vinflattie Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 mate, i am very interested in groper fishing. do you have any secrets to share with us? i have been using 80lb fireline, snapper sinker and mustad 5/0 (double) hooks to target gropers, my main bait is red rock crab, cunjovi and king prawns, sometimes i berley with sea-urchins. however, the gropers I caught were all 5kg under, same goes for my mates. Other groper fishermen often pull 10 kg+ gropers but we have never had such success. Is there any way to target gropers in bigger size or is this just purely a matter of luck? when u say we gotta make sure the bait is well presented, can u be more specific? do u run ur hook thru the legs or thru the case? thanks heaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockHoppin Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 mate, i am very interested in groper fishing. do you have any secrets to share with us? i have been using 80lb fireline, snapper sinker and mustad 5/0 (double) hooks to target gropers, my main bait is red rock crab, cunjovi and king prawns, sometimes i berley with sea-urchins. however, the gropers I caught were all 5kg under, same goes for my mates. Other groper fishermen often pull 10 kg+ gropers but we have never had such success. Is there any way to target gropers in bigger size or is this just purely a matter of luck? when u say we gotta make sure the bait is well presented, can u be more specific? do u run ur hook thru the legs or thru the case? thanks heaps. mate going by what you just said it seems you're doing everything right. Red rock crabs are definitely the #1 bait and you're getting them so no problems there. Urchins are the #1 burley and u got that covered too. Maybe the area ur fishing is overfished?? Id ditch the snapper lead and go with a light running sinker - depending on swell. We generally only fish calm flat seas for groper which makes this style of fishing easier - the fish are usually right at ur feet. Again, Id go 24kg tortue...80lb is crazy IMO...still thats just personal preference but i cant see how u can cast 80lb very far if thats what ur trying to do? Another thing, fireline aint the best in the heavier line classes so ill ditch that in favour of tortue. As for the bait, i thread it through the 2nd leg from the back and push it towards the claws. hook point is supposed to come out through the gut section and be a little exposed (3 ormm or so) and I use a 4/0 big gun rather than a 5/0. If ur getting the smaller browns then the bigger blue will be there too...if not, keep moving around..if there are any big blues around they will take your bait first...no doubt about that! Look for ledges covered in barnacles, etc that drop straight into deepish looking water....its only a matter of time mate. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylo Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 What a great read - these are great looking fish and probably even better for the dining table I have seen one of these swimming at my feet and almost got a heart attack - they are just monstrous ! If you could just enlighten us - how big were the crabs you were using as bait ? Are these the suckers that you see run around the rocks at low tide ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinflattie Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 i personally prefer medium sized ones. some of them grow up to size of my fist but i find them very hard to use. it will be pretty difficult to fit them decently on my hooks. however, my mate tried once using a huge crab and guess what happened. it got a sudden strong bite and he lost his 3.6m shimano rod and reel. the rod sank down to the bottom of the sea like there is no tomorrow. yes, they r those red brownish colour suckers running around the rocks near low tide, u can easily capture them if u go at the right time. cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockHoppin Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 What a great read - these are great looking fish and probably even better for the dining table I have seen one of these swimming at my feet and almost got a heart attack - they are just monstrous ! If you could just enlighten us - how big were the crabs you were using as bait ? Are these the suckers that you see run around the rocks at low tide ? Thanks mate red crabs can either be baited in segments or ideally put on whole. They are usually around 8-10cm including the legs. they're found at low tide near the waters edge - thus making it a little risky gathering them in any kind of swell. The black crabs that live a little further up from the water are still good for bait but i find the red crabs get hit harder when baited whole. Black crabs are better in segments i reckon...they make a nice stinky fresh bait that sit well on the hook. Dont be surprised if you catch a few stud bream using this technique as well as drummer - which are both a big no show on the 20kg line...Anyways, try a full crab for starters and move if 1 spot doesnt fire in the 1st 15 minutes. p,s 10 crabs per session is the limit...nothing worse than going back to find a ledge has been thrashed of all life.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 thats a very nice groper, good work! i bet that wouldve fought hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dengeez Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Nice catch boys and well within your rights of taking him home. Once again well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinflattie Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 mate going by what you just said it seems you're doing everything right. Red rock crabs are definitely the #1 bait and you're getting them so no problems there. Urchins are the #1 burley and u got that covered too. Maybe the area ur fishing is overfished?? Id ditch the snapper lead and go with a light running sinker - depending on swell. We generally only fish calm flat seas for groper which makes this style of fishing easier - the fish are usually right at ur feet. Again, Id go 24kg tortue...80lb is crazy IMO...still thats just personal preference but i cant see how u can cast 80lb very far if thats what ur trying to do? Another thing, fireline aint the best in the heavier line classes so ill ditch that in favour of tortue. As for the bait, i thread it through the 2nd leg from the back and push it towards the claws. hook point is supposed to come out through the gut section and be a little exposed (3 ormm or so) and I use a 4/0 big gun rather than a 5/0. If ur getting the smaller browns then the bigger blue will be there too...if not, keep moving around..if there are any big blues around they will take your bait first...no doubt about that! Look for ledges covered in barnacles, etc that drop straight into deepish looking water....its only a matter of time mate. Cheers thanks Rockhoppin, although the weather is not perfect this weekend, but me and my mates have decided to give groper fishing another try. i will take ur advice and hopefully we will get a blue one?! ps. if u r interested, maybe we can go fishing together after my exams, i will supply the red rock crabs and u teach me some serious techniques.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now