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New: Snapper Tactics
Snapper fishing tips and secrets for Port
Phillip Bay
 
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Every year thousands of keen anglers descend on Victoria’s
Port Phillip Bay for the chance to hook a Big Red.
Snapper are caught in Port Phillip Bay all year round but they
are most prolific from September till April. The increase in the
Snapper numbers in the bay during this time is due to an annual migration
of breeding fish. Large schools of Snapper come from both the east and
west costs with some schools believed to of travelled from as far as
South Australia and New South Wales. While initially the catches of
Snapper are isolated and small as the season progresses so do the
numbers of fish getting caught. The peak months to bag a Snapper are
November and March.
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The best Snapper seasons typically occur when a year of above
average rainfall is proceeded by a year of below average rainfall or
when there is a large amount of early season rain (September-November).
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The reason for these 2 climate patterns producing good catches of
Snapper is because early season rain causes large amounts of organisms
to be flushed out of all the local creeks and rivers. This Plankton
feeds the Pilchard, Garfish and baitfish Schools. These schools in turn
feed the Squid, Salmon and Barracouta schools that enter the bay at the
same time as the Snapper. Thus, the more food, the bigger and
longer the run of Snapper in Port Phillip Bay. I was recently asked if
the season of 2006-07 is one of Port Phillip Bays best in recent years,
while I’m writing this article prior to the end of the run of this
season, after reviewing the commercial fishing harvests of Snapper and
comparing these to Victoria’s actual rain fall, there seams to be some
slight correlation between a year of good rainfall followed by a year
of little rain fall and larger than usual Snapper catches. If this is a
pattern, then yes this year could certainly be one of the best in a
long time for the recreational angler.
The Snapper have had a
lot to contend with. From the season 1978/1979 till 1990/1991
commercial fishermen harvested an average of 162.58 tones of Snapper in
Victorian Waters, since then the average commercial harvest has slipped
to 59.14 tones. Now there are many factors that contribute to these
overall harvest figures but one thing is for certain, the old Snapper
was getting an absolute flogging 15 years ago and with a slow growing
fish, this had to be effecting the reproductive rates of the fish and
the overall health of the fish population, now with better fisheries
management in most areas and the Snapper’s habitat in a healthier
condition with the stopping of Scallop dredging in Port Phillip
Bay(1995), I think that we can all look forward to an improving fishery
just as long as we limit our catch not catch our limit !
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We must also seriously consider any environmental
and/ or habitat changes made by man, actions such as Channel deepening
will cause damage, to what extent who knows? One thing is for certain,
they will be dumping sediment on grounds that I know the Snapper both
feed and breed on! These environmental changes are not in favour of the
piscatorial inhabitants or the tens of thousands of recreational users.
Snapper are a grazing opportunistic feeder. Snapper
inhabit areas where there favoured foods are plentiful. Locations such
as Shellfish beds, Soft reefs, Reefs and channel edges are prime haunts
for Big Reds. Snapper love an easy feed! After a strong blow or under
the cover of darkness Snapper sneak into the inshore reefs and rocky
coastal areas for such a feed, this is a fantastic time for land-based
anglers to bag a brace. Land based anglers Fishing off the rocks and
Piers at St Kilda, Mt Martha and Mornington regularly bag fish in
excess of 7kg during these times.
When boat anglers are looking for new Snapper
grounds, they should look for structure rather than schools of fish on
their sounder. Schools of fish can move quite quickly so by the time that
you have positioned the boat and set your anchor the fish have simply
moved on. When your fishing over mud and sand look for weed and tube
worms. These are identified by 1 pixel wide by 2-3 pixel high returns
emanating from the seabed. These returns indicate structure, and it’s
structure where the fish expect to find food. Look at it this way: If
your travelling down a highway and you hungry your more likely to get a
feed from a food outlet rather than eat a randomly disposed hamburger
on the side of the road! Fish are the same. By fishing the structure
your adding your offering to the menu and increasing your chances of a
hook-up.
To get the optimum out of your sounder your
sensitivity should be set to the point where your “Clutter” (the snow
like returns through the display) disappears. This is typically between
70% and 90% of your maximum sensitivity setting. All sounding should be
done at a speed no greater than 5 knots.
Whenever you find a good location you should mark
your position with your GPS and record the latitude and longitude in
your fishing dairy along with the fishing details of the spot, for
example, tide, time, fish, bait, moon and weather. This will not only
give you a hard copy record of your “Hotspots” if your GPS looses its
memory, but will also provide you with a record to track fish patterns
and favoured conditions giving you an insight into the fishes habits
and thus giving you the ability to better predict where the fish will
be and thus increasing your catch rates.
As for peak times to bag a brace, fish in the
shallower water (below 16 meters and or in the Northern section of the
Bay, Mooradalic- Werribee) are best targeted in low light and night
conditions as well as rough weather. The deeper waters are best fished
with the change of tide, with the absolute peak times for fishing being
when a change of tide co-insides with sunrise and sun set. As for moon
phases there are many theories, I personally find that the first and
third quarters of the moon are best. This being said you will not catch
a Snapper in your office or at home. I have had some excellent catches
when everything is theoretically wrong, wrong moon, wrong tide and in
the middle of the day, you have to be in it to win it, a bait in the
water is a chance to catch a fish.
The key to Snapper fishing in Port Phillip Bay is
being prepared. There are many keen anglers who struggle to find
consistency in their results due to their lack of preparation. Each
year I have a very good guide to the location of Snapper schools
through my fishing diary. Snapper are a fish of habit; they have an
uncanny ability of turning up at the same place at the same time each
year. Yet they are not totally predictable, this in my opinion adds to
their mystique.
Always arrive at your chosen location about 1 hour
prior to you peak time, this
gives you the ability to get you lines set and burley flowing prior to
the action starting. Being prepared is the key to success, to make the
most of your fishing sorties you must make the most of your time on the
water. If you have the time, rig your rods prior to getting on the
water, thaw an amount of bait so it’s ready for use as soon as you
arrive at your location, have your burley mix made up and have a plan
of attack.
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Early season Snapper tend to travel in large fast
moving schools. These schools typically swim in mid water and are
generally moving too quick to anchor over and are generally more interested
in breeding than feeding. When these schools disperse in their density
then this is typically when the best fishing is had. As a general rule
Snapper are a bottom feeder, but they are opportunistic by nature so an
angler should always try to cover as much of the water column as
possible.
Snapper baits are a favourite boat ramp and tackle
store topic. Snapper will eat just about anything that is fresh. I
personally catch my bait prior to heading out on the Snapper Grounds.
Fresh squid and Cuttlefish is my bait of choice followed closely by
Garfish, Whiting, Australian Salmon and Barracouta. Many anglers use
Pilchards religiously, but from my experience the pilchard is just to
soft to withstand the hoards of Flathead that can inhabit a Snapper
Ground. This being said when the Snapper are around the Flathead will
typically disappear. Any fresh flesh bait is worth a try for Snapper, I
have caught Snapper on Flathead, Pike, Cod, Scad, Parrot fish, Red
mullet and Mullet the list is endless. For success your bait must be
well presented. You have to remember that you are fishing when food is
plentiful, so your offering has to be up to standard. Fresh caught bait
is best, but it is not always possible to obtain, the next best option
is bait from the market, and last but not least frozen bait.
When selecting Frozen bait look for bait that has
clear eyes, not eyes with white spots in them. Also avoid bait that
looks freezer burnt and bait that has large amounts of white ice
crystals inside the package. When purchasing squid bait make sure that
the Squid is clear or white. Squid that has a pink colouration
typically has spent allot of time in the sun and is no good. All things
said, if you would not consider the bait fit for your consumption don’t
expect the fish to consider it fit for theirs! Treat your bait like
your going to eat it, keep it cool and out of the sun, this will stop
it from spoiling and make it more appealing to the Snapper!
Burley is a great tool to bring the fish onto the
bite and into the area that you are fishing. For those that are really
keen you can tie a burley pot off the end of your anchor chain as well as
having a dispenser on the surface at the stern of your boat. I don’t
ever have a burley pot that I deploy on a rope and send it down to the
bottom. The reason behind this is that all you are doing is giving the
fish and the tide something to tangle your lines on. If you want to
deploy burley on the bottom, tie a pot on to your anchor chain. The
best method I find to deploy the burley is on the surface in a pot tied
on to the stern so that the pot is only just in the water. This means
that when ever the stern lifts and moves the pot is jerked, releasing a
steady flow of burley that will slowly sink to the bottom. By deploying
the burley on the surface you create you own eco system. The burley on
the surface attracts Garfish and Scad this activity then along with the
burley attracts the bigger critters. You should always remember to have
traces of your bait in the burley. It’s no good having a great trail of
minced fish bait and offering only Squid or vice versa. I liken this to
cooking a BBQ and only offering Salad. It’s a key to make sure that
your burley is constantly flowing, constantly flowing burley keeps the
fish within your fishing zone.
Snapper are best targeted with fast tapered (soft
tip and powerful but) 4-10kg outfits. My personal preference is for a
6-7 foot rod. This length of rod gives me the ability to keep lines
away from the boat and provide a greater separation between the lines.
The longer rods also aids in casting lightly weighted baits. Both
spinning and overhead outfits are suitable, but reels with a bait
running/feeding system are preferred. This gives the angler the ability
to set a preset bait feeding drag (typically no tension to 1kg) in
theory allowing in greater hook-up rates. In shallower water braided
line has little advantages and a good quality 4-10kg fluorocarbon
monofilament line will suffice. Reels should be capable of holding
about 260 yards of the chosen class of line. For those fishing with
reels without a bait feeding feature the angler should fish the reel
with the drag set at 1/3 of the lines breaking strength (Normal drag or
fighting drag setting). In this situation the fast taper of the rod
should hook the fish. Put simply when the rod loads up simply lift/hook
into the fish. This method is particularly effective when using soft
baits like pilchards, couta and other fish fillets. It’s also very
effective when using Silver whiting and Garfish heads.
When fishing for Snapper I like to fish as many rods
as possible (4 per person limit). To do this successfully you will need
to use rod holders. I prefer to use a Snapper Rack style Holder. These
come in both a Port and Starboard configuration. The rods tips when
placed in the holder should be no more than 30 degrees to the water.
Rods when placed in the holders should be regularly attended to, lines
should be kept taught and baits checked regularly.
The best rig for Snapper in Port Phillip Bay is a
2-hook running sinker rig with 1-2 meters of 30-40lb fluorocarbon
leader. I have one hook sliding and one hook fixed, hook size is
dictated by bait size, I typically like to use big baits so I more
often than not use 6/0 hooks, but in general Snapper anglers will fish
with hooks ranging from 2/0 – 8/0. When fishing with a Sliding hook rig
I use a Suicide hook as the slider and either a Bait-holder, Suicide or
Limerick hook as the fixed hook. When fishing with a Sliding hook rig
make sure that your slider is either the same size or smaller than your
fixed hook. This gives the bait symmetry aiding in presentation. Always
use quality hooks, remember that Snapper have very strong jaws and
tough bony mouths so hooks should be very sharp and very strong.
For best results I employ a method I can Fanning.
Put Simply I cast my baits out in a fan shape. To do this successfully
I have a range of sinkers ranging from size 1-3. The sinkers that I
prefer to use are Ball, Bean and Barrel. To fan your baits successfully
you need to cast the rods with the size 3 sinkers into or against the
tide, then cast the rods with the size 2 sinkers at a 45 degree angle
to the tide, and the rods with a size 1 sinker with the tide. For
example if the boat is positioned with its bow into the current, the
rods with the size 3 sinkers are cast at 90 degrees to the boat, the
size 2 sinkers at 45 degrees to the boat and the size 1 sinkers
straight out the back. This means that my baits are presented
throughout the water column and spread over a considerable distance
covering a maximum area of seabed as well as eliminating the chance of
line tangles.
While how to hook a Snapper can spur many a
fisherman into a long drawn out debate, I prefer to keep it simple.
With Soft baits and Head baits I fish the reel in gear, Big tough baits
like squid heads I prefer to fish the reel out of gear in Bait-running
mode. In the past I always fished my reels out of gear, even if the
reel did not have a bait run feature, these days I fish with a lot of
different people and put simply if the reel doesn’t have a bait run
feature the reel is fished in gear no-matter what the bait, this just
means that there is less room for error, fishing reels out of gear can
take years of practice to master and until mastered can result in the
loss of many fish. Just keep it simple. When fishing the reel out of
gear in bait running mode, as soon as the fish runs reach for the rod
and hook the fish as it is running. This generally means that the fish
has been running for about 2 seconds prior to you striking. Remember
when hooking a fish with the reel in bait running mode you will need to
hook and wind at the same time to disengage the Bait run feature and
engage the fighting drag.
When hooking a Snapper with the reel in gear wait
for the rod to load up, then simply lift the rod and fight the fish.
Never rush a Snapper to the boat, the harder that you
pull on Snapper the harder that it will pull back. Have your drag set
so that when the line is pulled from the rod tip the drag releases line
at 1/3 of the lines breaking strength, this is best tested with a set
of spring scales. The angler should note the tension on the reel so
they can replicate this with out using the scales each and every time.
The Snapper will typically run twice. The first time on hook-up and the
second time as it see the boat, remember to take your time and let the
fish run, by doing this you reduce the chances of getting bitten-off,
pulling hooks and snapping line, it also means that when the snapper is
beside the boat it will give you an easy net shot. Remember always net
your fish head first.
When purchasing a Snapper net I look for a net with
a Long handle, Sturdy construction, Strong Mesh and large head. I much
prefer this style of net as it gives the angler greater reach and does
far less damage to the fish as a gaff, making for an easier release or
a better feed. Many keen Snapper anglers have 2 nets for when things
get busy.
If your going to kill it, Chill it! The best way to
look after your catch is to have a large Eskie or Ice box with an Ice
Slurry. An Ice Slurry is simply salt water mixed with Ice. Salt water
freezes 2 degrees lower than fresh water so the salt water also help
preserve the ice.
The Ice Slurry chills the fish just like a cool room
does meat. The result is a firmer flesh, better colouration, sweeter
taste and a more humane why to kill the fish. I bleed the fish prior to
putting it into the Ice Slurry. To bleed the Snapper or any fish for
that matter, simply take a sharp and sturdy knife and cut through the
top of the gills to the bottom. Bleeding the fish removes the blood
from the flesh making the fish sweeter to eat and less fishy in taste.
Please, if your going to take home a few fish look
after them properly and don’t let them go to waste. If you look after
them as described you will not believe how good they actually taste.
Good luck and remember limit your catch don’t catch your limit.
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