ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ZACHERY DYKE
Spearo, fisherman, and passionate home cook. I enjoy harvesting my food from the ocean and sharing it with my friends and family. Follow along as I use species local to Florida to make incredible meals you can make at home.
5 Must Try Black Grouper Recipes
If I had to pick a favorite fish to hunt and eat, it would probably be a Black Grouper. Nothing really compares to the juiciness of these fish when cooked, and they’re also incredible raw, if you give them some time. A few days after breaking these fish down, the meat tends to be a little too chewy for sashimi, but if you age it for a week or so, it really starts to break down and develop flavor.
My First Florida Keys Black Grouper
I wanted to make this ONE FISH series about the last Black Grouper that I shot while living in the Florida Keys, but I’d also like to reflect back on the first one I got. When I first moved to the Keys back in 2022, I didn’t have a boat. I would occasionally go out with friends that had boats, but most of them weren’t into spearfishing. My only mode of transportation at the time, was my Hobie Kayak.
I was used to going offshore a few miles in my kayak to fish when I lived in South Florida, so going out to the reef wasn’t all that daunting to me. The problem in the Keys, however, was that the reef was much further out than in South Florida. I ended up launching my kayak out of Marathon and heading straight out almost 5 miles. I can’t remember how long it took me to get out there, but I imagine it was a few hours, at least.
Once I got to the chunk of reef I had found on Google Maps, I anchored up and got in the water. Immediately, I saw a decent sized Black Grouper dart into a cave right over by me. My heart started pounding right away. I dove down and couldn’t find him under the rock. I knew he had to be in there, so I dove on the same rock again, and there he was! He gave me a perfect shot right thru his cheeks, I didn’t stone him, but I knew he wasn’t going anywhere.
I surfaced and started breathing back up, I knew he wasn’t going anywhere but I wanted to get him out of the rocks pretty quick. Some large nurse sharks decided to show up. I wasn’t really concerned, but they kept trying to get under the rock and get my fish. I ended up having to pull one by the tail and push him away.
The sharks ended up leaving and the sand finally settled so I could see the fish. The shaft was angled so it wouldn’t come out, but once I readjusted it, the fish came out. I took him to the surface and let out a little yell. It was my first Florida Keys Black Grouper, and I was stoked! I was only in the water for maybe 15 minutes that day. The fish ended up being 30 inches. I was so excited because I had some Black Grouper recipes that I wanted to make!
My Last Florida Keys Black Grouper
Now, this collection of recipes is really about the last Black Grouper I shot while living in the Florida Keys, so lets fast forward a few years. I finally had a boat and was out with my buddy, Eddie, just before sunset. We were diving a big ledge in about 25ft of water, and Eddie had mentioned he saw a couple nice Black Grouper that were headed down the reef line. I’ve always loved hunting these fish in ledges and caves. Putting the time in to search every nook and cranny, in hopes that I’d catch a glimpse of a head or tail, was something I enjoyed.
This fish was a product of just that. I went down the ledge, dive after dive, with my flashlight. I shined my light as far back in the caves as I could see, and finally saw what appeared to be a grouper tail. I didn’t have any sort of angle on him, as I could literally only see his tail and it wasn’t enough for a shot. I dove over and over again on the spot trying to see if he’d move. Finally, to my surprise, he gave me a perfect headshot about half way back in the cave. Without hesitation, I shot, and could feel him start to go deeper back into the cave.
I surfaced and called over to my buddy. I needed to breathe back up and I didn’t want the fish to go deeper into the cave. He quickly dove down and pulled him out, but he had to leave the fish down there because something snagged. My shooting line was hung up on a rock, but he got the fish out so all I had to do was go down and unhook the line. I was stoked once I got my hands on him, it’s always a pleasure playing cat and mouse with these fish and coming out on top.
I knew I wanted to make some special meals, and since I knew I was leaving the Keys soon, I decided to freeze most of the fillets. It’s always nice to freeze some grouper to eat later when they’re not in season anymore. I used the head, collars, and backbone, fresh, when I originally got the fish, because I hardly ever freeze those parts, and I was already limited on space in my freezer.
I recently thawed out those fillets and made these 5 Black Grouper recipes:
