of them and you want to be able to whip them pretty fast to reduce the stress on them. Playing them for an hour on lighter stuff is just unnessecarily hard on the fish.


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## barty b (Dec 31, 2004)

rsieminski said:


> stick the head of a decent sized fish with 1 12-16/0 mustad circle hook, and cast 10 feet out. The problem is, what to do with them once you hooked a 300# fish? It's illegal and detrimental to the fish to hoist them up, and not the responsible thing to cut the line 30' away from the fish. They're there, but I don't see a way of C&R from the bridge.


You have a valid point.


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## daniel.t (Jan 13, 2008)

ok thanks you guys are quick at replying i have a 14/0 and a dogfish stick #9 i heared live sting rays were good bait like the mud rays idk if thats illegal or not


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## SnookMook (Jan 7, 2004)

If you really want to target jewfish/goliath grouper in a responsible way, forget the Skyway and try St. Pete Beach/Pass A Grille area when the time is right. You can catch and release monsters without doing any harm to them.


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## toejam (Jan 28, 2005)

Why would anybody target a fish on the protected list. Obviously, they are on the list for a reason and at best all you could do is stress them out with a C&R. And more likey than not, a C&R will result in a floater. The sooner that their numbers increase the sooner they might come off the Protected list. What a shame it is to go thru life unaware on your own ignorance!


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## LiteTackleChamp (Jul 29, 2005)

i doubt they will ever come off the protected list, i heard they might make a limited drawling type season for them soon, anybody know if there is any truth to that


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## barty b (Dec 31, 2004)

Yes There is some talk of a short season W/a permit,like a Tarpon tag.($50)... They are starting to get out of controll in some areas. They move onto some structure and eat everything there. 

I don't really have a reason to kill one,nor do I wish to drag one up off the bottom,the dont really fight,its just slow dead weight. 

I personally could care less what they decide to do with them.


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## rsieminski (Jun 13, 2005)

They are on the list, because years ago they were almost wiped out, but now they are so numerous on all the reefs and bridges here in FL that they are a nuisance. When I catch a fish and release it, 99.99% survive. I don't release any "floaters". People target them because they want to. Why do people skydive, climb a mountain, catch sharks, etc... Because they want to for their own reasons. Who's to say they are right, wrong or ignorant. Might be calling the kettle black. 

I have hooked plenty, but it's like trying to pull a slow moving train, then wrap you around a piling or into the rocks. Ya need to be in a boat.


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## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

Boat is the best way, you can remove the hook and leader. I've seen people catch them at the Skyway and bust them off, leaving the hook and yards of line dangling out of their mouths. I think that's dumb and harmful.


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## toejam (Jan 28, 2005)

rsieminski said:


> They are on the list, because years ago they were almost wiped out, but now they are so numerous on all the reefs and bridges here in FL that they are a nuisance. When I catch a fish and release it, 99.99% survive. I don't release any "floaters". People target them because they want to. Why do people skydive, climb a mountain, catch sharks, etc... Because they want to for their own reasons. Who's to say they are right, wrong or ignorant. Might be calling the kettle black.
> 
> I have hooked plenty, but it's like trying to pull a slow moving train, then wrap you around a piling or into the rocks. Ya need to be in a boat.



Just because a fish swims away after being released doesn't mean they won't be a floater in short time. and the bigger the fish the more stress the fish under goes...I have seen many of the big fish I have caught and released washed up on the beach within a couple of hours... and I suppose that since goliath grouper are so numerous that the FWC is keeping them on the list as some sort of conspirsy. YOu can slice -it and dice-it any way you wish but it ain't the right thing to do. It is that type of thinking that has our fisheries in the shape they are in today.


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## rsieminski (Jun 13, 2005)

With all due respect, take a look yourself. Dive any of the offshore reefs, or bridges, and you will see just how numerous they are. Way more plentiful than their cousin gag, hind, black, etc. Some wrecks, you can't even get a fish past them. They are very aggressive. Somewhere I have an image of a 5' black tip almost up to the surface, and a Goliath with his mouth wide open swallowing him up. 

Catching them is well within the limits of the law. Gill netting, red tide, overfishing, long lining, finning....these are the practices that have left our fisheries in the condition that they are in today. Not educated, responsible, C&R rec. fishermen like me. THE LAW DOES NOT SAY YOU CAN'T CATCH THEM.

If your released fish ends up washed up on the beach you need to re-evaluate your C&R, and adjust your technique. I'm not saying it wont ever happen, but you can keep the ratio low. I have caught several LARGE Goliaths with over a dozen hooks in their mouths. Usually when targeting gags. I pull as many as I can and let them go, venting when needed. So a dozen other people recently caught the same fish and released them unharmed.


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## HellRhaY (Jul 6, 2007)

how many pounds does a goliath have to be to spawn?
how many years does it need to get into that weight?

answer that, and you'll enlighten yourself when you say there are a bunch of them in wrecks/reefs when you go diving that it is o.k. to catch them.


with regards to my post about TARGETTING them is illegal, i'll have to check on that.


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## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

Fishing for them is not illegal, possessing them or pulling them out of the water is.


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## toejam (Jan 28, 2005)

rsieminski said:


> With all due respect, take a look yourself. Dive any of the offshore reefs, or bridges, and you will see just how numerous they are. Way more plentiful than their cousin gag, hind, black, etc. Some wrecks, you can't even get a fish past them. They are very aggressive. Somewhere I have an image of a 5' black tip almost up to the surface, and a Goliath with his mouth wide open swallowing him up.
> 
> Catching them is well within the limits of the law. Gill netting, red tide, overfishing, long lining, finning....these are the practices that have left our fisheries in the condition that they are in today. Not educated, responsible, C&R rec. fishermen like me. THE LAW DOES NOT SAY YOU CAN'T CATCH THEM.
> 
> If your released fish ends up washed up on the beach you need to re-evaluate your C&R, and adjust your technique. I'm not saying it wont ever happen, but you can keep the ratio low. I have caught several LARGE Goliaths with over a dozen hooks in their mouths. Usually when targeting gags. I pull as many as I can and let them go, venting when needed. So a dozen other people recently caught the same fish and released them unharmed.


The only reason the law does not say you can't catch them is the FWC is not in the habit of creating laws that can not be enforced, since no one can control what kinda of fish get on your line. And I never said it was illegal to target them, but targeting them is an application on the same type of logic which allowed the gill netting, overfishing, long lining, finning that you speak of.... Back in the time of the gill netting and overfishing , when it was legal, was it the right thing to do? NO! Just because it is not againest the law does not make it the right thing to do.


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## eaglesfanguy (May 1, 2003)

The skyway monsters.. are usually near the bait house... Stingray wings.. whole false albecors sliced down the side to bleed... 12/0 hook on up.. 200 lb test and a 6/0 reel on up... Bigger the better..
Also if your going to target them ... Here are a few things you might want to consider..
Take an old hose and split it down the middle.. and tape it to your rod... the concrete on the pier will wreck your rod.. cause trust me.. its going to hit the pier... uses heavy mono.. 200 or more.. 
also make you a line cutting stick.. a long pile with a razor blade on it.. so when you surface the fish.. you can cut the line close to the fish..
Also DO NOT use stainless steel hooks..
Bronze coated.. or steel hooks.. so the hook rust's away.
Also tie your rod and reel off to the pier with a lanyard.. your hooking into a train.. this fish will take you over... 
Also a good isea to have a spotter with you..
And at all cost's get the fish whipped as soon as possible.. cut the line close to em .. and take a break...
More likely then not.. youll loose sway more that you catch..
Good luck... ohh yea.. use circle hooks..


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## VICIII (Apr 8, 2005)

you can say that again...


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## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

rob762 said:


> And the "new name" is Goliath Grouper...



Sorry, for me it will ALWAYS be "JEWFISH" . . . "Political Correctness" and I don't get along well !

Think about this in the FL Keys . . . "JEWFISH CREEK" or "GOLIATH GROUPER CREEK" ???


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## Chank (Oct 28, 2012)

We have the same name Mines Daniel T lololol
but I take either a bonita, or a ray something big. I use a 9/0 with 200lb mono main line, 300lb mono leader. and wait for the click click click ahaha. use the rail to your advantage too!


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

In the 60's they were jewfish. We fished for jewfish. We caught jewfish. They are still jewfish. Somehow Israeli Rabbi fish jest don't sound rite.


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