This is a great time of year to target red grouper. The natural migration is for the reds to come closer to shore as the water temperatures of the gulf rise. The gag grouper migrate to deeper waters when the waters heat up. One way that has carried over for years in my tackle box is that we bring plenty of frozen baits like squid, sardines, etc. for bottom fishing. We would stop in an area where we knew we could catch squirrel fish (aka sand perch). We like to catch about three or four dozen of these baits, because you may hook them wrong and some may not live. So if they don't, these are the ones to throw in the frozen bait box for later and use for cut bait. When you have what you think is enough, then travel out to the spot where you want to target grouper. Some anglers like to drift and it can be very productive if you have some hard bottom spots large enough to get the job done. It depends on the wind and/or current as to how much weight you need to use to keep your bait on bottom. This is different too if you anchor up on a spot to fish. I have shared in the past that I like to use frozen or dead baits to get a bite started using squid or dead squirrel fish chunks or sardines that come frozen from the bait shop. If you have live squirrel fish or pin fish that you have caught with a net or white bait, this is when you start using the live ones. And if you have a good supplier of live shrimp they are great too. As a rule the red grouper like dead baits - they are more a scavenger unlike the gags that prefer live baits. But you need to know they both will eat dead and live baits.   For most of this type of fishing, I use thirty to fifty pound class rigs. Note - if you are not getting many bites and you see fish on the bottom, machine drop your leader size . If you carry a little larger rod for a bonus rod, you can put a six or eight ounce weight and hang a bait straight down. This is where you use one of your live squirrel fish for bait, hooking it in the tail and keep it up a couple of feet from the bottom. Make sure your rod holder can take a large fish pulling down trying to get back in the structure you are fishing. This is a great way to get the gags to bite, they like the live ones. So if you go out to grouper fish, there are some licensing requirements you need to take into consideration . If you would like to learn some of these ways, you can contact Capt. Bart Marx  by calling 941-979-6517 or e-mail captbart@alphaomegacharters.com or if you would like me to come along on your boat to help you learn these tactics. And always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{