Scroungers are those species of fish that spend a reasonable amount of their time close to the bottom scrounging for food. The species I target that these tips apply to include species such as Bream, Flathead, Fingermark, Grunter, Emperor, Mullaway, Nanagi, Cod and Grunter.
• Scroungers like active water so target times of strong currents and tide changes.
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RIGS
• Paternoster
BAITS
• Vibes
• Soft plastics
• Prawns
• Cuttle fish & squid – for big fish split down the middle and bunch each half up on the hook
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DEPTHS
• Bream, Fingermark
• Flathead
• Red Emperor – 60-80 meters is the best range
LOCATIONS
• Reefs and flat bottoms
• Anchor up current of where the fish are holding/feeding
• Present baits up current of target fish and if they still ignore your bait bounce it back to the fish
• If you loose a fish that generally spooks most scroungers so move to new location
• If sharks show move toa new location
TRACE
• Fingermark, Grunter & Flathead – 20lb fluorocarbon
• Emperor – 80lb hard coating monofilament ( M , a and Tiagaais are good choicea)
RIGS
• Circle hooks – 4/0 for fingermark, Grunter, Flathead and bream. 5/0 for smaller emperor and
• Weights the lightest you can get away with. That may be 12 to 16 for Emperor in deep water.
• 8/0 for bigger emperor
• Swivels to suit trace breaking strain
• Basic paternosta
• Paternosta with a sinker on lighter line