Red Grouper Fishing in Sarasota, FL
The workhorse of Gulf bottom fishing. Hard pullers off ledges and live bottom, and many say the best eating grouper of all.
Typical season
- January: peak
- February: peak
- March: peak
- April: peak
- May: peak
- June: peak
- July: peak
- August: peak
- September: peak
- October: peak
- November: peak
- December: peak
Peak months: all year.
The general season across its range. Ask us about the bite here.
Species guide
Red Grouper (Epinephelus morio)
- How to identify
- Dark reddish brown with scattered white spots on the sides, pink to red below, black spots on the cheeks, and a big mouth with a jutting lower jaw.
- Size
- Up to almost 50 inches and more than 50 pounds
- Lifespan
- Up to 29 years in the Gulf of America and 26 years in the South Atlantic
- Habitat
- Common in 10 to 60 feet of water. Adults live around ledges, crevices and caverns of limestone reefs and live bottom; juveniles use grass beds and nearshore reefs.
- Range
- Western Atlantic, from Massachusetts through the Gulf of America and south to Brazil.
- Diet
- Fish, octopus, shrimp, lobsters and other crustaceans
Did you know? Red grouper are marine engineers: they dig out patches of seafloor that become homes for lobster, other grouper and snapper.
Source: NOAA Fisheries