Brian fishes the backcountry, the flats and the patch reefs out of Key Largo. Keeper-size gag and black grouper sit on deep structure further out, on a boat built to hold over it and winch fish up out of it.
Grouper fishing is a tackle problem before it is a fish problem. A grouper's whole strategy is to bury itself in structure the second it feels pressure, so you need heavy gear, a boat that can hold position over a wreck, and enough freeboard to work it. None of that describes a 25 foot bay boat, and Brian will tell you that rather than take the deposit.
Key Largo's patch reefs hold mangrove snapper year round and they are excellent eating, caught on light tackle in water you can see the bottom of. That is a real trip and Brian runs it constantly. It is just not a grouper trip.
The Poppa Wahoo Collective, the Epsteins' Islamorada fleet, fishes gag grouper and mutton snapper on deep structure out of Three Waters Resort Marina, twenty minutes south on US-1. Their grouper page is here. Seasons are set by FWC and the captain will tell you what is open on your dates.
Captain Key Largo is part of the collective. Brian is not sending you to a competitor, he is sending you to his own family's boat, because that is the one that can actually do the job.
That depends on FWC season windows and size limits, which move. Whichever boat you fish, the captain tells you what is legal on the day.
Not the deep structure fishing. He runs patch reefs for mangrove snapper, which is a different and very good trip.
The family's Islamorada fleet, two Hatteras sportfishers out of Three Waters Resort Marina.
Same family. Captain Key Largo is part of The Poppa Wahoo Collective.
Captain Key Largo runs the backcountry, the flats and the reef out of Key Largo. The Poppa Wahoo Collective runs the offshore fleet out of Islamorada. Brian will put you on whichever one fits the trip.