Yorke Peninsula Snapper

[Yorkesfisherman 1]

Good Morning Fishing Guru's, As there's only a month of winter left and I've just been handed the boat from the old man (wooohooo) I'm thinking about chasing some snapper off the yorkes. I'm after a few tips on chasing these big red's as even though I've fished for 10+ yrs on the yorkes ( as a boy )our family (my dad) hates snapper and refused to fish for them, Thus I've never targerted them. So I'm after best baitsbest depthbest timebest rig ( bottom boucing / floaters etc ) Look forward to your replies

[urhookedfish 12]

Okay this is all just my opinion and is only only observations/tips that I have gained through fishing primarily for Snappper over the last 8 or so seasons.My best bait or go to Baits for Snapper are Whole tommies (head cut off at 45 Degrees or Half Mackeral. If you do have live Mackeral always have one down on one rod.Coming a close second on bait is california squid and fresh squid chunks or strips.Make sure when you anchor that you anchor up tide of the structure so your baits are drifting towards the school of fish. On slack water dispense cubed Pillies into the area. Try not to put these in as the tide is running flat out as it can move your fish back way too far behind the boat.Always have a good Burley pot down. Dont listen to people saying you dont need burley, in St Vincents gulf always use burley IMO. In spencers gulf on big drops with massive schools you can probably get away with out it.Last but not least is have your traces tied and stored on the boat (say in a tackle bag/box) before you start fishing. You dont want to be tying traces in a hot session.Last but most important tip I can give you is to fish in gear with a decent snapper lead on with Gamakatsu circles or owner circles. Let the fish swallow your bait and pretty much hook itself. You can leave rods in the rod holders with fighting drag (ie enough drag to firmly set the hook when snapper grabs it) but the snapper can just pull line off the reel until you get to it. Dont leave the reel in freespool as you can drop more fish than you will hookPrime times are an hour before sun up to an hour after sun up. an hour before sundown to an hour after sundown. But also an hour before change of tide to an hour after change of tide. These are pretty much the only times I fish for them.Fish shallow in the mornings and then once the sun is high in the sky the fish go deep (move to deeper structure)Hope this is a help to you.Brett

[Yorkesfisherman 1]

Cheers for the information mate much aprechiated.When you mean fish in shallows how deep we talking 8-12m?? In regards to bait I can catch plentful silver whiting, mullet and tommies so it shouldn't be a problem. Not a big fan of buying bait I'd rather catch it myself so I know its fresh. So over the new few weeks i'll stock up on some bait.I fish in the spencer gulf just south of port vic. So hopefully a berley bot isn't needed.Thanks again.

[urhookedfish 12]

When I say shallow, I dont have a specific depth range that I normally stick too.By shallow I mean that in the morning and under the cover of darkness Snapper like to come into reef areas to forage for food such as rock crabs and squid etc. They will also run along some beaches just before dark as well chasing sand crabs. So the idea is to find areas that they have a good food source in close. So anywhere where there is reef, ledges etc is a good place to start.Regarding your burley pot. No burley pot is fine if you are out deep on big structure with many fish but if your in close on reef, I always suggest using burley to bring them to you. Its only on big drops in SPENCERS, where spawning fish congregate that you dont normally need burley.