COVER STORY
Little spots, big fish
Matt Winter
Matt Winter
The Post and Courier
‘Gag grouper are a fish of a lifetime. You catch a gag grouper and you’ve done something. They are a quality opponent.’
— Capt. Rick Reddick of Purpose One Charters, shown here
with a nice gag taken about 30 miles offshore of Charleston
When you KNOW big grouper are waiting below, 30 minutes feels like two hours.
It was halfway though a good day of fishing about 35 miles east of Charleston Harbor, and Capt. Rick Reddick’s 26-foot Mako center console already held a couple of nice gag grouper and a colorful collection of snapper and sea bass. But the hunt wasn’t over. We were searching for another big grouper spot, steadily cruising as the anchor danced in our wake about 200 feet behind the boat.
Reddick didn’t quite like what he saw. Yet.
The 33-year-old charter captain stared intently at twin full-color screens on his center console as he moved us methodically from spot to spot. One showed GPS position, the other gave a detailed sonar readings of the sea floor.
Eyebrows arched as we passed over a promising 5-foot ledge 120 feet below. The sharp drop-off showed clearly on Reddick’s sonar screen, a sweet little dip in the sea floor sporting a swarm of “chevron” fish marks arching above it. It was a spot where 99 out of 100 offshore anglers would try to anchor up.
But Reddick moved on.
“This,” he said with a grin, “is discipline.”
And discipline works. When he finally saw what he was looking for — a much more subtle change in the sea floor showing a smaller spike of fish — he expertly looped the boat into an upwind position, slowed to let the anchor fall, then swung us around as the anchor caught. Quick as you please, we were sitting over another hard-bottom grouper spot.
Within minutes, Reddick battled a nice 15-pound gag to the gaff.
So it would go throughout the day, moving spot to spot, until we had made more than a dozen drops. When the first few lines to reach bottom produced only black sea bass or sharks, we’d quickly move on. When the gag or scamp grouper were there, they’d often be the first fish caught, then the sea bass and sharks would move in. That’s when we’d look for another spot, scanning the sandy seafloor for patches of rock-like bottom and small bits of structure.
Reddick’s hit-and-run tactic produced a respectable bottom-fish tally: three gag grouper (two topping 15 pounds), six scamp grouper, three red snapper, 30 vermilion snapper and 45 fat black sea bass, plus an assortment of red porgies.
It was, in Reddick’s view, a good day. Not a great one. Not like the trip in December, when Reddick and two anglers limited out on grouper in about 25 minutes before moving on to target red and vermilion snapper. Their catch that day including three scamp grouper over 20 pounds, one coming close to the state record. And that spot showed virtually no fish, no structures on the sounder. It was a tiny spot Reddick had marked about six months earlier after marking a little pod of bait on the sonar.
“Nobody gave me the (GPS) number, and it wasn’t on Maps Unique,” Reddick said, referring to a popular offshore map sold at local tackle shops. “It was just a small show of bait, it was a piece of flat bottom, and that was some of the best quality fish I caught in that fast of a time last year.”
And this, Reddick said, is the key to “hard-bottom” grouper fishing off Charleston.
“Everybody’s drawn to big structure. But the pros who taught me, everybody said they always did their best fishing on the little spots.”
This secret might come as a surprise to many recreational fishermen around Charleston, many of whom concentrate their bottom-fishing efforts around known wrecks and reefs such as The Charleston 60, Comanche and Y73.
“I want to see that 1-foot ledge, that 2-foot ledge. I want to see that one fish sitting on hard bottom.
“Fish hold on zero relief. They hold on the hard bottom. And it’s a lot more fun, it’s a lot easier to get your grouper up off zero relief.
“It’s common sense that the wrecks hold fish,” Reddick admits. “But think about this: Would you rather wrestle your grouper out of a cargo hold on a wreck, or off of flat bottom?
“It’s about getting fish in the boat.”
A different style of fishing
Reddick grew up in Tampa, Fla., on the Gulf of Mexico. Family and friends included a number of commercial fishermen. At an early age, he traveled to Central America to commercial fish off Colombia, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Reddick and his family moved to Charleston last year. He now runs a charter fishing business called Purpose One Charters, and sometimes captains on other fishing boats.
Reddick’s proven a quick study when it comes to bottom fishing off Charleston, and his willingness to share hard-won knowledge has garnered attention from many in the local fishing community. Reddick even shared some of these tips during a recent seminar hosted by The Charleston Angler and trip offshore.
Having honed his skills in the competitive, highly-pressured Florida fisheries, Reddick brings a fresh set of ideas for Lowcountry anglers targeting premier bottom fish such as gag grouper and red snapper. His fishing style features no-nonsense concentration, smooth boat handling and efficient anchoring, not to mention a proven ability to wrestle big grouper off the bottom and into the cooler.
 www.purposeonecharters.com or call 843-278-1699." />
The Post and Courier
Capt. Rick Reddick (left) with two 15-pound gag grouper and Charles Wilson with red snapper that weighed 19 and 22 pounds, part of a fun day of bottom fishing aboard Purpose One Charters offshore of Charleston. For more information about Purpose One charters or to book a trip, visit www.purposeonecharters.com or call 843-278-1699.
Anchoring up
To Reddick, a solid command of the basics is what makes a good grouper and snapper fisherman.
Step one, of course, is knowing how to anchor directly over your fishing spot, which is no easy task when you consider the conflicting forces of wind and current.
Reddick always anchors; he never drifts. In fact, he thinks the current hot trend of drift-fishing with heavy metal jigs may actually keep anglers from learning the proper anchoring techniques needed to become solid bottom fishermen.
“Without anchoring right,” he said, “you’ll never really know what’s there.”
Reddick typically uses less anchor line than might be expected: between 150 and 200 feet of scope when anchoring in about 100 feet of water. To make up for this shorter scope, he uses an 18-pound anchor and about 30 feet of chain.
“More chain and a heavier anchor means less anchor rope,” he said. “And less anchor rope is always good.”
Reddick also recommends using a Danforth-style anchor, featuring flukes that dig into the sandy bottom and a shank that reverses direction to make it easier to pull from the bottom. Without it, he said, “you’re basically wasting your time.”
But most importantly, Reddick said, is learning how to “develop your anchor course.” Though somewhat complicated, the basic idea is to determine which direction the combined forces of wind and current will push your boat after you’ve anchored. Your anchor course will be the compass bearing after the boat is fully anchored, with the anchor line off the bow.
After you’ve established that course, you can more easily determine how best to approach your fishing spots and set the anchor. You can also use that same course to determine how best to wrest the anchor back once you’re ready to move.
Reddick suggests that less-experienced anglers try basic anchoring methods such as simply dropping and retrieving the anchor at each spot. As they get more experienced, they can learn different techniques that save time and make moving from spot to spot (and catching more fish) much easier.
When and where to fish
Bottom fishing for snapper and grouper is good year-round off Charleston, though Reddick thinks spring and fall seem to be better than the coldest weeks of winter and the brutally hot days of summer.
Anglers can generally find them from 60 feet of water to “The Ledge,” in about 160-180 feet or deeper. Reddick prefers either the shallower or deeper end of that spectrum and cautions anglers from spending too much time in between, which some call “The Desert.” The best way to learn, he says, is to use the Maps Unique, which shows areas generally thought of as productive “live bottom.”
Other conditions, particularly surface water temperatures, are helpful indicators of where to drop lines. Reddick looks for surface temperatures of at least 65 degrees. Water much colder than that can make the fish sluggish.
After finding a promising area and determining his anchor course, Reddick will move around from GPS point to GPS point while scanning the sonar for good bets.
Reddick tends to avoid “big shows,” the huge balls of bait and fish that light up a sonar screen and excite most anglers. Often, these spots are simply loaded with black sea bass and other smaller fish. There may be grouper and snapper mixed in, but the bass are so aggressive, it’s hard to keep baits in place for the grouper to find.
Knowing how to read your fishfinder is key.
What Reddick’s really looking for are subtle changes that indicate hard bottom, with a few big fish “chevrons” holding nearby. But even if many fish don’t register on the screen, he’ll fish a spot if the bottom looks right.
“I don’t blind fish, but I’m not scared to fish the smallest little show that I see. Sometimes it’s sharks, sometimes it’s 23-pound scamps.
“You’ve got to try.”
This tactic may seem a bit tough to swallow for those Lowcountry offshore anglers who typically concentrate on wrecks and reefs holding tons of bait and fish.
But resisting the urge to anchor up there, Reddick said, can save anglers frustrating battles with sharks, sea bass and amberjacks that will waste your bait, tear up your tackle and eat up your time. To find the “quality fish,” get away from the crowd.
“You don’t have to see the fish,” Reddick said. “You just have to know what you’re looking for.
“There are certain areas off Charleston where if you see one blip, you need to fish it.”
Even these hidden spots can sometimes draw a blank. What then?
“That’s the instinctive thing,” Reddick said, “knowing when to be patient and when to pull it.”
Though Reddick can be quick to pull the plug on a spot if he gets covered up in sea bass or sharks, he often won’t move far before trying another spot. Making big runs, he said, wastes too much time and keeps an angler from truly learning an area.
Patiently going spot to spot and marking even the slightest deviations in the sea floor is the best way for an angler to build up knowledge, he said. And that means options when the fishing is slow, and fresh targets to move to when the grouper bite gives way to black sea bass and sharks.
Rods, reels and tackle
Many of Reddick’s rods and reels are standard fare, typical boat rods in the 30- to 50-pound class. He prefers longer rods, 8-footers with enough leverage to stop a big grouper during its initial dig for the bottom. The extra length also provides a little bit of give, which Reddick needs because he fishes with star-drag reels with the drags set as tight as he can get them.
“I let my star drags seize up,” he said, apparently only half-joking. “I like them locked.”
Reddick spools his reels with 80-pound braided line, but always uses a 50-foot top-shot of 80-pound monofilament, followed by 100-pound monofilament leader. The mono leader and topshot provide enough stretch to counter the brutal first dives of a large grouper.
Without that stretch, Reddick says, you’ll get pulled hooks or break-offs when tangling with big fish.
As far as rigs go, Reddick is no-frills. A typical rig is basically a beefed-up Carolina rig, with an 8-ounce egg sinker threaded onto the mono topshot, followed by a bead to protect the knot and a heavy, oversized swivel. To that he ties the 100-pound leader, anywhere from 5 to 15 feet, depending on conditions.
“The longer the leader, the more natural the presentation,” he said.
The business end of the whole system is a straight-shank, 6-ought hook. Though some of his angling buddies swear by circle hooks, Reddick says he can outfish them with the standard hook.
When targeting smaller vermilion snapper or other species, Reddick and his crew will use the familiar multi-hook dropper rigs with a bank sinker at the bottom (also known as chicken rigs).
Matt Winter
The Post and Courier
Once Capt. Rick Reddick feels a bite, he starts reeling, very quickly but smoothly, with the rod butt tucked up under his armpit and the tip held steady at a low angle. Here, he fights a gag on a recent trip.
>Bait for big ones
Reddick fishes a variety of baits and will switch often. On our trip, he had a few boxes of frozen squid and cigar minnows on board, as well as a livewell filled with baitfish caught earlier with sabiki rigs.
Pinfish are his live bait of choice, but he’ll use a variety of smaller fish up to about 6 inches.
If he suspects a spot may hold too many sea bass or sharks, he won’t waste a live bait. But if he thinks it’s a prime spot for big gag grouper, livies are often the first baits down.
If he thinks a spot is good but finds the bite slow, he may try to kick-start the action by having some anglers send down lines baited with squid and cigar minnows.
Live baits are the best for big gag grouper, he said. When he’s targeting big American red snapper, Reddick will often use a whole squid, hooked once though the tail then back through the body. He’ll try to keep his rig suspended a few feet off the bottom so the squid undulates in the current.
No matter what is used, anglers should make sure to hook the bait so it can drop to the bottom without spinning. An improperly hooked bait will “helicopter” when dropped 100 feet or more, often wrapping around the main line and tangling a rig beyond repair.
Reddick hooks live baits through the snout. For cigar minnows, he’ll cut off their tails, then hook them through the backbone near the cut end. That way, they won’t spin as much on the way down.
Hooking, fighting a big gag
Reddick expects a hit the moment his rig gets to the bottom. He keeps tension on the line, sometimes lifting the lead off the bottom so the bait (live or dead) sways in the current at the end of his 10 to 15-foot leader.
Once he feels a bite, Reddick starts reeling, very quickly but smoothly, with the rod butt tucked up under his armpit and the tip held steady at a low angle. (Any type of “Bill Dance” hook-setting maneuver by an angler on board will earn a quick lesson on proper technique.)
This quick reeling takes any bow out of the line, and once the grouper feels the hook, it’s initial strong run typically results in a solid hook set. This first run, when a grouper makes a dash for whatever structure is available, is usually when most big fish are lost.
“That battle for that grouper takes place in the first 10 seconds after the bite,” he said. “It’s either over and done with or you’ve got him.”
Reddick’s advice: Try to gain on him at first, then hold steady when he digs, then start gaining on him as soon as you turn him and bring him off the bottom.
From there, reel aggressively but smoothly, holding the rod tip down and as steady as you can. No up and down pumping, no side-to-side movement.
“One of the biggest things to bottom fishing is being smooth with everything. Setting the anchor, fishing -- nothing erratic.
“Just be as smooth as you can.”
Dragging’ the anchor
Most long-time bottom fishermen, both recreational and commercial, know that dragging the anchor is the most efficient way to move from spot to spot.
This method involves deploying the anchor only once, then moving from spot to spot without ever bringing the anchor back on board. Done properly, the anchor doesn’t drag on the bottom at all. The power of a moving boat yanks the anchor up off the bottom and pulls it to the surface, where it will “ski” behind the boat at the end of the anchor line (left).
This advanced technique carries some risk, including an anchor line snapping under high strain or wrapping around a propeller while 35 miles offshore. Dragging also requires some specialized gear, like swivels in your anchor line.
So beginners should not attempt it without learning, firsthand, from an experienced captain and crew.
In general, here’s how it works:
Typically, it takes at least two people on board. After the anchor is first deployed and an anchor course established (A), moving to the next spot starts with easing the boat forward, about 45 degrees off the anchor course (B). This prevents the boat from running over the anchor line and fouling a prop.
Once the anchor line begins trailing the boat in a big underwater bow (C), the captains slows and steers the boat back along the anchor course. This maneuver brings the anchor line alongside the boat but keeps the trailing loop away from the props (D). Now the mate can reach out and, using a boat hook or gaff, catch the line. The captain then slows the boat, giving enough slack so the mate can safely wrap the anchor line on a stern cleat. With the line cleated and mate safely clear, the captain can move forward again, along the anchor course, until the boat pulls the anchor off the bottom at an angle directly opposite from which it held (E).
Freed from the bottom and pulled by the boat, the anchor, chain and anchor line will rise up and “ski” behind the boat as you move to the next spot, which could be a few hundred yards or a few miles away.
How fast you can drag an anchor in this way depends on many variables, including boat size, anchor weight and amount and strength of anchor line being used. (Reddick can drag his anchor up to about 20 knots.)
To redeploy the anchor, the captain circles the boat around to an upcurrent position, than heads straight down the anchor course, slowing as he nears the spot. The anchor will begin to slowly drop, keeping the line and chain taunt and straight behind the boat. As the anchor nears the bottom, the captain takes the boat out of gear, giving the mate enough slack to uncleat the line and step clear (F). The captain then puts the boat into a reverse turn, spinning the stern away from the anchor line (G-I). This maneuver should allow the anchor line to come tight at the bow as the anchor catches below (J).
It’s a tricky and somewhat risky set of maneuvers. But the technique can be safely mastered with the right instructor and enough practice.
“In four or five trips, somebody could be pretty good at it,” Reddick said.
Aside from saving your crew a ton of hard work lifting, stowing and deploying the anchor at every spot, this method also provides the key component to a hit-and-run strategy crucial to filling your coolers with grouper.
“Dragging the anchor from spot to spot, though the most difficult of type of anchoring, through practice, is going to make you the most efficient,” Reddick said.
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