OK,

Now I'm confused. The Buttermouth that I used to catch were a medium brown with very light vertical strips down their back of light yellow. The lips were very pronounced in that they were very yellow hence the name Buttermouth.

I used to catch them around pilings and rocky areas while primarily fishing for Opaleye and Sargo. I used mussels, and little black crabs as bait. For Opaleye, green peas worked really well. Piling Perch were a really nice treat as they fought like hell and were good pan fry as well.

If my memory is somewhat correct, I used very small hooks. Size #10 with a small split shot that I would let drift between the pilings.

My basic rig was a light spinner outfit loaded with 8 # test. It was a blast.

Speed on the retrieve was important because if you hesitated,they would wrap around the pilings and that was it.

Sorry to ramble. Happy Labor Day!!

Aztecwin