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Outdoors

Daily fishing report

Cool weather has turned on the grouper bite. Hard bottom structures in 40-60 feet and a few spots close to the beach have been producing keeper gags.

Start by fishing frozen sardines or squid and switch to live pinfish if the bite is slow. Most trips have seen about 60 percent of the fish caught on dead bait. If you don't have private spots, pick up a local chart with artificial reef coordinates. They get a lot of pressure, so consider investing the time in locating others. An easy method is running a gold broken back plug and white bucktail jig behind No.2 or 3 planers on 4/0 boat rods. When you get a strike, toss an anchored jug to mark the spot. The boat will have passed the structure by the time your lures arrive, so heave it as far back as possible.

With cold fronts arriving, watch the weather closely. Generally, 24-36 hours before a front arrives is the most productive.

Thanksgiving weekend usually is one of the best times for kingfishing. But with gulf temperatures dropping for the past two weeks, many kings have started migrating to their wintering grounds near Key West.

-- Mike Whitman charters the Mega Bite out of Gulfport. Call (727) 384-5729 or by e-mail at capt@megabitecharters.com.

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