That's some nice sea donkey's right there!!

How far off the bottom were you jigging? Do you recommend the "reel up, drop, jig, repeat..." strategy all the way up the water column, or staying at a constant depth right off bottom?

I take large croaker and hardheads on the party boats during winter. Get some croaker saver a 5gallon bucket and 2 academy aerators and they will last more than 2 days as long as the water stays cool.

Large piggy perch work too.

those little baits will only catch giant red snapper now.
they're everywhere out there.
if you wanna use livies for big AJ's the best bet is a 3-5# bar jack or bermuda chub with a 13/0 circle through their back (2# of weight on their back ain't a bad idea either, 'specially if the current is strong)
Gotta have something a 30# snapper cant eat

as far as jigging AJ's, go to the bottom, even if its 400'.
then come tight, yo-yo a few times, then speed-jig it all the way up
you will most likely get tight about 5-10 cranks off the bottom, but it'll be another mongo red snapper....................


this is my PB 78#, caught on 5# live bar jack with 2# of weight @ 450 feet,
west Cervesa rig, aug 2011

It is not illegal to use a vermillion snapper for bait as long as it is legal size and fished whole.

And as for AJ and grouper: You will catch 10X more of each on a live vermillion snapper than you ever will on a jig. Any big live bait will work for either.
If you are going with jigs it is recommended to upgrade your split rings and such. Most are sold with completely inadequate rings to hold up to big AJ much less an even bigger grouper. You can buy better quality hardware at reputable tackle shops and change them out easily. Good luck!

You are so, so wrong! From the Federal regulations Pamphlet:

"Reef Fish as Bait: The use of federally managed reef fish as bait is prohibited."

Definition of "Reef Fish":

"Species that are part of the 20-reef fish aggregate bag limit include:
Vermilion Snapper, Tilefish (Golden),
Lane Snapper, Goldface Tilefish,
Almaco Jack, Blueline Tilefish,
Gray Triggerfish"

Looks pretty plain to me that it is illegal.

The big problem I have with vermillion snapper fishing is the stinking amber jacks are always eating them before I can get them to the top!

Saw a guy last friday using 6" hopper jig. He caught 3 or 4 AJ's and broke off a couple times.

I stand corrected. Sorry I tend to pay very little attention to Federal Regs as they are not based on science or real stock numbers and are only designed to put the screws to recreational fishermen in the southern blue states. So let me re-phrase then... As much as I hate venting fish and feel it is much better to get them back down to the depth they were caught at for a release...a big circle hook in the bottom lip on a heavy leader with a weight is just the ticket to get them back to the bottom for such a release. Its a juggling act for sure.

for what is worth I cant think of any species that will not take a jig .

Me neither....

Depends on how deep you are fishing. If your at falcon 400 plus feet of water I would drop to the bottom had good luck there! Those two fish were caught at east cerveza 900 plus feet of water . your not gonna drop to the bottom so look on your depth finder an mark the depth , if your on the head boat and can't mark the fish start dropping and counting the drop and find how deep the fish are say you count to 45 an no bite count to 65 next time catch a black fin tuna or aj then drop it back down again to 65