In case you had not noticed, the shopping, turkey and ham season is well and truly upon us and, with the added excitement and distraction of an election, will probably put most weekenders’ boats out on their moorings for the duration. Either that or they will be hauled up and put back on blocks in someone’s yard where they will weather the winter gales more safely.It is fair to say that there won’t be much sport fishing effort over the next few months due both to the winter weather and the need to be doing other things elsewhere.By all accounts, the offshore scene continues to be slow with very little in the way of wahoo, tuna or other game fish figuring in anyone’s catches. Most of the commercial fishermen are concentrating on lobsters and those that do some hook and line work are primarily bottom fishing.Most of the latter catches consist of mixed bags of hinds, coneys, barbers and a few floating fish.The floating fish is an old term that was applied to most members of the jack family in that it was believed that they “floated” from place to place rather than taking up residence in any particular reef. Not surprisingly, it has now been learned that even the biggest groupers move quite handily from point to point and, indeed, undertake some rather impressive migrations.Chief among the floaters for commercial purposes are the amberjack and bonitas (actually the Almaco jack elsewhere but bonitas “here” for ever). They attain large sizes, sometimes going over the hundred pound mark (at least for the amber) but are more commonly caught in the eight to 20 pound range.Given that they usually travel in schools in their small to medium size range, it is possible to catch large numbers of them in a short while and to considerably boost the total weight of the catch. Larger specimens often occur in pairs or trios, so if you happen to catch a decent one, do go back and see if the other is willing to please as well.There are other “floaters” as well that figure in the mix: these include the gwelly and the lesser amberjack. The gwelly is an odd member of the jack family that only occurs in a few places but is a fish that has always figured in the Bermuda catch. It had a bit of a market share although was not really in a class with the amberjack or bonita. For some unknown reason, they are more common during the autumn and winter than in the spring/summer, so even anglers bouncing the bottom during the regular season are unlikely to encounter them.The lesser, or bastard, amberjack as locals sometimes know it are very similar to the regular amber but can be distinguished by a larger eye, presumably because it tends to prefer somewhat deeper waters rather than the true reef areas. It boasts a slimmer body and does not attain the large size that amberjack do. Most fish are in the four to 10-pound range, which also makes them attractive to the commercial market.The real kings of the bottom for the commercial operators were the groupers. Contrary to what some people say, none of us will ever see the groupers come off the Banks the way they did back in the heyday of fishing. Numbers were huge and the size of the fish was impressive. In fact, things were so good, that red hinds were considered so secondary that they were often disposed of by tossing them overboard.Red rockfish (aka prince or princess), gag groupers, flag or monkey rockfish, runner or black rockfish, Nassau groupers, red groupers (deer hamlets) everything had multiple names all made for what would be considered a spectacular catch by any angler or fisherman working the bottom today.In more recent years say about 25 or 30 years ago the deep water vertical lining caught a large number of misty groupers which also had the moniker of John Paw. Although they were indeed large groupers, often bettering the hundred pound mark, they were not particularly tasty and were by no means a favourite of restaurants or supermarkets.Anyone looking at old pictures will see fishermen carrying numbers of large groupers (all 20 pounds plus) hanging from an oar. These would be gutted and, for many years, were dressed up by being “fleed” or having the scales and flesh beneath removed with a knife, leaving a shiny white skin. It would be nothing to see several hundred pounds of fish hanging off an oar.When looking at such pictures remember that refrigeration was not an option in those days and the fish pictured were intended for market and quick sale. Whether caught on line or in pots, most fish were held in the girt live wells boats had in those days or they were transferred to the various fish ponds that were located all around the Island.In more recent years, the red hind was the queen of the bottom fishery with the day’s success measured in the number and weight of hinds that were in the fish box. Alongside the hinds were the coneys, which although a true grouper were once rated as way too small to be of any use. As the numbers of hinds started to dwindle, they took their place as the preferred catch along with the similar sized barber which, despite its looks, is also a grouper. Not only are they about a pound in weight, like the coney, they all seem to be alike as alike as peas in a pod.A good day’s working of the bottom now will see a lot more lesser fish mixed in with the coneys, barbers and odd hind. Turbots (actually triggerfish) often feature and although they do produce a nice firm white fillet, they are the devil to clean. One way or another, it is possible to come up with enough white fillets to justify the effort but it is unlikely that there will be too much excitement unless some of the floating fish show up.A real bonus would be a monkey or flag rockfish. These tend to hang above the bottom, some 10 feet or so and snatch, rather than pull, at baits. A single anchovy on a top hook often gets their attention although just how many there are left out there is anybody’s guess. Catching one really would be a feather in your cap, providing, of course, that you recognise just what it is that, as a bottom fish, has given you some rather Tight lines!!