gray snapper

The white grunt (Haemulon plumieri); also known as “grunt”, “pigfish” and, if you’re a grouper fisherman – “oh jeez, not another *%*&$# grunt”. One of the suncoast’s oldest party boat owners, Captain Hubbard, way back in the 50’s I think, coined the name gray snapper for the white grunt, “cause snapper sounds fancier than grunt”. So anytime you’re on a party boat in the mid Florida west coast area, you’re catching ‘gray snapper”. This smallish denizen of the Gulf rockpiles doesn’t get much respect from fishermen intent on wrestling grouper and snapper from their favorite holes…