Hello fellow anglers November in S.W. Florida. Time to head out into the Gulf and target some tripletail. In our area there are commercial fishermen that target stone crab claws. And they litter the nearshore waters with traps. Yes this is a good thing , the buoys on these traps are where tripletail like to hang out. They nose up to the rope under the buoy and it truly looks like a wad of grass stuck on the line. Or they look like a plastic shopping bag tangled on the line, just under the buoy. Yea this is very productive for them to harvest any little fish that will come to hide around the buoy too. When I worked at the fish market many years ago one of the stone crab guys would bring tripletail in with his crab claws. After a few discussions he shared he would dip them up with a net. That always made me wonder how that worked, pretty good some days not as well on others. I was not much of an offshore guy then in my twenties but as I learned later you can use a fishing pole. You do need a boat to travel along the trap lines and look at each one to spot fish for them. When you see what you think is a fish drive the boat past the buoy and then slow down and make a U-turn. Approach the buoy slowly and position the in casting distance to the buoy. Usually you can use a red fish set up to do this, with 20lb. Braid I use Suffix and a clear leader about the same length as your rod 20lb. test also. You may use live shrimp that I may have bought at Fishin Franks on a 1/0 VMC circle hook with a 1/4 ounce egg weight. Or if you do not have live shrimp you may use artificial ones. Gulp new penny 3" or 4" will work on this rig too. DOA's work very well too , tied on the clear leader with no weight the 3" or 4" work well. Okay as you pull up and get in casting range be prepared to cast past the buoy and reel the bait up to the line and stop the retrieve and let the bait sink and watch the fish they will roll off the buoy and attack your bait. When this happens DO NOT set the hook. Yes this sounds crazy, most of the time if you set the hook they avoid it. So if you wait till you feel weight on the line then you can jack it up. This is when you need to keep the fish from going around the trap line. The trap line gets rough from them lifting them with the wench and it may cut your line, not a happy camper then. They put up a great fight and are good table fare too. And there you have it tripletail dinner. The other thing while you may be running the trap line look for kingfish busting up the bait balls or spanish mackerel. And if the waters are cool enough the gag grouper will migrate to the shallow waters where it is easy to troll for them. Yes troll for grouper it works, using a deep diving lure like an` X-Rap 25/30. Or even a stretch 30 will work. I use a 3/0 Penn with 30lb. Suffix Braid on a med to heavy 7' rod. with a rod length 30lb. leader with a 2ft. 50ld. leader. It may take some trial and error to figure out the length and speed best for you. I usually travel about 5knots when I troll with around 100 to 150 feet of line. This is where you have to figure what will work for you. Troll around artificial reefs and natural hard bottom for best results. Trolling like this works to 50 foot or so. If you have a down rigger you know what to do, and it will work out in deeper waters. So if you would like to come along with Capt. Bart Marx or if you would like me to come on your boat for a training session. Give me a call or e-mail me. 941-979-6517 or captbart@alphaomegacharters.com  Also this time of year I have gift certificates for out of town guests or birthdays or Christmas gifts then your family or friends can call and set up there trip to enjoy some S.W. Florida fishing and make some memories. And always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{