Butterflied bait fish work as chum for grouper, snapper, old drum, catfish, stripers, and more

The smaller fish will feel like a series of “machine gun” bites to you holding the rod, but be patient. Then, when the grouper move in and bite, it will be more than obvious what that bite feels like.

There’s bait, and there’s chum. There’s one bait that does both. Where I fish most often, we have an abundance of menhaden, pinfish, spots, croakers, and beeliners (aka vermillion snapper) offshore. So basically, whatever you have on hand is what you use.

Why Butterfly a Bait?

A butterflied bait does a couple of things at once. First and foremost, a butterflied bait is a couple of open fillets that create a perfect chum slick on the bottom to gather interest from the target species—grouper. It’s not a great strategy to use when drift fishing, but it will work to catch a fish here and there. It’s a great practice to use while anchored or while using the Rhodan to GPS anchor.

You want to find one piece of pretty bottom with a good mark of fish and bait and then chum it up to attract the grouper instead of drifting down a ledge to catch one here and there. That’s how you get good “stops” with multiple good fish per stop. I cannot say this any more clearly. Anchoring or using the Rhodan is the way to go!

The reason for putting down large butterflied baits is the little fish down there “rattle” the fillets until thousands of small pieces of flesh flow down-current and encourage other fish to join the frenzy. Within a short amount of time, the target species will be interested and part of the game. Yes, they are very curious, and, yes, they are very wise and move toward the bait cautiously, but at some point, they can’t take it anymore.

The butterflied bait you see here has everything they are looking for. Dropped on a Decoy Jig, it’s the correct visual aspect. When used with clean heavy-duty tackle, it’s big chunks (fillets) of what they eat anyhow.

Butterflied Pinfish Bait on a Barefoot Crab Decoy Jig

The smaller fish will feel like a series of “machine gun” bites to you holding the rod, but be patient. Then, when the grouper move in and bite, it will be more than obvious what that bite feels like.

The only downside to this style of fishing: it will attract sharks. When sharks show up, it’s time to move.

Let me put this in perspective. The mental chain of command amongst grouper is:

Red grouper: MORON
Scamp grouper: kinda savvy
Gag grouper: VERY SAVVY

You can catch all of these grouper, but you must make the correct offering using the proper presentation. If you are fishing for “bottom fish,” use cut bait. If you are grouper fishing, use butterflied or whole live snapper.

SALTWATER TACKLE YOU MAY WANT TO TRY:

7/0 and 11/0 J-Hook Chin Weights: Target fish include Tuna, Wahoo, Mahi or Common Dolphin, King Mackerel, Wahoo, and more. Easy to rig!

4 oz. Crab Decoy Jig: Target fish for Striped Bass, nearshore Drum, Snook, Grouper, west coast bottom fish, and more.

4 oz. Tuna Squid Decoy Jig: From the eastern, western, Alaskan, and gulf coasts, target fish include: Tuna, Dolphin, Wahoo, Fluke, Flounder, Striped Bass, Seabass, Amberjack (east coast), Yellow Tail (west coast), California White Sea Bass (west coast), Grouper, Snapper, Halibut, Ling cod, and all Alaskan bottom fish.

8 oz. - 12 oz. 10/0 Squid Decoy Jig: Catch BIG Grouper, Amberjack, Giant Stripers, and more.