SPOTTED GRUNTER
(Pomadasys commersonnii)
The ghost of the flats, the poor mans bonefish. Their shadows are often spotted stalking unsuspecting prawns on the flats. Spotted grunter prefer the brackish waters of shallow coastal estuaries and lagoons. These fish can also tolerate fresh water. Spotted grunter are widespread from Cape Point along the whole African and Madagascan coast, into Indian waters. Some species of grunter, including the spotted grunter, are able to make a grunting sound by grinding the strong jaws in their throat together, hence their common name.
Click here to visit the gallery of some of our recent spotted grunter catches.
BREEDING HABITS
Spotted grunter reach sexual maturity in their third year of life when they are 30 – 40cm in length. In South Africa, spawning usually occurs in the open sea adjacent to river mouths, between August and December. After spawning, the newly hatched larvae and the post spawning adults move into estuaries to take advantage of the nutrient rich estuarine waters. The murky waters of estuaries also provide the juveniles with protection from visual predators.
FEEDING HABITS
Spotted grunter have an unusual method of feeding. They use the pumping action of their large gill chambers ‘in reverse’ to force a jet of water through their mouths. This jet of water then ‘blows’ small prey such as worms, crabs, mud- and sandprawns out of their burrows in the sand. Grunter are often seen with their tails out of the water as they feed, head down, on shallow mud banks. It is often easy to see where a shoal of spotted grunter have been feeding – the sandy bottom is covered by many tiny mounds of sand. Grunter also eat mole crabs (sealice) and small molluscs. Grunter have thick lips surrounding a small mouth bearing several rows of very fine teeth. The tough pharyngeal teeth that are found in the throat area assist in the crushing of their prey.
LIFE CYCLE
Spotted grunter reach a maximum length of 87cm at an age of about 15 years, and a weight of 9.5kg. Tag returns have shown that adult fish appear to be fairly resident in the vicinity of estuary mouths.
FURTHER INFORMATION
van der Elst, R.P. 1988. A Guide to the Common Sea Fishes of Southern Africa (2nd ed). Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
uShaka Sea World, accessed 08 August 2013, Spotted Grunter http://www.seaworld.org.za/species/entry/spotted-grunter
Our tips on catching the spotted grunter
Spotted grunter are caught year round, but are most active during the warmer months.
Fishing from a boat, the spotted grunter can easily be caught while drifting a sandbank. A prawn is baited onto a circle hook and casted without a sinker/weight and left to drift with the current.
Fishing from the side, we have found the best method is to use a running ball sinker on your main line, stopped by a bead and a swivel and then a short 40cm fluorocarbon hook trace onto a size 1/o hook (J or circle)
The bite is normally a gentle pull before line is stripped from the reel. Best would be to give the spotted grunter a chance to suck in the bait, feel it go away with the line and then only give a gently strike. When fishing with a circle hook a strike is not necessary and by merely tightening up on the line when the fish goes away will ensure a hook-up.
Look for prawn banks on the low tide; this is where spotted grunter feed. The big holes (crater-like) on the prawn banks are a tell-tale sign that grunter feed on those banks at high tide. In search of food, the spotted grunter blows these holes with a powerful water-jet-stream from their mouth. This is also known as “tailing”. I am sure we have all noticed a spotted grunter “tailing” in the shallows, dancing on its nose with a flailing tail sticking out of the water. The prawns ejected from their holes with this jet of water are then sucked up by the spotted grunter. This makes them vulnerable to an artificial lure imitating a fleeing prawn.
When fishing from the side there are a few key elements to remember.
- Stealth
It is extremely important to be as quiet as possible. Spotted grunter often feed in shallow water and are very easily spooked.
- Fish as light as possible
The spotted grunter can be a very shy feeder. The lightest tackle possible should be used, with fluorocarbon line for hook traces. Hooks should be ultra-sharp. -
Fish the conditions
You don’t always need to cast far. Spotted grunter will often venture onto sandbanks with a depth of less than three foot and will be feeding within a couple of meters of you. Keep your eyes peeled for movement and remember point number 1. -
Structure
Look for structure such as sandbanks and try to fish the drop-offs into the deeper channels. Prawn holes on the sandbanks are a necessity as this is what the grunter will be feeding on.
The spotted grunter has a minimum size limit of 40cm and a bag limit of 5 per licensed angler per day.
Handle these fish with care as they have razor sharp gill plates. Many fishermen have learnt the hard way trying to stick their fingers into the fish’s gills to pick them up, resulting in some nasty cuts.
The spotted grunter is no longer found in abundance as in the past and we should all do our bit to “Fish for the Future”
Have a look at what we think of catching Spotted Grunter on top-water lures or Spotted Grunter on top-water lures continued… and probably the most important , success
Thanx 4 the help. Will try my best
Good luck Marko, hope you are successful, please let us know how it goes.
Hi All,Has anyone ever targeted tailing grunter on a sand bank with live mud prawn (using 6lbs braid as main line, 10lbs fluorocarbon and 2/0 Daiitchi circle hook) where the grunter refuses feed on the live prawn drifted towards it?
Juan, targeting tailing grunter can be a very frustrating and unproductive exercise. As you might have also already witnessed, they are extremely shy feeders. When they are tailing, especially in the shallows where their tails are protruding from the water, they tend to be individual fish. They put up such a big ruckus that everything scatters in the near vicinity. Only a few moments later do they return in search of scraps to eat. That is the main reason why I think a drifted prawn to a tailing grunter won’t generally work as they aren’t in eating mode yet.
Best bet is to find a good spot nearby and fish that, rather enjoy the splendor of the tailing fish by sitting witnessing this amazing phenomenon. Tight lines.
I have often caught tailing Spotted Grunter (and Pignose) at the Kariega bridge, by wading in waist deep and floating a sand prawn to shore, Some huge, most quite small. Great fun, though. Johan Els
Hi Johan, thank you for your message. It is good to hear that your technique has proven successful, we definitely struggle with the drifting technique from the side. I suppose it helps if you know the area and structure quite well. What tide do you fish? We have had some success a little further up from there. I suppose you also fish the side of the bridge further from the sea, else you might be neck deep in the water. Some beautiful water there, if you manage a quiet time on the river. Let us know if you need an extra line in the water, we would be happy to join, throwing a few lures. Take care!
Hi,
I have found incoming spring tide on the southeast of the bridge the best, Too shallow otherwise. Prefer fishing at night or in choppy or dirty water. The deeper you are, the further you can drift your line.Fish very light, only a swivel and no.1 hook. Open face reel, at the slighest tap release the line which is being held by your finger. I tried a small canoe, not a touch. Left it and walked in, immediately fish on. Biggest spotty I ever caught was there and took more than 30 minutes to land on my tackle.(7.8kg)
Make sure you have a long nose pliers in order to remove the hook and release.!
(my fishing mates: Mick Rushmere (RIP) and Dougie Galpin, both extraordinary anglers and fine men.
Thank you for sharing some of your valuable experience, Johan. We all learn so much from generous contributions like this. It is a privilege to have friends who are fine fishermen, from whom we can learn so much and develop our skills, a blessing to cast a line together on many an occasion, as your memories with your fishing mates. Wow, that is a beast of a spotty you managed, it must have given one epic fight on the light tackle. I find it a little hair raising to wade too deep at night, the big rays that swim onto the shallows to feed and who knows what else is swimming around you in the dark, probably have me running on water if something brushes up against my leg. We support catch and release and the correct handling of fish to ensure best chances of survival after release, I believe others that follow our blog and the info herein will consider the same. I will be applying your technique the next time we are in Kenton, perhaps even entice one on a surface lure of fly.
I have caught many grunters. My top weight is 4.6KG i was targeting some garrick. I saw them splashing. I threw my lure there and immediately a bang a hard bang. I thought nice garrick. I was shocked to see a spotted grunter. I was amazed. After that i caught garrick.
Hi Ruben. That is awesome. Well done, a 4.6kg grunter must have given you a good pull. Where did you get it and what tackle where you using? Thank you for sharing and keep it up!
I have tried to get spotties to take a bass worm, but no luck, although a famed Port Alfred angler professed to have cought them in the Kariega with this lure. My only experience with lures has been spoons for Kob, poppers for giant and other kingfish, and Garrick on the South Coast.(They still get the big ones in the sardine run.). Would appreciate advice on lures for Grunter.
Thanks guys for all the info,We do the Breede river each year and fish for the Knobeyes Fishing Trophy ,so every bit info beat the other 2 Knobeyes will be of the much importance to me. Then again it ‘s the time spent together as mates of more than 50 years we still fish and enjoy ourselves as though we were still teenagers . Nothing like the sound of the screaming line followed by the occasional pan sized Spotty enjoyed around a fire talking about the one that got away.
Hi Denis. Thank you so much for the message. The Breede is a special place and to share those moments with mates make for priceless memories. Here’s to many more late nights around the fire talking about the one that got away and the odd fish-of-a-lifetime that was landed and safely released. Please give us some feedback on the next Knobeyes Fishing Trophy, we would love to hear who walked away with the honours.