Say hi to salty pond dwellers

Please say hi to some of the salty pond dwellers we usually meet at our regular pay pond. Disclaimer, this is not the produce of a single session but many trips collected over time. Enjoy.

I introduce this MajorCraft MS-X coupled with a pimped up Shimano Metanium. Grouper liked it so much it swallowed the lure.

Another grouper was very eager to meet this pimped up tackle setup.

Grouper brought to you by APIA's punch line lipless singking pencil worked slow bumping about the bottom.

Over to the next pond, this fatty of a Red drum was intrigued with this set of tackle too.

The Jackall Clone Gill proved to be too juicy to ignore.

Moving on, a smallish grouper decides to take on this tackle again.

Jackall Clone Gill really is proving to be too juicy to ignore.

Another cast, another grouper took on the invite but decided to keep the juicy Jackall's Clone Gill.

A quick switch to hard bodied lure also stirred this little fella.

ZipBait's Rigge Dimly sinking lipless pencil. Dimly lure or dimly grouper?

A friend was looking for some left over MJs using a potent combo of Shimano Calcutta Conquest paired with Evergreen Temujin's Quad Twister. Got this eager barramundi instead.

Easily brought up to say hi using IMA's smallest Koume variant.

This guy's nursing a hard charging fella with his Jackall Nero's ultra light spin rod paired with a Shimano Stella.

Grouper says hi.

Meet & greet brought to you by DUO's Realis Vibe.

A grouper was keen to look at the newly pimped colour coordinated Shimano Metanium with MajorCraft's MS-X.

Grouper photobombed by Jackall's Clone Fry soft plastic.

A grouper got fooled again.

This grouper will remember Jackall Knuckle is not to be messed with.

A red drum was also interested to taste this set of combo after a grouper had a look.

This fella was keen to try out the chewiness of Jackall's Clone Fry.

Switching ponds yielded more groupers.

Grouper got a nice piercing courtesy of Jackall's Clone Fry.

The Jackall Knuckle got deep throat by this Red Drum.

Nursing a harder charger. Jackall Nero rod takes the grunt.

Red drum was causing quite a racket for reel drags.

Red Drum courtesy of IMA's Melty Nymph. Must resist shaky hands.

Another hard charger, deep throated.

Jackall Knuckle sucked in deep.

The Red Drums were having a party.

Red drum came up to greet Jackall Hyd Geck.

Switching lures brought this grouper out of hiding.

Lip piercing made sexy by Jackall's Clone Gill.

Notice the piercing's just skin deep. The fight totally blinded the clone gill.

New Majorcraft MS-X paired with a new Shimano Calcutta Conquest put through its paces with a strong Red Drum runner.

Fatty Red Drum brought to you by Jackall's Sasuteki Craw.

This grouper thrashed about a bit too excited to come up to say hi.

Bassday's bottom twitcher game its blessings.

Another lure switch, another curious grouper.

Grouper courtesy of Jackall's TN vibe.

This grouper was hungry and went all out.

Deep throated Jackall's TN vibe. Grouper still wants it even if it's prickly.

Took a while to dislodge it from the deep.

Fun with salty pond dwellers

How do you fill the void of a cancelled overseas trip hunting for wild barras and togas? A few good sessions at our local salty pond poking fun at some of the dwellers that are surely getting bigger and badder by the day. It's also an excellent time for me to christen some of my light to medium tackle ensuring that it's battle ready when the opportunity comes again for wild barras and togas.

A decently sized brownie giving the Evergreen Temujin Quad Twister a nice warm-up.

Apia Bagration ready to deliver, without fail. Lovely fall and twitch.

Another fat cow, bending the Quad Twister with conviction.

Apia Bagration strikes 2.

Also on the Quad Twister, with some intimidating runs quickly subdued.

This brownie fell for the Ima Sobat. Twitch, fall, BAM!

Next to the brownies, there are also some speedsters. Ima Ikuri delivers.

A healthy GT putting up a good fight.

Care for a red drum? These guys are not to be messed with. MajorCraft Skyroad ML + Rarenium with smooth drag set-up holds up very well for their bull runs and dirty darts.

Apia Bagration. A few in the bag please.

Another day, another session. This time with my MajorCraft Corzza MH rod paired with the newly pimped up Shimano Metanium. Not a tense moment experienced with a medium heavy set-up.

Ima Honeytrap does deep throat.

Another brown fatty tries to out-gun the Corzza. The Corzza has plenty of reserves for this.

Moneyshot honey for the record. Ima Honeytrap.

Corzza takes another grouper.

This one fell for the DUO Ryuki. The Corzza MH does pretty ok for light lures too. Impressive.

Heavy lifting needed here.

Jackall's Waver Shrimp wished it was a real shrimp!

Another chunky grouper pulled up for photo op.

Jackall Waver Shrimp does the damage as well as taking some damages too.

Heavy fatty on the Skyroad ML rod. Works the Jackall Sasuteki Craw to perfection.

Don't be fooled by the small sized Ima Survivor. It's also another favourite among pond dwellers here. The bruisers have claimed a few casualties here to prove that sometimes the Survivor won't survive their homeruns

In the gob. Ima Survivor survives a near death experience.

MajorCraft Skyroad making sure Ima Survivor is too sexy to ignore and also survives the ordeal after.

Corzza takes on a nice brown cow with good back bone power. Ima Honeytrap slowly worked at the bottom.

Corzza pulls up a healthy fighter. This one gave the MH tackle a good workout.

Geecrack Swing Chatter survived, Ima's Melty Nymph didn't.

Another healthy fighter. The groupers are getting bigger and badder. MajorCraft Corzza tames them too.

Jackall's Glossy Shad is just too real for our friend here.

Another brute fighter that's a bit reluctant to come up for a quick photo. Corzza coaxes it out of the water.

This fighter decided to swallow the Jackall Glossy Shad. Luckily the jig head and hook is just inside the mouth cavity.

Corzza tames another grouper.

After a few good sessions with the MajorCraft Corzza and Shimano Metanium pairing, I noticed that the stock drag on the Metanium has sufficient stopping power but isn't the smoothest. I suspect at times, it was rather jerky and may have allowed some fish to effectively throw a few hooks off as it's not being able to apply a constant and smooth pressure on the hook up. I'll need to put this theory to test with a different set of drags. On to more bruisers!

Ima Survivor lives to fight another day!

Feisty GT gives the Quad Twister some power runs.

Even the GT finds the Ima Honeytrap too hard to ignore.

Grouper hits the deck, courtesy of MajorCraft Corzza.

Jackall's Glossy Shad is causing quite a stir among the groupers.

They are bigger and meaner. Corzza MH set-up takes them with confidence.

In the gob. Jackall's Glossy Shad survives the ordeal with some facial damage sustained.

Another brute falling prey to the Corzza.

Jackall's Glossy Shad seriously chewed up.

Big mean groupers. They don't come any smaller than this anymore.

Last draw for this amazing Glossy Shad.

Curled up with protest. Easily subdued with the Quad Twister.

Ima Flachette twiddles along, BAM!

Ambitious youngster went for a big lure.

Ima Flachette swirls it's flashy irresistible tail.

Quad Twister wrestles another grouper out of the pond.

Capture credit goes the Ima's Rundam.

Healthy fatty fights the Quad Twister.

Spy-baito works for salt too. DUO's Spinbait whirls across the bottom.

A youngster, big fight nonetheless.

Ima's Sukari pulls this fella out.

Stunted grouper needs to eat too. Messed with the wrong bait fish.

DUO Realis Shad twitching around the shallows to stir this fella up.

It's not photo manipulation. It is stunted and crooked.

Big and mean. A few good hard pulls but the Skyroad takes it in.

Ima Sobat clocking in some catches here too.

Another curled up with protest. Easily tamed size.

Another one for the Ima Sobat.

MajorCraft Skyroad takes another grouper out of the pond.

Ima Honeytrap banks in another for the record.

A skinny one, hungry and angry at the same time.

Ima Honeytrap does the trick.