Are red hooks worth the extra money?
A. Red hooks were designed to imitate gill flash in a wounded baitfish. As with most anglers, I’m looking for any edge I can get. When I’m fishing for sheepshead, Spanish mackerel or any lesser game fish, I use cheaper hooks. I use red hooks when fishing for trout, redfish, snook, tarpon or kingfish. It’s not that you can’t catch these fish on a regular hook, but when it comes to building my confidence level, I invest in red. Q. We fish for grouper and don’t have much luck. How do you find good places to find them? A. You can purchase “hot spots” fishing charts. Most of these show ledges, wrecks, hard bottom and reefs, areas in which grouper like to hang out. Most of the spots within 20 miles of shore get fished regularly. To find your own hot spot, troll large jigs over areas of hard bottom listed on the chart. When you catch a grouper, throw over a jug attached to a weight to mark the spot, then bottom fish that spot with frozen sardines or squid. If you catch a few short grouper, sw
