Snapper or Mulloway

[Jack. 10]

What's your poison? Snapper or Mulloway... & why??For fight, fun and personal satisfaction, my reasonably new obsession (year or so) has been the elusive mulloway. These things are just so accessible! The mulloway are basically just under our noses and are there in huge numbers from what I understand Where as regular snapper catches require a boat capable of riding a bit of chop, Mulloway are a landbased, kayak and beaten up tinny species! Great!Some people may say Snapper fight harder/better, and I used to say this too. But thinking about it, they fight just a bit differently. Mulloway are ambush feeders and I guess that, as such, they are geared for short bursts of power and rage. So you hook one and the bugga will bolt... Even a littleun will run a bit of line at first. Then they either play possum or just chill for a bit and off they go again, usually I find with q bit of thought about direction the second time, like at structure, or pulling at a sharp angle running accross you. :)This is pretty cool, but the snapper will just KEEP on fighting to the net. I really think there's not too much of a difference in quality of fight when alls done infact, I would take a 20lb mulloway fight up a little mangrove creek over lifting a 20lb snapper from 20 meters down any day I've been a bit of a snapper tragic for most of my fishing life... But an eventful couple of sessions recently had me scratching my head. I had the great fortune of capturing a mulloway one week and a snapper a couple weeks later in more of less the same place on the same gear.I was fishing in some tight water among the mangroves. With the tide full on both occasions, it would have been all of 3m of water. Both times I chucked out a stinky old pilchard on two 6/0 hooks. 40lb trace, 30lb braid, 6-10kg rod, same reel. By myself both times. When.I.hooked the mulloway, I called it for a mulloway, had a heart pounding but enjoyable few minutes and happily boated it 20lb Now when I hooked the snapper, it's not surprising that I called it for a mully. The fight was very similar really, but just a little more spirited. When I had it half way in, I started to think it may be a snapper, cos of the extra knocking and the lack of any reel break between runs. But because it was mulloway territory, I was getting a bit excited thinking that maybe it was a bigger mully than I am used to! 10meters from the boat the fish still had heaps of gas and it took a little while before it was beaten and I had him boatside... Alot different from yer average mulloway battle. In the end, I was a little disappointed that it was a snapper15lb) and not a mully. I was obviously happy and stoked to get a nice fish, and it was a bit different, but yeah, I think Mulloway are something a bit special to me now :)And of course a massive draw card for me is the.potential to go XOS on a mulloway and capture something EPIC.... Until then happy fishin'

[trihull 177]

Great Fish !! Nice report too.... Well Done !!!

[4THALOVE 45]

for me i wanna catch my big Mully off a beach with some blokes that have some knowledge/experience of the place im gunna be fishn, i have no experience in fishn for them in the river system (excluding schoolies) and the blokes that get the big chaps have done it for years and live it weekly and are good enough to get them boatside, get a pic and tag in and release them, alot of the time having to pull up anchor and chase them, wich in it self is an art.as for snapper i have been lucky enough to have caught plenty in deep and shallow water i have caught 5-7kg ones that have put in efforts on par with some 10 kg plus models i've snagged now i'm into the sport of it more and using lighter gear i'm loving it even looking at other options at the moment to go lighter again i will let ya know one of these days if i enjoy mullies more or not though, as a trip to Yalata will hopefully one day be on the cards cheers 4THA

[Softy 2,991]

Never had the chance to go and target mully's before... So it's snapper for me, only because chasing them is normally action packed when you find them. Not that i remember what fishing is anymore lol

[Jack. 10]

for me i wanna catch my big Mully off a beach with some blokes that have some knowledge/experience of the place im gunna be fishn' date=' i have no experience in fishn for them in the river system (excluding schoolies) and the blokes that get the big chaps have done it for years and live it weekly and are good enough to get them boatside, get a pic and tag in and release them, alot of the time having to pull up anchor and chase them, wich in it self is an art.as for snapper i have been lucky enough to have caught plenty in deep and shallow water i have caught 5-7kg ones that have put in efforts on par with some 10 kg plus models i've snagged now i'm into the sport of it more and using lighter gear i'm loving it even looking at other options at the moment to go lighter again i will let ya know one of these days if i enjoy mullies more or not though, as a trip to Yalata will hopefully one day be on the cards cheers 4THA[/quote']Well now see they are some good points you make mate. Catching the big fellas is likely a different kettle o fish (exfuse the pun lol). I, like you am into school mulloway, so my thoughts are only on those experiences yeah.Talking about going lighter, I am finally altering my approach, not only have I gone 6lb on small mulloway, but recently purchased an 8lb graphite rod... Although a heavy rating, it's a split grip lure casting rod and so light I have it paired with a 2500 Twinpower! The combo is super light, yet the reel boasts 9kg of drag!!!!! Currently I've got 20lb braid and and dying to hook a snapper or mully in the set up. I was in Spot On on main nth rd looking at the shimano jewels to 6kilo and the fella showed me this 8kg Rovex Air Strike. Thought it was pretty cool.... But get this.... $69!!!!!! Very cool and unbelievably cheap. Anyhow, maybe you can teach a old dog new tricks :)Cheers 4tha, yalata talk is always good for bringing me back down to earth

[4THALOVE 45]

might have to change your signature at the bottom of the page now Jack When I die stick my ashes in the burley cage and send me down to the snapper - or mullies cheers 4THA

[Jack. 10]

Haha, no use burleying for mullies in the port lolHere's a pic of that Air Strike for anyone interested in a budget entry into that style of fishing (ignore the Twinpower that was a freebie)Couldn't be bothered taking it down, but you can see the contrast in approaches next to the UglyStik

[afishyfish 4]

What's your poison? Snapper or Mulloway... & why??

Like so many fisho's Jack' date=' Mulloway are on the "want to " list for me, whereas Snapps seem that much easier, tho that could just be Ive caught more of them so know a bit more about them.

And of course a massive draw card for me is the.potential to go XOS on a mulloway and capture something EPIC.... Until then happy fishin'[attachment=10982]DSC_0369.JPG[/attachment]

A massive draw card, and an epic one too, would be catching one as big as my young son

[jimbojames 285]

Caught plenty of legal but not huge Mully's but not Snapper . As soon as i have got some snapper i will let you know fella .

[snapper15.4kg 67]

Both great

[southie THE BANGA 2,304]

Caught plenty of legal but not huge Mully's but not Snapper . As soon as i have got some snapper i will let you know fella .

x2

[Damien Dray 0]

great thread jack. its a very hard one to answer. easy for me as ive never caught a mulloway. so snapper it is for now. but ive been trying to get a mully and iv been fishing the port river at night a bit and i find it awsome just not knowing when and if you gona get the big one. really love sitting at anchor in the calm waters of the port tho. but when i catch that mulloway ill let ya know.

[jagger 24]

Love the fact that you can regularly locate snapper schools bailing up bait around structures. You see them on the sounder, drop the line with the anticiaption of an almost instant hit sometimes.Mulloway seem to be a bit more of a waiting game and sadly I'm a very impatient fisherman so it's snapper for me all the way.

[urhookedfish 12]

I hope people dont know what Im about to say before I even say it..LOLIv'e been lucky enough to have experienced a hot Mulloway bite in a Port Creek on dead baits, and boy was that fun. But if I had to compare that to a HOT SNAPPER bite in which you bag out on big fish and leave them biting, which I've also experienced many times in this gulf, Id have to say the non stop fish pulling action of the REDS wins for me hands down.Now BIG Mullies thats adds another perspective to things especially if you start talking Barge fish from the other side of the gulf. When you start contemplating hitting a 40-70lb Jewie whilst having a strong likelyhood of pulling in a Trophy Snapper you then throw a huge spanner in the works and you start talking about the sort of fishing I wanna do more and more of.I havent caught a big one myself but seeing the excitement a MONSTER jew can bring really gets the blood pumping..but as you guys have rightly said they are few and far between and the hours are needed.Ive decided to go down the third route of long hours, but an even bigger fight. NOW going to target Big KINGS.What I have discovered is that the people that succeed in catching monster fish are the ones that do either or all of the following, do the miles, do thier homework and fish prime times and with the target species favoured bait.you do that and any of the Glorious 3 (Monster Snapper, Kings and Mullies) are now possible

[afishyfish 4]

Crikeysurhooked actually mentioned another fish species :ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy:

Caught plenty of legal but not huge Mully's but not Snapper . As soon as i have got some snapper i will let you know fella .

I'll swap you Jimbo

[Mr_Willy 3]

Mulloway for sure..... I think if you want to go and catch a big Snapper its not that hard - may need to travel but book with a decent charter at Whyalla or Arno Bay and they'll more than likely put you onto one...As for Mulloway... the truly big ones take a lot of time, preparation and patience....

[jimbojames 285]

I'll swap you Jimbo I dunno fella . As much as i would like to catch big Snapper , as mentioned by Mr Willy ,As for Mulloway... the truly big ones take a lot of time, preparation and patience.... And there is nothing like it when all of a sudden your time , preparation and patience comes together and you reel screams to life , your heart sinks to your gut and you shake with adrenalin knowing your onto something really big an special ? I don't Know if the feeling is totally the same with the big Snapper but i have witnessed big Snapper being caught and the runs just aren't the same and Mully's come in bigger packages ?

[Mr_Willy 3]

Agree jimbojames... I caught my first big Snapper in January this year, and to be honest it didn't feel like it fought all that well.... Was impressive to look at, but it seemed all to easy just going out on a charter at Arno Bay and getting it...AS for my first big Mulloway... we drove 12 hours, spent 3 straight days fishing and finally got one.... And it just ran and ran..... Much more satisfying in my book....

[nickmav 0]

the silver ghost..........snapper are less of a challenge to locate and catch.......ive done the metre on both but have still not landed that 50-60lb jewie.....thats the dream......and i want to get it local.......the challenge of mulloway any day. everything about it is more challenging than snapper.

[Saltiga5 3]

I can usualy tell the difference between a Snapper and a Mully.I find the Snapper head shakes have a distinct hard knock you can feel through the rod and mullies have more a smoother tug. In the surf the mullies don't shake their heads but the wack their heads against the bottom trying to disslodge the hooks.

[mshillab 11]

Great posts here but this thread is torture - I haven't caught either one of them once!!! (I dont believe that "Snapper" charters really count, half the fun is working hard to find your own grounds with your own gear). Such great fish, cant wait til I finally do land both species!

[mully man 0]

Mulloway for sure, so much more of a challenge to consistently land the big fish than cracking a big red. A 50lb plus fish straight from the water is one of the best looking fish you can lay your eyes on whether straight from a surf beach or dragged over the side of your tinny in the port. In my book mulloway are a far superior table fish as well, even the real big ones taste great unlike a big snapper which can be a tad dry although I do still enjoy eating the odd red.

[TheJamesCool 0]

The elusive Mumma Mulloway of the Port of course.. Having caught over a metre mullies on yorkes and only schoolies at best in the port, it's the Big Bertha Jew dream that ensures this species is the current #1.. Snapper is naturally right up there.

[Rybak 622]

Cut my teeth fishing in the Port River. Many Mulloway caught between 20lb & 50lb. Some caught 50lb plus. Enjoy the adrenalin rush particularly on those cold nights & still do. Great fighting fish when first hooked but they tire quickly once you have them under control.I then chased Snapper. Excellent fighting fish in all depths & great on a hot bite as bag limit can be obtained in a very short time. Significantly easier to get than Mulloway. Anything over 60cm now gets released. Decided to chase Kingfish at Port Augusta many years ago. This in my opinion is the ants pants. They fight from start to finish & then some.Anyway IMO Mulloway over Snapper anytime.