Grass sweetlip – the working man’s reef fish structure, like a wreck or reef edge, the outer fringes will hold the better-quality fish. However, we’re not usually looking for distinct drop-offs, ledges and hard reef when chasing sweetlip. Broken ground made up of scattered coral, rubble and shell grit provides an ideal habitat for the fish and crustaceans that make up
QUEENSLAND
John Loeskow
When people talk about reef fishing in Central and Southern Queensland, the focus usually turns to the glamour species. Red emperor, coral trout and nannygai are highly sought after by all anglers fishing the coral reefs from the Capricorn Coast down into Sunshine Coast waters. And rightly so – they look great, fight hard and are sensational on the plate. But there are a few other species that are available to fishos from
Rizza with a cracking sweetlip caught while targeting coral trout. are handled carefully and placed into a slurry of iced seawater when possible. WHERE THEY LIVE Grass sweetlip are found the entire length of the northern half of the Australian coastline, from Moreton Bay near the QLD/ NSW border to Exmouth in Western Australia. Generally speaking, the waters off Southern and Central Queensland seem to produce larger specimens than northern areas. For more consistent
Isaac with a double header that took up a nice spot in the esky.
The standard fish community that shows up on the underwater footage. Strangely sweetlip are rarely seen on the camera. the shallow reefs to the deeper offshore areas that are worthy targets. Redthroat sweetlip are highly prized for their firm white fillets, and yellow sweetlip (or spangled emperor) take a variety of lures and pull like freight
include a number of small to medium sized emperors and seabreams. Along with red throat, long-nosed and yellow sweetlip, grassies are among the larger and more often targeted representatives from this group of fish. Their brown
haven’t seen an undersize grassy in the areas we commonly fish, and the average size is usually between 35 and 45cm in length. Any fish over 50cm is a nice capture, and we have caught a handful of fish over 60cm. They have been reported to 70cm and over 5.5kg. The bigger fish offer great sport, with a fight not unlike a similar sized red emperor with lots of head shakes and hard lunging runs. They are a great eating fish, whether cooked whole or filleted, with white flesh that is suitable for a wide range of cooking styles. However, these fish tend to bruise easily so make sure they
Lorne with a proper sweetie that thought a live scad was too good to resist. results, you will need to focus your efforts on the middle grounds between the shallow reefs and the deeper offshore areas. In the region we fish off Bundaberg the preferred depth is in the 25-35m range with some form of bottom structure. If you are fishing prominent
the bulk of the sweetlip’s diet. In these areas sweetlip will operate as grazers, moving over fairly wide territories as they hunt for food. You can normally see this happening on the fishfinder as individual and small schools of fish move in and out of the transducer beam. This is probably the
A battered and bruised fish that was at the end of its days. trains when hooked close to structure. However, in this article we’ll take a look at the humble grass sweetlip and the techniques that will bring more fish to the boat. THE TARGET SPECIES Grass sweetlip (Lethrinus laticaudis) are a member of the Lethrinidae family that 8
SEPTEMBER 2022
reason why slowly drifting on the tide changes can produce productive fishing when things get a bit quiet. Covering a bit more ground is a great way to make sure you are presenting your bait or lure to actively feeding fish. One bonus about fishing for grass sweetlip is that they are a year-round
colouration is a little drab in comparison to other reef fish, but they do feature a group of brilliant blue lines surrounding the eye. While juvenile fish often inhabit coastal estuaries and inshore eel grass beds, the adult fish are more common in deeper water between 16-40m. We
Mad Mike with a quality fish caught in near glass-out conditions.
target. Looking at our trip data over the last few years, we’ve caught good numbers every month of the year. In saying that, we usually get better numbers of big fish in late autumn and late spring. They are willing to bite outside the peak times of dawn and dusk and seem more keyed in to tide changes and solunar bite times. Interestingly, during the bigger tides that occur around the new and full moon, the tide changes are far more important triggers for fish activity than moon above/below bite times. During the slacker neap tides with very little current, the minor and major times can be the only period that fish are willing to feed readily. WHAT’S ON THE MENU? Grass sweetlip have a pretty varied diet making them a candidate for a wide range of bait and lure fishing techniques. As far as bait fishing goes, we always make sure we have a range of different baits to suit the mood of the fish on any particular day. Providing the bait is fresh and presented effectively, it will get the attention of the fish. Squid and cuttlefish heads, whole small squid and small cuttlefish are good baits. The only downside of these is their strong appeal to pests like triggerfish and remoras, which often devour your offering before
