Species – Javelin fish (AKA barred and silver grunter)

{{+1}}Species – Javelin fish (AKA barred and silver grunter){{-1}}

Before we go too far I just want to put it out there that this post is just a reflection of part of my fly fishing journey. Don't take it as gospel but do feel free to use it as a foundation in developing your own abilities to catch a fish on fly ... in this case grunter.

The original of this post was written in 2014 when I first started to occasionally catch grunter as a by-catch when fishing in the Boyne River and Gladstone Harbour and

it was only when in September 2019 the Boyne Tanium HookUp agreed to add grunter as a fly species for the 2020 HookUp that I started to consider in more detail how to best catch grunter on fly.

Since then I have been actively targeting grunter, reading as much as I can about how to catch grunter, their life cycle, where they are located at different times of the year, what they eat and any other information I can find.

I have also been looking at information about targeting grunter on dead and live bait, soft plastics and lures as that often also helps in working out a fly fishing plan.

The information on my early by-catches of grunter as well as the inquires above have all added to the information in this post which is definitely only a work-in-progress report, one that I look forward to finessing as my encounters with grunter develop.

IDENTIFICATION

(Pomadasys argenteus) Commonly referred to as Javelin fish (AKA barred grunter and silver grunter).

Minimum size limit is 40cm and possession limit is 10

Minimum size is limit 30cm and possession limit is 10

Barred and silver grunter are often by-catches when fly, bait, lure and soft plastic fishers, are targeting barramundi and mangrove jack in Central Queensland waters. They are apparently a great eating fish but my preference remains to treat them as a sport fish and catch them and release them to fight another day.

They often make a grunting noise when taken from the water and whilst bream shaped, they have a much squarer tail with no outward curve or fork.

As the name implies barred grunter have more obvious spots in a barred configuration along their body whereas silver grunter have a bright silver body and often small distinguishable scale spots generally on the their upper body.

Common sizes encountered around Central Queensland are around the 30-50 cm range but the occasional bigger fish to 60 to 80 cm or 4 to 5 lb specimens show up.

They are a gregarious fish and hang out in age cohorts or schools so if you catch one there are likely to be plenty of similar sized fish in the same location.

RANGE & HABITAT

Grunter are endemic in all our Australian coastal waters north of Brisbane.

Around Gladstone consider targeting grunter in the coastal rivers such as the Calliope River, South Trees Inlet and the Boyne River, in the harbour and local estuary bays like Colosseum and 7 mile and their backwaters and around the shipping channel markers and navigation pylons just outside the south entrance to the harbour. Moving a little further away the Narrows and Turkey Beach as certainly good options when it comes to finding grunter.

On a wider geographic scale grunter generally favour shallow estuary systems and open bays particularly places where there are deeper holes with gravel bottoms.

BEST TIMES

The effects of the moon is a key elements in relation to bite windows

As a rule of thumb with other conditions remaining the same:

The best time to fish for grunter, and most fish, is the first 7 days of the new moon.
There seems to be a significant bite windows as the moon either comes up during the night or becomes visible after sunset.
Once it’s dark if the moon is not up it’s not worth fishing for grunter.
Alternatively, if the moon is up throughout the dark with other conditions remaining the same there is generally a fairly big bite window a few hours after the sun sets.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

As you work through this post you will realise that a good strategy, particularly if you have a low tide around dawn or dusk, is to fish the last two hours of the falling tide and the first two hours of the rising tide.

As for all fishing the time just before and after sunset and dawn can be a significant time for a bite window.
Generally grunter are most active when the tide is rising and on the ebb of the rising tide. Keep in mind however that once the tide inundates mangroves grunter have a tendency of moving too deep into the root systems to be able to be targeted on fly. Keep in mind that when the tide changes grunter have to retreat from the mangroves and for the early part of the falling tide become good targets on fly.
As the falling tide progresses grunter retreat to holes close to where they were feeding but there often not accessible on fly there because of depth of the holes and the increasing run of the tide.
Fish tend to school up in deeper pockets in rivers particularly during rising tides.
Whilst active during the day, because grunter have eyes that are adapted to seeing in the night, the best fishing for grunter can be in the dark.

TECHNIQUES

One of the early things I worked out about grunter was that they are bottom scroungers that target prawns and shrimp, crabs, small fish, molluscs and worms and if you want to consistently catch grunter you need to set you gear up in a way that gets your flies down to the bottom imitating those menu items, where the fish feed.

Another thing I know for sure is that an average size 40 cm grunter is a powerhouse and once hooked it's first intention will be to get into cover ... they fight well above their size.

The gear I use for grunter reflects both those factors with the rod of my choice being #10 weight but my tippet of choice being just 20lb fluorocarbon. Grunter can be very soft biters and like a bream if they feel that something is not right they will just drop the fly. My 20lb tippet is a compromise because I have no doubt that a lighter tippet would lead to more hook ups but unfortunately a lighter tippet would also lead to more break off's. My tippet is attached, with a surgeons knot, to a similar length of 30lb butt section of Maxima Ultragreen which gives a total leader length the same length as my fly rod. As grunter are bottom scroungers that leader configuration and fly rod selection helps turn over the heavy flies that are needed to get down to where grunter are feeding. If your not regularly touching the bottom on your retrieve your not down deep enough.

Getting the fly to the bottom and keeping them there is not easy. In shallower and slower water up to say 3 meters deep an intermediate line is a good option but if you can get away with a sink tip line and still jump a fly along the bottom all the better. In faster or deeper water don't be surprised if you need full fast sink line or even a fast sink shooting head.

The retrieve that I find works best for grunter involves basically jumping your fly along the bottom in small increments. You can achieve that with short strips punctuated with a plenty of pauses (that's a little like fishing soft plastics to bream) or by twitching the rod tip and then retrieving the slack line (a little like jerk baiting when fishing on the dark side with hard bodied lures). In any case so make sure you punctuate your retrieve with pauses that are long enough to allow the fly to fully settle on the bottom so that grunter can pick it up without feeling to much resistance. Takes are generally hard and fast and can occur at any time during the retrieve with a lot of takes occurring when the fly is paused between strips.

FLY SELECTION

Given that grunter are bottom feeders that live on a diet of prawns and shrimp, crabs, small fish, molluscs and worms it’s not surprising that the best of flies for grunter are representations of prawns, shrimps and crabs preferably tied on solid #2/0 hooks. Traditional flies such as clouser minnows can work for grunter as a bait fish imitation but, the money and, my preferences are strongly loaded in favour of prawn, shrimp and crab imitations.