{"id":12792,"date":"2021-04-08T11:08:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T09:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=12792"},"modified":"2021-04-08T11:08:29","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T09:08:29","slug":"catching-breede-grunter-on-live-mudprawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=12792","title":{"rendered":"Catching Breede grunter on live mudprawn"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While we were on the Breede river last week I decided to try some different approaches to catching grunter. We were there over a neap tide, so the currents weren\u2019t particularly strong and the water was quite clear and warm.<\/p>\n

I was there to target grunter on topwater lures, but that type of fishing was mostly limited to the period around high tide. This left some hours during the day to try some other techniques.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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I decided to pump some fresh mudprawn and figure out the most productive method of fishing these tasty tit bits for spotted grunter.<\/p>\n

I chatted to some of the local bait anglers and they told me that the fishing was very slow. They were spending a lot of time sitting at anchor with fresh mud prawn baits out and were getting very little action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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I gave it all some thought and came to the conclusion that I must rig the prawns live and present them to the fish in the most natural possible way. I used my lightest rig, a Penn Allegiance 3 medium action spinning rod, with a Penn Clash 2000 reel, loaded with 15lb Spider Wire Stealth Smooth braid and a leader of 10lb fluorocarbon. I rigged the prawns on a small circle hook, putting the hook through the hard part of the head carapace, which doesn\u2019t impair the prawn at all. I wasn\u2019t using a swivel, so I clamped a small piece of split shot to my line, about 40cm away from the hook. I decided that the most natural presentation of the prawn would be if we were drifting with the current as opposed to sitting at anchor. That way the prawn would drift along the bottom at the same speed as the current, like a live prawn outside of its burrow would.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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This worked well until the wind picked up. Once the wind blew, it pushed the boat and changed our drift. I found myself thinking about a heavier weight but wasn\u2019t keen to go heavier as this would drag more on the bottom and hinder the prawn\u2019s natural action in the water.<\/p>\n

I decided to deploy the canvas drift anchor in order to minimize the wind\u2019s effect on us. This worked really well. It straightened our drift and slowed it to the same speed as the current. The original weight now got the prawn down easily again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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I was only flicking the prawn a few meters away, then pulling some line off the spool and feeding it out, so that the bait was drifting about 20m down current of us. I couldn\u2019t try for a longer cast, as the prawn would then fly off the hook.<\/p>\n

I was very pleased to land a few nice grunter – along with a few little guys. They would just suck the prawn in and swim off. I had the reel drag set as light as it could go without the spool coming off the reel shaft. The line would start peeling off quickly and I would just tighten up the drag and the fish would be hooked. I felt that the technique was working well, particularly in comparison to the results that the guys sitting at anchor were getting at the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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It was pretty relaxing, and a fine way to pass the time that was not ideal for lure fishing. I am definitely going to do some more of that sort of fishing during the down times on estuaries, it was plenty of fun and I would like to fine tune the technique further. Those grunter give a really good account of themselves on light tackle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While we were on the Breede river last week I decided to try some different approaches to catching grunter. We were there over a neap tide, so the currents weren\u2019t particularly strong and the water was quite clear and warm. I was there to target grunter on topwater lures, but that type of fishing was mostly limited to the period around high tide. This left some hours during the day to try some other techniques.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":12794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[74],"tags":[115],"class_list":["post-12792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tactics","tag-grunter"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Banner.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12427,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=12427","url_meta":{"origin":12792,"position":0},"title":"Breede Grunter on Lure","author":"Craig Thomassen","date":"March 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I just got back from a trip down to the Breede river in the Western Cape. I went to target spotted grunter on surface lure, as it would be my last chance to do so before summer ends and the grunter fishing slows down. \u00a0 We were there over a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "South Africa"","block_context":{"text":"South Africa","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=70"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/banner.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/banner.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/banner.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/banner.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/banner.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/banner.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3448,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=3448","url_meta":{"origin":12792,"position":1},"title":"Breede River Kob and Grunter","author":"Craig Thomassen","date":"April 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Breede river has to be one of the few fully functioning estuaries in South Africa. It is permanently open, with a deep mouth and channel, allowing a massive amount of water to move in and out of it on each tide. There is an abundance of mud prawn, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=3448#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/b2ap3_thumbnail_DSC_0562.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3326,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=3326","url_meta":{"origin":12792,"position":2},"title":"VMC Sport Circle hooks, awesome weapon for grunter!","author":"Craig Thomassen","date":"March 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I have just come back from a trip down to the Western Cape. I fished a few choice destinations down there, including the Breede river and De Hoop Nature Reserve and had some excellent fishing! One of the things we did on the Breede was to fish for grunter, using\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"b2ap3_thumbnail_DSC_6797.JPG","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/b2ap3_thumbnail_DSC_6797.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2526,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2526","url_meta":{"origin":12792,"position":3},"title":"Grunter on Fly – Fighting The Spotted Flats Ninja","author":"Rhuan Human","date":"April 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The terms \"Holy Grail\" and \"Fish of a thousand casts\" have been flung around excessively in the world of fly fishing lately. 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I rigged them with single assist hooks on the back, as Chris\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/b2ap3_thumbnail_IMG_5199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2272,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2272","url_meta":{"origin":12792,"position":5},"title":"Cunene River Mouth Trip","author":"Craig Thomassen","date":"August 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When we planned our recent trip to Flamingo Lodge in Southern Angola, I was hoping for reasonably flat seas. This would make it possible to do the 250 km drive south along the beach to the Cunene River mouth. I had attempted to do the journey with some friends back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inside Angling"","block_context":{"text":"Inside Angling","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0024-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0024-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0024-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0024-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0024-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0024-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8sv9-3kk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12792"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12795,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12792\/revisions\/12795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}