Grouper Grabbin' & Gulf Mahi w/ The FFP Osprey

Upon receiving the prototype of the new reel in the mail, I automatically thought, “how can I put this reel to the test.” What is a good way to test the drag? I decided on driving down to Punta Gorda, FL from Tampa to meet up with my father and a friend to do some grouper fishing.

What a better way to test the drag system on a new reel than slamming grouper. I knew if I could spend an entire day ripping grouper out of their holes with an inshore set-up that we would be in business. So here is how my day went.

At the crack of dawn, we headed down Charlotte Harbor towards Boca Grande Pass in the 27′ Onslow Bay. The day started out slow catching bait, but eventually, we were able to fill the well with Blue Runners, Pinfish, and Squirrelfish.

Being that there were a few storms offshore, we had to take a different route to our first hole. On our way out we spotted some Bonito breaking on the surface of the water. What a perfect way to test out the new Osprey 3000 on my light action pole. As we approached the school of busting fish, I cast out my cast master and immediately it was game time. The line started to scream off the spool. It was music to my ears except I got a little bit afraid I was about to get spooled and all my excitement made me crank down the drag heavy on the fish. In fact, I cranked it down too tight on the fish that my 20-pound test leader snapped. We end up landing one for some more bait later in the day.

After dodging the storm, we finally arrived at our first fishable spot. I rigged up my pole with the Osprey 4000SW. There wasn’t much happening other than a few short Red Grouper. After a little bit of fishing, we decided to head to another spot.

Here, is where I was able to push the reel to its limits. I cut the tail off a Blue Runner rigged it up and dropped it down. A few seconds after, a 25″ Red Grouper swallowed my Blue Runner. The fight was on, at first my drag was not set tight enough, so I quickly tightened it and yanked the grouper away from its hole. I landed the fish. We did not have to leave this sport for the rest of the day.

With constant action, we were able to limit out on Red Grouper. We worked the bottom for some snapper until we saw some fish in the distance busting at the surface. We had some ballyhoo left over from a recent trip to the Bahamas, so we figured why not troll around. As we approached the school of fish, I cast out and was hooked up. It was Dolphin! We trolled around for a while long and came across a log floating that was holding more Dolphin. What a way to end our day!

All in all, it was a great day of fishing and a perfect way to test out the new Osprey Spinning Reel. Below is my initial review of the reel. Pretty soon we will be posting a detailed video, or series of videos, on Florida Fishing Products, our mission as a company, and the new Osprey Spinning Reel.