Chasing Big Groper

[jdi]

whats going on guys. i love to hit up the entrance with my good mate for a nice long 14 hour fishing session whenever we both can get time off work on the weekend, whenever we go we have a crazy time. we have a few secret spots - our favorite spot which always produces for us, albeit not so great sometimes but hey cant complain!

anyway just some info

-rock near the shore, lots of rocky structure

-no swell/breaks/not a dangerous spot, simply a rock on the edge of a beach you can walk to and cross the water to

-reef like structure around, some seaweed, lots of rock structure.

-water is very clear, seems quite deep (3-6meters in some spots)

now theres this fat elusive blue groper. hes a big one. i've hooked him up twice and lured him out. the story is that we were sitting on our rock, its a few meters out of the water and you can drop the bait straight down and see the fish going for the bait and swimming around it. very visual fishing

we saw something huge come out and take a swallow my prawn, it was at least a meter long, fat and blue - i went crazy and got completely steamrolled by this fish. i had 8pound braid and this fish is about 1.2meters long. it didnt even spook the fish, it just swam away all chilled.

second run it, same thing on 8lb again.. different day though

third run, same thing on 12lb but this time on a tiny blade lure, i RIPPED my lure out of the water (i was just playing with the little bait fish and cool looking small ones where i could see them when this huge groper came out of nowhere and went for it) the blade flew right out of the water, i wasnt losing a lure to that fish

anyway im going back prepared this time. i have a 8-10kg rod with 20lb mono on it but im afraid im either going to get pulled in by this fish or i still will just get bricked by it. is 20lb mono strong enough? keep in mind it can swim UNDER the rock im fishing off and theres plenty of structure around.

also i was told that catching fresh crab with a fork tied to a stick then putting it on a 4/0 hook and dropped it to the bottom would hook me up to a groper immediately?

i can borrow a stronger rod from my cousins, they have many, many rods.. i just want to be prepared.

that fish is always there, i want to catch it. i think ill put him back though. i dont know what im going to do with a 20kg blue groper if i keep it :\

[fisherman1994]

Hi mate im not too sure about rock fishing or catching grouper but i can tell you now that if it were me id be going at least 30pound like, but more likely 50 pound.

JB

[bass_beginner]

ok jdi most of my experience off the stones is to do with pigs but ive done a fair share on groper as well my suggestion u wont get him out at that size ive seen guys using tiagra 30s with 6foot stoker get done hahahah but if ur serious about getting this bad boy out of there or any groper out of ne hole and trust me if theres one there there will be more u will need.....

A decent fibreglass or supergraph rod i say this because graphite will shatter under the load you have to keep your rod tip high when you hook up and this cant be done with graphite supergraph and fibreglass are yiour option....if your going fibreglass something 7wrap or higher is my suggestion i npersonally use a 9' 9wrap butterworth rod the shorter rod means i stop the fish alot quicker and a 9w fibreglass rod has some stopping power...supergraph well ur looking at needing something thats rated round the 40-50lb mark this should do the job rod wise

Reel wise im not sure if youve used alverys before but they are a good ioption for fishing off the rocks simple, tough and the drag is calle ur hand stopping the spool it pretty much turns ur rod into a winch...i use a 7inch alvey spooled with 50lb platypus lostretch monofilament mono off the rocks for big pigs and groper only way to go the shock to the line will pop braid clean offf if your planning on using a spinning reel good luck i hope for your sake you have sumthing high like a 14000 - 20000 size reel thats pulling some serious kilos of drag and ur still gonna struggle you dont have to worry bout line capacity if youre gonna get this fish the fight will be over in 30 secs to a minute he willhave done u or u will have done him it really is that damn simple

hookwise you prolly wanna be using a 1/0 or 2/0 double strength hook i use gamaskatsu cos i have faith in their holoks for this stuff however black magic and mustad also are good option but it has to be doub le strength these guys bust up urchins and crabs for a feed they will bust hooks

rig is very simple small ball sinker just enuff to be able to cast if you can go unweighted even better it gives are more natural wash

berley is a good option my personal mixture is bread sand and water mixed in a bucket and burley up every so often

baits red rock crab are my personal favourite but ne crab will do sea urchins i love as a bait ummm ab gut which is banned atm from memory umm chicken gut prawns and even the burkley soft plastic crabs ive got hits on before..

I hope this has been a help to you and i hope you get and at least give a good account of yourself bear in mind this guy will go hard he will hurt u u will prolly want a belt on so you can busy the rod hard intoyou for leverage and this rod will have to be your hands on rod cos he will sned ur rod to the bottom so quick if you let it go...all the best tight lines and lemme know how you go

[fishy]

Go the 9 wrap, 7 inch Alvey, 70-80lb Shnieder with a red rock crap and smashed up urchins for burley.

Wait till you see the Blue in the burley, get your fishing mate to get hold of you, drop the crab in front of him, and lock up on hook up. If you let go of the handle it will spin round and smash up your hands.

Getting these fish is a brutal battle. All over very quickly, one way or the other.

[marley]

Fishythings advice is spot on - they are great fun but HOLD ON.. the only thing I would add is I have been shown to fish for them on low tide and on a calm day - this way you can collect your urchins and stand at the waters edge with relative safety

gav

[martymonsta]

If you are going to attempt to catch this resident blue, get someone to film you while you hook up, post it up on YouTube and we can all see what happens

[Ray R]

G'day mate, My groper equipment is an 8 wrap snyder 10 foot rod, alvey 650c 50lb mono, 5/0 up to 7/0 double strength hooks, catch yourself some red crabs and grab a few sea urchins and big barnicle things.

The urcins and big barnicles get smashed up under your feet and kick little bits in the area you are fishing.

With the crabs, cut the first couple of baits into halves this gets the groper excited and they start to come around sniffing and chomping, then after this start putting your crabs on whole, then wait and hang on.

The groper will usually hit the whole crab twice , you will feel big thuds on your line, then he will mouth it and start to swim back to his whole, this is when you strike and hold on , give it no drag and keep the pressure on. The battle will be short , either he will break your line, bend your hook, or rip you under a n encrusted rock and it's all over, or you will get him into mid water and then up to the edge, and if he is big the hardest part then is trying to lift him up onto the rocks. If you do return him try to be gentle with the big fella and dont let him thrash on the hot dry rocks , try to get it into a shallow pool for some pics and recovery. I will put up a pics of the red crabs and one of my released big blues from a while ago..

Edited September 10, 2009 by Ray R

[diver1]

at least 40 to 50 pound mono.

[andrew399]

Thats a nice fish Rayr! I bet that put up a good tussle!