Episode 174: Connors River Sooty Grunter With Andrew Trigg

Triggy’s Tips For Sooty Grunter Fishing

• Sooty grunter fishing is all about structure. Find large snags, rock bars and undercuts and it’s likely that the sooties won’t be far away. Don’t make the mistake of standing on the bank and casting into the deep water in the middle of the river, the snags are where the fish will be.
• Be sure and upgrade the stock hooks and split rings that are on your lures when you take them from the box with strong, lightweight versions – Sooties will smash cheap hooks and rings. Avoid heavy, thick wire hooks that weigh down the lure and make point penetration more difficult.
• The fishing is usually better when there is a little bit of flow, so move about looking for places where there is water movement. Sooties often come away from the structure and move into back eddies when there is flow.
• First light is the best time to be fishing, especially if you want topwater action – but on cloudy, overcast days the topwater bite can go all day sometimes.
• If the fish start “wising up” and get a little shy after you’ve pulled two or three from a snag it’s often possible to get the action started again by switching lures.
• On tough days it’s best to put the topwater lures away and switch to smaller soft plastics that can be sunk into snags.
• Beware of crocodiles. Triggy hasn’t seen crocs there and reckons it’s fairly safe, but don’t take any chances.
• There are plenty of public access points on the Connors River System, but be careful about accessing private property and be sure to seek permission first.
• When fishing rivers with steep banks Triggy will sometimes simply “teabag” a soft plastic among the timber.

Triggy’s Sooty Grunter Fishing Tackle

• Triggy uses 1-3kg spin rods with 2500 size spin reels with 10lb braid. He fishes for trophy fish, so prefers a heavy leader of 20-30lb fluorocarbon.

Triggy’s Sooty Grunter Lures

• Rapala Skitter Pop 60mm is a great surface option for sooty grunter. Triggy loves to fish this lure around dawn and dusk, but it can work right through the day when the sky is overcast. Cast it to the back of structure, then work it with short sharp rips and decent pauses in between. Once the lure is a few metres clear of the structure it’s worth cranking it back quickly and firing out another cast.
• Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullet 5″ looks like it would be too large for a sooty, but Triggy assures us that they love it, particularly the larger, trophy fish. Put it on a 1/8 oz jig head and fish it around structure, allowing it to sink well before slow rolling back.
• Lucky Craft Pointer 78SP is a suspending hard body lure that can be worked slowly around snags with plenty of pauses to keep it in the fish’s face. Great through the day when fish aren’t on the top and you want to mix up your offering.