What type of Jewfish and what type of grunter am I catching in the Nerang River?

[Gold_Coast_Chaser]

Hey Guys,

I have caught a few Jewfish and Grunter in the Nerang River and have been unsure as to what exact species it classifies as. When i looked up the measurements these 3 options left me unsure:

Black Jewfish: 70cm
Teralgin (Jewfish): 38cm
Scaly Jewfish (jewel fish): 45cm

In addition to this, I have another question about grunter in the Nerang River, which one would you say it'd be:

Javelin - Barred (spotted grunter) east coast: 40cm
or
Javelin - Silver (Small spotted grunter): 30cm

Thanks Guys, hopefully with your help, I will be able to keep a couple once i know what size they have to be.

[tunaticer]

Pretty safe bet due to your location that the jewfish are silver mulloway (75cm), trag are offshore, blacks are north of Rocky and scaley are not commonly caught in the area.
Need a decent photograph to identify the javelin however.

[youngy]

Dylan, as Tunaticer has said the Jewfish have to be 75cm and the Grunter are 99% likely to be the spotted Grunter at 30cm, easily distinguished by the spots on them.

I have never seen a Barred Grunter that came out of this area, familiarize yourself with photos of both species and you will soon pick the difference easily, damn things go hard on whiting gear, cheers wayne

[Gold_Coast_Chaser]

Thanks Guys, Well i guess all of the Jewfish right up the river ill be catching will be going back then, the few I have caught have all been around the 35-45cm mark. Do they even grow up to 75cm up the river or do they head out to the seaway as they get bigger? Yeh the grunter are nice fighting fish, i find that i only seem to get them at night time, have you found this too youngy?

[youngy]

Hi Dylan, there are bigger Jewfish up there mate but they would probably need a bigger or live bait to tempt them.

As for the Grunter, yes they are a lot more active at night, cheers wayne

[Gold_Coast_Chaser]

Thanks for that youngy, good to see you yesterday mate. Now i just have to wait for the boat to arrive to get back out on the water.

What live bait do you recommend to try for big jewies there, i can easily catch mullet and herring in my canal about 10cm long, will that suit? Also i've heard that the Jewfish tend to only bite on the very top of the tide is that true?

Thanks Mate!

[frankgrimes]

Yes mate - live mullet will do nicely(bigger than 10cm would be better)....around the turn of the tide is your best bet...they tend to like deep holes.

Mick