Groper

[kingleatherjacket]

What is the best bait for groper in sydney.

Thanks

[Ray R]

Without any doubt it is the Red Rock Crab, find them along the weedy rock pool edges, the little weed covered cracks and crevaces right on the edge as well , definately only when the swell is very small and the tide on the low side, you can catch them with your hand , use a glove of some kind and run your hand along the cracks and the edges of the weedy covered pools. You MUST ALWAYS WATCH THE WATER , BECAUSE YOU ARE USUALLY RIGHT ON THE EDGE..

Cheers..

[kingleatherjacket]

Without any doubt it is the Red Rock Crab, find them along the weedy rock pool edges, the little weed covered cracks and crevaces right on the edge as well , definately only when the swell is very small and the tide on the low side, you can catch them with your hand , use a glove of some kind and run your hand along the cracks and the edges of the weedy covered pools. You MUST ALWAYS WATCH THE WATER , BECAUSE YOU ARE USUALLY RIGHT ON THE EDGE..

Cheers..

Thanks, Will they take any other bait besides crabs

[Hodgey]

Groper will also take baits of shellfish, cunjevoi (popular down here with the rock fishos), squid and cuttlefish, but the best bait is as stated by Ray .... Red Rock Crab

Hodgey

[brickman]

just alittle tip cut the crab in half remove two legs[two furthest apart]hook goes in one hole and out the uther

then use one off the middle legs and a half hitch to hold the leg up the line killer rig for gropper

cherrs gary

[diver1]

royal red prawns are gr8 also.

[A.dawg]

Groper are like little kids you give them all the junkfood they want and veges How often do they choose veges these red rock crabs are unresistable for groper but if you cant get your hands on them best other option is:

1 Black crabs if u cant get these which i hav no trouble getting then

2 Royal red prawns as metioned above

3 squid strips sometimes tempt them but havnt got one on it get nor cunjevoi school off groper right under me they didn't take cunjevoi why do people say its a good bait for groper but when i get half a red rock down there they killed it like theres no tomorrow and boy do they fight hard.....

[dreaflym]

I caught groper on cunji, prawn, and crabs. I believe the reason you don't catch groper on prawn or cunji often is they will get nibble off by small fishes before the big groper even sees it. So yea...crab is the way to go for big groper as it stays on your hook longer. among all sorts crabs, red rock crab is definitely the go. But some of them I caught are so huge. I still have problem putting them on...lol. Cutting them in half will attract groper as the smell sprays around. But it will also atrract all other rabbish fishes come to have nibbles. So I don't suggest that. Just wack the whole crab down and make sure you pull hard on them. tight your drag and just pull!!!

[jlloyd]

Just remember that large areas of sydney harbour in particular are intertidal no go zones for collecting bait. Have seen a few people stung for exactly that around Manly

[tide'n'knots]

If the groper are a bit shy and wont bite try getting a piece of ribbon weed and half hitch it just above the crab and let a small part of it hang slightly over the crab then half hitch the top of the ribbon weed up your line. the crab will look like it is hanging on to a piece of weed floating in the wash and the groper dont suspect that there is a hook attatched !!!A brown coloured hook will hide better in the crab and usually work better than a silver hook. A small oo ball sinker right on the hook should be sufficient in most cases and let the bait float as naturally as possible in the wash.

use heavy line, lock up your drag to your absolute braking strain and hold on because when they hit , they usually hit hard. if you can survive their initial run they usually turn and come in fairly easy after that.

Dont be fooled into thinking that small bites are pickers either they can sometimes bite very tentitivly.

Good luck.

Pete.