The Spotted Grunter commonly known as a Spotty can be found in shallow coastal waters. They frequently inhabit estuaries and lagoons along the sand and mud banks. They can reach 80cm but average about 40cm. Their preferred natural diet consists of mud prawn, sand prawn, worms and crabs. Normal baits used for catching Spotted Grunter are pilchard but the best seems to be fresh sand prawn or mud prawn on a drift line setup.
To target Spotted Grunter in rivers on dropshot using light tackle you will need a 6ft to 8ft spinning rod and reel. Your main braided line should be about 14lb with a light fluorocarbon leader of about 8lb.
Dropshop baits to use are the Berkley 2? Camo Worm, New Penny Shrimp and also small Jerk Shads that can mimic a prawn. There is also a new Cargo Worm soft bait on the market from Slam. I always try to use natural colors although I have seen a Spotted Grunter caught on a neon pink fluke lure. The Berkley baits work well as they are scented and the Slam baits have Ultrabite pheromones both of which help tempt the fish into striking the bait.
The retrieve used is very important. With the shrimp and worm soft baits you can retrieve very slowly on the bottom. If you are drifting from a boat or kayak just cast the soft bait out and let it drift along the bottom. The jerk shads can be retrieved a little quicker in short bursts, then pause and more short bursts to mimic a quick moving shrimp or prawn.
If you arrive at the mud banks early sunrise you will see Spotted Grunter tailing while they are feeding along the banks. I find a kayak very useful for these situations. You can then see where they are tailing and paddle closer. Once you see the tail again cast your lure just over that spot and pull it back through the puff of muddy water. The Spotty should see and smell the soft bait and you will hopefully have a fish on. They are extremely strong fighters so great fun on a light dropshot rod.
Please remember to stick to the regulations. You are allowed to keep five Spotted Grunter per day at a minimum length of 40cm each.
Article compliments of Fishing the Eastern Cape
