WESTERN BLUES

Blue groper are a beautiful fish. The electric colour of a big male is stunning, and when you view the fish in their natural surroundings, they have individual personalities. I know divers are quite fond of resident groper, and they can become pet-like in behaviour given their territorial nature. Targeting blue groper is certainly divided here in my home state of SA; some fishos love the power and challenge of tackling of a big groper, while others prefer to leave them alone.

Western blue groper are a powerful fish courtesy of their thick-set tail-wrist and oversized paddle tail, although the power is fairly short lived. If you can withstand the initial 20 seconds after hookup, you will generally have a win on the scoreboard.

Here in my home state of SA we’re starting to see good numbers of blue groper again, which is great to see. The numbers were noticeably low through the ‘80s and ‘90s but have since bounced back. We still have tight regulations governing the species here in SA, but in much of the state it’s legal to target blue groper. And while we will discuss methods of targeting groper in this feature, this story aims