# grouper identification



## Yella Fevre (Jun 12, 2007)

:work:Guys,

I know this has probably circulated before, but help me out. I need pics and help on how to identify grouper here in the gulf. 

I want to make sure that I dont keep something (jewfish) because i dont know how to identify grouper.

Caught a grouper today approx. 60 lbs, greenish to grey with silver belly. no stripes, no visible markings. Busted everyone of my venting tools. wouldn't keep it because too scared to take a chance. need a major venting tool.

Thanks for the help.


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## hog (May 17, 2006)

Yella Fevre said:


> :work:Guys,
> 
> I know this has probably circulated before, but help me out. I need pics and help on how to identify grouper here in the gulf.
> 
> ...


Copy and laminate this book, it helps sometimes.
http://www.gulfcouncil.org/Beta/GMFMCWeb/downloads/recbrochure2009-10.pdf

Heres another picture page
http://indian-river.fl.us/fishing/fish/#name_index

Good fish'n to ya....

Hog


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## Boboe (Feb 11, 2009)

By your description, you caught a warsaw. Limit is 1 per boat per day. No minimum size.


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## Day0ne (Jan 14, 2006)

Another place to try is here. Look under "G". The book they have for sale is nice but the pictures on the website are better

http://www.tx.rodngun.com/gulffish/gulffish.asp


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## Griffin (Aug 2, 2006)

Those look like pretty good guides, I'm curious about the rock hind and strawberry grouper. I don't see them in any of the guides I have found.


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## bjd76 (Jan 12, 2008)

Had a TX Game Warden scare the shat out of me about a Goliath Grouper. He didn't know what the characteristics were but he called a biologist at A&M and we waited for him to find out. The Goliath Grouper (Jewfish) has 11 tines on the first top (dorsal) fin. A Warsaw has 9 tines (which is what we had). Also, the Goliath has distinctive pattern on it. I understand that they are usually caught in 60 ft of water or less.... Gouper are tough to identify but most around here are 
gag or warsaw. We've caught an occassional Strawberry.


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

bjd76 said:


> Had a TX Game Warden scare the shat out of me about a Goliath Grouper. He didn't know what the characteristics were but he called a biologist at A&M and we waited for him to find out. The Goliath Grouper (Jewfish) has 11 tines on the first top (dorsal) fin. A Warsaw has 9 tines (which is what we had). Also, the Goliath has distinctive pattern on it. I understand that they are usually caught in 60 ft of water or less.... Gouper are tough to identify but most around here are
> gag or warsaw. We've caught an occassional Strawberry.


betcha you wuz countin' spines like a first grader-fingers, toes, crayons and a Big Chief Tablet... thas whut I'da been doin'...aint no fun second guessin' the regs...glad it turned out OK.


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## Yella Fevre (Jun 12, 2007)

I was not willing to take the chance. now that I have the right information, wont be so scared and ill keep only a few. ill bet that would have been a good freezer full.

Thanks guys. you all were a big help. fishing brothers.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

I got pictures of 17 kinds of grouper, all but one found in the Gulf. They're at:

http://seafavorites.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=77


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## Levelwind (Apr 15, 2005)

Yella I'm just like you, scared to death of them things! Or at least I used to be. Here's what made me a lot more comfy - note, I seldom run far enough to catch grouper so they;re a very infrequent fish in my box - 

Key on the i.d. tips in a good guide, like the prominent second dorsal spine of a warsaw, # of spines, whether the tail is flat across or slightly forked, whether the fins have those "feathers" extending, etc.. Almost any grouper can be almost any color.


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## DavidG (Feb 28, 2005)

Buy this book http://www.amazon.com/Sportsmans-Best-Snapper-Grouper-Combo/dp/0936240318 at Academy or online. Its a great reference for the snapper and grouper species in the gulf (the dvds not bad either). Trouthappy edited it and luckily there's not one picture of him in it.


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## Chase This! (Jul 20, 2007)

This one is really good. Best I have seen IMO.

http://myfwc.com/docs/Fishing/fish_id2.pdf


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## aggie82josh (Mar 16, 2007)

Here's a question that might save someone a hefty fine:

What is the definitive difference between a juvenile warsaw and a snowy grouper?


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Awww that's nice...but I'm in the book twice, the wife three times, one of my kids also too. Lots of pics of Port Arthur, Galveston and Freeport people. Rick McGaffey, one of the Doxie brothers, Shannon Tompkins, my Bridge City divemaster, various Florida people. I'm probably in the video doing something, I haven't watched it. We had a TV crew do most of that.



DavidG said:


> Buy this book http://www.amazon.com/Sportsmans-Best-Snapper-Grouper-Combo/dp/0936240318 at Academy or online. Its a great reference for the snapper and grouper species in the gulf (the dvds not bad either). Trouthappy edited it and luckily there's not one picture of him in it.


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## Levelwind (Apr 15, 2005)

aggie82josh said:


> Here's a question that might save someone a hefty fine:
> 
> What is the definitive difference between a juvenile warsaw and a snowy grouper?


Prominence of the second dorsal spine and 10 dorsal spines on the Warsaw.


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## Old salt (May 21, 2004)

Goliath's are shallow water fish and usually don't overlap with warsaw's. So, if you catch a big grouper offshore in deeper waters (over 100 feet), it will be a warsaw (or any of the myriad other groupers) and not a goliath.


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## DavidG (Feb 28, 2005)

Levelwind said:


> Prominence of the second dorsal spine and 10 dorsal spines on the Warsaw.


Here a little warsaw that my dad caught off of the first rig out of Freeport. He caught a little snowy there on another trip. It looked just like and was the same size as the one on the measuring stick.


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## plinko (Nov 30, 2009)

I wouldn't bank on the water depth theory.
In September I saw a jewfish in 180 ft of water at a rig by stetson. A few years ago I saw 2 big jewfish at a cutoff rig thats 152ft deep. I've also shot warsaw in less then 100ft of water. 

Its not that difficult to tell them apart. 
Warsaw is solid dark colored, light belly with a big dorsal. They also have 8 gallons of slime on them.
Jewfish has black dots on its head and vertical bars on its body. Yellowish green belly. Jewfish also have a small head and eyes for a grouper


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

And jewfish are caught in only 3-4 feet of water on occasion. Never heard of one caught in 200 feet or deeper. Bigger Warsaw are commonly caught at the Cerveza Rigs in 800 feet. I took a picture of this babe fishing in the ship channel at Fort Pierce with a jewfish. We broke off some BIG ones that day on snapper tackle. If you want to catch a dozen jewfish a day, fish with Capt. Dave Lee in Homestead, FL during the summer. He actually fishes under shady trees at Shark River, over hard bottom in 12 feet of water. Catches keeper gag grouper there, too.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Here's a shot of the bigger one I caught, also in 12 feet. About 7 feet long....Used a live, two pound jack crevalle for bait.


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## Day0ne (Jan 14, 2006)

Griffin said:


> Those look like pretty good guides, I'm curious about the rock hind and strawberry grouper. I don't see them in any of the guides I have found.


Go here and look under "H". Red hind, aka strawberry grouper

http://www.tx.rodngun.com/gulffish/gulffish.asp


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