They are (sometimes) caught on minnows, but your best bet would be worms, squids and so forth, the stuff they actually eat.
REAL baits they prefer include Mud Prawn, Sand Prawn, Swimming Prawn, Blood Worm and Tape Worm and the bigger ones are also taken on Pilchards.
You scare them and they are gone !
If you go artificial I still say the lightest possible jighead you can find or just go driftbait with your artificial.
Grunters generally take their time to eat, it looks like they first INSPECT, then lick, then nibble, then tickle and then only take the bait.
Circle hooks should work great with grunters as they normally swallow your hook without you even knowing it.
Do a operation on your worm, put it around a smallish circle hook, a little ghostcotton and let that baby drift onto a bank where the tigers are blowing prawns.
A GREAT FIGHTING FISH for it's size, and unfortunately they also taste BLOODY NICE. If you keep for the pan, limit your take pls, they are under pressure from overfishing by RECREATIONAL anglers.
If you want to be successful in catching them you need to speak to the local anglers (the ones that keep everything they catch unfortunately) to find out where and when to go looking for them.
Targetting Grunter with Lures is an ART. And painting a masterpiece will be VERY DIFFICULT.
