queensland Sooty Grunter

[Benjamin gorge mchuges]

I am fairly new to lure fishing and was wondering 3 decent lures for chasing sooty grunter, Jp's and even silver perch? 

I was also wondering what setups do you use for sootys jp's etc.

Any advice would be appreciated!

-Ben 

[fenelious]

Hey Ben, Firstly don't bother targeting Silver Perch on lures. They will take the occasional lure, yes, but it will be an unusual occurence, unless they're really hungry. Target them with live baits such as worms etc. You might have success using natural scented soft plastics, but I'm only guessing there... Just use bait if you really want to catch them.

Sooty Grunters are fantastic for targeting with lures! They're aggressive and will hit all sorts of stuff. The lure you use will be more dependant on the type of water you're fishing than anything - based on depth, current flow, clarity, vegetation and 'cast-ability', and the naturally available food... Use any Bream type lure because Sootys don't have a large mouth like Bass, Barra or Cod. I've had good success using little bibbed hard bodies such as 'Atomic Hardz Crank 38 Deep', 'Daiwa Double Clutch (both 60s and 75s, not so little!)', and 'Ecogear CK40, and CX35+40'.

Jungle Perch are also awesome aggressive lure takers. Use the same lures as you would for Sootys, again dependant on your water type/location. JPs have a large mouth like a Bass, but they don't grow as big as Sootys or Bass. Again use those lure types designed and marketed as 'Bream lures'.

I have a reasonably extensive collection of lures that I've bought mainly for Bass, Trout, Bream and Flathead. Most of them are interchangeable amongst those different species, and the great thing is I don't need to buy any extra or different lures if I want to target Sootys or JP, but I'd stick to the smaller end of the size scale for Sootys and JP. Having said that, Barramundi often exist where you find Sootys, so you might want to hedge your bets and use a larger lure that'll catch both, because Sootys will take bigger lures too.

Re setups... sorry for sounding like a broken record, but your standard Bream/Bass spinning rig will be best. i.e. 1-3kg to 2-5kg spin rod with any reel from 1000 to 2500 size. Me, I don't have 10 different rod and reel combos for every litte application, some folks do. I basically have two spinning rigs in this size/weight range - a short rod and a long rod. If you want one rig to target Sootys and JP, then I'd get a 2-4kg, light tip, shortish length, fast action rod, with a fastish speed ratio 2500 reel (for quick retrieves in fast flowing water). You'd preferrably want a couple of different spools with a lighter line and a heavier line, but you could get away with having say 6-8lb braid, and changing between 6lb to 12lb leader, depending on the water/fish. And the great thing with this rig here is that you could use it for Bass, Bream, Trout, and Flathead etc. as well!

-Steve.

 

[Dinodadog]

Hey Steve the JPs grow bigger than bass,up at the Bribie hatchery they have hundreds over 60cm.

Dino

[Luc53]

Like bass, in places were food is plentiful, JP grow faster and larger than in their natural environment.

Imagine 23 or 30 thousand JPs in NPD!!

[Drop Bear]

On 27/03/2018 at 12:15 PM, fenelious said:

Hey Ben, Firstly don't bother targeting Silver Perch on lures. They will take the occasional lure, yes, but it will be an unusual occurence, unless they're really hungry. Target them with live baits such as worms etc. You might have success using natural scented soft plastics, but I'm only guessing there... Just use bait if you really want to catch them.

Sooty Grunters are fantastic for targeting with lures! They're aggressive and will hit all sorts of stuff. The lure you use will be more dependant on the type of water you're fishing than anything - based on depth, current flow, clarity, vegetation and 'cast-ability', and the naturally available food... Use any Bream type lure because Sootys don't have a large mouth like Bass, Barra or Cod. I've had good success using little bibbed hard bodies such as 'Atomic Hardz Crank 38 Deep', 'Daiwa Double Clutch (both 60s and 75s, not so little!)', and 'Ecogear CK40, and CX35+40'.

Jungle Perch are also awesome aggressive lure takers. Use the same lures as you would for Sootys, again dependant on your water type/location. JPs have a large mouth like a Bass, but they don't grow as big as Sootys or Bass. Again use those lure types designed and marketed as 'Bream lures'.

I have a reasonably extensive collection of lures that I've bought mainly for Bass, Trout, Bream and Flathead. Most of them are interchangeable amongst those different species, and the great thing is I don't need to buy any extra or different lures if I want to target Sootys or JP, but I'd stick to the smaller end of the size scale for Sootys and JP. Having said that, Barramundi often exist where you find Sootys, so you might want to hedge your bets and use a larger lure that'll catch both, because Sootys will take bigger lures too.

Re setups... sorry for sounding like a broken record, but your standard Bream/Bass spinning rig will be best. i.e. 1-3kg to 2-5kg spin rod with any reel from 1000 to 2500 size. Me, I don't have 10 different rod and reel combos for every litte application, some folks do. I basically have two spinning rigs in this size/weight range - a short rod and a long rod. If you want one rig to target Sootys and JP, then I'd get a 2-4kg, light tip, shortish length, fast action rod, with a fastish speed ratio 2500 reel (for quick retrieves in fast flowing water). You'd preferrably want a couple of different spools with a lighter line and a heavier line, but you could get away with having say 6-8lb braid, and changing between 6lb to 12lb leader, depending on the water/fish. And the great thing with this rig here is that you could use it for Bass, Bream, Trout, and Flathead etc. as well!

-Steve.

 

Good post! 

[AFO]

@fenelious helpful advice, thanks for posting

[fenelious]

18 hours ago, Dinodadog said:

Hey Steve the JPs grow bigger than bass,up at the Bribie hatchery they have hundreds over 60cm.

Dino

Wow, I didn't know that. The ones I've seen and caught in creeks way up North were all quite small. Not that I've had a great deal of experience fishing for them. Cheers Dino.

[Benjamin gorge mchuges]

On 27/03/2018 at 11:15 AM, fenelious said:

Hey Ben, Firstly don't bother targeting Silver Perch on lures. They will take the occasional lure, yes, but it will be an unusual occurence, unless they're really hungry. Target them with live baits such as worms etc. You might have success using natural scented soft plastics, but I'm only guessing there... Just use bait if you really want to catch them.

Sooty Grunters are fantastic for targeting with lures! They're aggressive and will hit all sorts of stuff. The lure you use will be more dependant on the type of water you're fishing than anything - based on depth, current flow, clarity, vegetation and 'cast-ability', and the naturally available food... Use any Bream type lure because Sootys don't have a large mouth like Bass, Barra or Cod. I've had good success using little bibbed hard bodies such as 'Atomic Hardz Crank 38 Deep', 'Daiwa Double Clutch (both 60s and 75s, not so little!)', and 'Ecogear CK40, and CX35+40'.

Jungle Perch are also awesome aggressive lure takers. Use the same lures as you would for Sootys, again dependant on your water type/location. JPs have a large mouth like a Bass, but they don't grow as big as Sootys or Bass. Again use those lure types designed and marketed as 'Bream lures'.

I have a reasonably extensive collection of lures that I've bought mainly for Bass, Trout, Bream and Flathead. Most of them are interchangeable amongst those different species, and the great thing is I don't need to buy any extra or different lures if I want to target Sootys or JP, but I'd stick to the smaller end of the size scale for Sootys and JP. Having said that, Barramundi often exist where you find Sootys, so you might want to hedge your bets and use a larger lure that'll catch both, because Sootys will take bigger lures too.

Re setups... sorry for sounding like a broken record, but your standard Bream/Bass spinning rig will be best. i.e. 1-3kg to 2-5kg spin rod with any reel from 1000 to 2500 size. Me, I don't have 10 different rod and reel combos for every litte application, some folks do. I basically have two spinning rigs in this size/weight range - a short rod and a long rod. If you want one rig to target Sootys and JP, then I'd get a 2-4kg, light tip, shortish length, fast action rod, with a fastish speed ratio 2500 reel (for quick retrieves in fast flowing water). You'd preferrably want a couple of different spools with a lighter line and a heavier line, but you could get away with having say 6-8lb braid, and changing between 6lb to 12lb leader, depending on the water/fish. And the great thing with this rig here is that you could use it for Bass, Bream, Trout, and Flathead etc. as well!

-Steve.

 

Thanks mate! In terms of setup's i have a 2-4kg 7 foot graphite rod which should be fine paired up with a 2500 size reel and 6 lb braid and 8 lb leader so looks like im setup for now. I went to my friends backyard stocked pound and managed to get 5 or so perch in a matter of an hour on this small hard body that i lost to a snag, cant remember its name but it was a 80mm rapala lure of some type maybe they were really hungry? Will defintley give the atomic hard crank a try and are there any other lure you could recommend to me maybe soft plastics, spinner bait? Not really sure what im doing but would they take a 2.5 inch natural looking paddle tail from zman? Thanks for your time and help.

-Benjamin

[fenelious]

2 hours ago, Benjamin gorge mchuges said:

Thanks mate! In terms of setup's i have a 2-4kg 7 foot graphite rod which should be fine paired up with a 2500 size reel and 6 lb braid and 8 lb leader so looks like im setup for now. I went to my friends backyard stocked pound and managed to get 5 or so perch in a matter of an hour on this small hard body that i lost to a snag, cant remember its name but it was a 80mm rapala lure of some type maybe they were really hungry? Will defintley give the atomic hard crank a try and are there any other lure you could recommend to me maybe soft plastics, spinner bait? Not really sure what im doing but would they take a 2.5 inch natural looking paddle tail from zman? Thanks for your time and help.

-Benjamin

Oh nice work! The fish will behave a little differently when they're packed into a small dam, so maybe that's why the hardbody was effective. Or perhaps it was immitating a food source.

Yeah soft plastics are very effective on just about any species, and that one you describe sounds on the money. Spinnerbaits are very good for any native freshwater top predator... not ideal for Silver Perch.

[tiotony]

My experience with JP's is the lure type isnt so important as the presentation - JP creeks here in Cairns are generally shallow and super clear and its all about not being seen and spooking the fish. If you are not seen and get a good cast in where fish are holding then they generally boof a hardbody as soon as it lands on the surface, no matter the size/ colour/ pattern. So this is generally very long casts from where the fish can't see you; you will see plenty of this in videos on youtube, where you will see people using anything from tiny poppers to 4 inch paddletail plastics and doing long casts into fish holding water.

This changes when monsoons make creeks run high and discoloured and the JP's get less shy; I was fishing for tillies with earthworms a week ago before the serious rain hit, and was getting one JP after another (and a couple of silver grunter) - they were smashing the earthworm every time I was retreiving to check my bait.

The absolute biggest JP's I see in local creeks are about 50cm (usually in the deeper pools higher up the creeks - take a walk up Crystal Cascades or Stony creek at the back of Cairns and you will see plenty of 50cm fish) but they obviously get bigger - some of the JP's on display at the new aquarium in Cairns are absolute beasts. 

If using the usual little hardbodies for JP's, suggest changing the trebles for single hooks - the sneak/ long cast method above generally results in the lure being inhaled and it makes an absolute mess of them trying to get the trebles out. I've never kept a JP to eat as we are very lucky that they are still common here in the far north whereas they are unicorn fish in SEQ, so nice to keep the damage to them to a minimum.

I have far less experience with the various grunters (sooty/ silver/ coal/ khaki), and have caught far more on bait than lures, however they don't seem to be too fussy lure wise either - as mentioned by someone else they do have quite a small mouth.

Creek fishing I just use your standard 2kg bream SP type setup, although years ago when I used to fish Tinaroo I have been busted up phenomenally many times by the big football shaped sootys in there - the initial hit and run for cover feels like a metre barra!    

 

[AFO]

Great tips @tiotony

[Benjamin gorge mchuges]

On 30 March 2018 at 5:33 AM, tiotony said:

My experience with JP's is the lure type isnt so important as the presentation - JP creeks here in Cairns are generally shallow and super clear and its all about not being seen and spooking the fish. If you are not seen and get a good cast in where fish are holding then they generally boof a hardbody as soon as it lands on the surface, no matter the size/ colour/ pattern. So this is generally very long casts from where the fish can't see you; you will see plenty of this in videos on youtube, where you will see people using anything from tiny poppers to 4 inch paddletail plastics and doing long casts into fish holding water.

This changes when monsoons make creeks run high and discoloured and the JP's get less shy; I was fishing for tillies with earthworms a week ago before the serious rain hit, and was getting one JP after another (and a couple of silver grunter) - they were smashing the earthworm every time I was retreiving to check my bait.

The absolute biggest JP's I see in local creeks are about 50cm (usually in the deeper pools higher up the creeks - take a walk up Crystal Cascades or Stony creek at the back of Cairns and you will see plenty of 50cm fish) but they obviously get bigger - some of the JP's on display at the new aquarium in Cairns are absolute beasts. 

If using the usual little hardbodies for JP's, suggest changing the trebles for single hooks - the sneak/ long cast method above generally results in the lure being inhaled and it makes an absolute mess of them trying to get the trebles out. I've never kept a JP to eat as we are very lucky that they are still common here in the far north whereas they are unicorn fish in SEQ, so nice to keep the damage to them to a minimum.

I have far less experience with the various grunters (sooty/ silver/ coal/ khaki), and have caught far more on bait than lures, however they don't seem to be too fussy lure wise either - as mentioned by someone else they do have quite a small mouth.

Creek fishing I just use your standard 2kg bream SP type setup, although years ago when I used to fish Tinaroo I have been busted up phenomenally many times by the big football shaped sootys in there - the initial hit and run for cover feels like a metre barra!    

 

thanks mate this is all very usefull infomation for a ametuar like me! thanks for your time and effort!