Groupers

Groupers share the same habitats as the fish known locally as “pagres”. These bottom-dwelling fish remain close to holes where they hide at the first sign of danger. Guadeloupe has many species, but some have become rare. To help preserve this diversity, we do not specifically target them.

Commoner small species include those known locally as “grande gueule”, golden with large red spots, and “tanche”, red with white spots. Both are colourful fish traditionally prized for eating in the Caribbean.

Groupers are voracious and aggressive, sometimes striking jigs almost as large as themselves.

Nassau grouper and goliath grouper also occur, but their populations have suffered greatly from overfishing. We occasionally encounter the “vieille à carreaux”, a species associated with ciguatera risk.

Below around 200 metres, larger groupers are sometimes caught by deep jigging. They too have become increasingly scarce, affected by commercial longlining for deep-water snappers.

Groupers cope poorly with rapid pressure changes. They can reach the surface with severe barotrauma, making release difficult. Catching one always leaves me with mixed feelings, and I do everything I can to release it.

They mainly take jigs and other bottom-worked vertical presentations: inchiku, soft plastics and madai. Local anglers also catch them on handlines, though I am less keen on that technique.

Catches from guided trips

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