Winter Snapper

[fishnfreak 0]

Hey guys, after this weekend it became apparent that the spot at Pt Hughes that i fluked a 62cm Snapper a few months ago, wasn't so much a fluke. After in excess of 30-40 snapper caught and released I am left with a couple of questions.How much longer can i expect to see Snapper this season? Is it possible to catch a couple throughout the year in 15ft of water?Most fish were caught on a 2500 Stradic on a Rack Raider, and on a 2500 Twin Power on a Finesse Bream Raider.Also is 20lb Jinkai too light for leader? My brother hooked a beauty with had the finesse Bream Raider bent to the reel and 8lb line screaming off the reel in about 40-50m bursts, unfortunately the leadr wore through and we lost it, but, thems the breaks.

[Fishie 98]

without giving too much away... the ledges and gutters in that area that I reckon you are fishing will fish most of the year for 1 1/2 to 2 kilo snapper... it's a great area to head if it is too rough to venture out offshore

[jagger 24]

If your talking about a particular spot south of Pt Hughes in shallow water then yes you can expect to catch them year round. Probably just not in huge numbers. I normally do a trip over there this time of year and always do well around there but have pulled many mid winter also. Always a top area for most species ! 20lb leader should be fine. Plenty of guts to it, so perhaps the snapper may have taken the hook deep and rubbed it off ?

[fishnfreak 0]

cheers guys, as a newbie to snapper fishing, i am still pumped about actually finding an area that can consistantly finds the fish.Just need a deep water spot now for bigger fish

[rocknev 2]

fishnfreak wrote:

cheers guys, as a newbie to snapper fishing, i am still pumped about actually finding an area that can consistantly finds the fish.Just need a deep water spot now for bigger fish

big fish may still arrive in the shallow water... if they do, look out... hahahaha... they run so much harder in the shallow water...

[urhookedfish 12]

With you already catching a 62cm fish..prob 4kilo or so there is no reason truley big fish couldnt rock up on that spot, so the size of your leader will depend on whats on the bottom.I have been busted off already on 20lb leader on shallow reef. Myself I would be going 30lb or 40lb just as insurance.You just never know whats going to turn up and you dont want to loose a fish of a lifetime.Brett

[fishnfreak 0]

yeah i was going to go up to 30lb just in case, so hopefully my bite rate wont drop to much due to the heavier leader.We started out with standard single dropper rigs, but after losing every rig to snags, we were just floating unweighted baits down.My 62cm fish caught in januray

[rocknev 2]

fishnfreak wrote:

yeah i was going to go up to 30lb just in case, so hopefully my bite rate wont drop to much due to the heavier leader.We started out with standard single dropper rigs, but after losing every rig to snags, we were just floating unweighted baits down.My 62cm fish caught in januray

thats a nice fish.. real deep in colour.... some say the colour indicates the dept, or whats on the bottom.. ive caught them almost white sometimes, but other times you would swear they were bream being really dark in colour like your fish..

[fishnfreak 0]

Snapper were taken in 15ft of water, on a rocky bottom with rubble and weed patches. Fish this trip ranged from really light to almost as dark as the pictured fish

[jagger 24]

I have had session out of Pt hughes where the water has been boiling !! We flaoted unweighted pillies and gar back to the hot zone holding tight by reef and just held on. One of my most memorable snapper sessions yet ! Season later, found a nice deep gutter by the reef and you could watch them swim through from the boat. Lots of bust offs but when they're on I really didn't care about losing the odd one here and there.I was catching gar on top, whiting, sweep and big leatheries on the bottom and snapper everywhere !!Was there for the weekend so only took what we really wanted from the day !

[fishnfreak 0]

great fish, was these fish from near the Cape, we were a little way away from the cape but there is so much reefy area there, i dont know where to start.

[OLD SALTY 0]

mate just my 2 bobs worth, i fish the shallow metro area down south and do it on light gear ( 8lb ) and have plebty of reefy areas down there. I personally go for 30lb jinkai as ive started to get a few bigger ones that like the rocks, it doesn't hurt and ur not losing much to sensitivity OS PS sounds like a nice spot and good looking fish

[Ubolt 0]

any more specific than shallow metro area down south trouble if u go too heavy with leader like my dad has is that if u hook a ray u cant actually bust it off and u end up spooled or broken rod

[fishnfreak 0]

true but i'd take my chances in order to hook a big red

[chump88 0]

can u catch big reds metro in wintr time. talking like 5kg up

[luke_westlakes 4]

sure can!

[afishyfish 4]

chump88 wrote:

can u catch big reds metro in wintr time. talking like 5kg up

Yes, if you put in the time and effort, or basically have the right info

[OLD SALTY 0]

AFF's right the old adage "time on the water" is time well spent