Snapper are an iconic Australian fish targeted around the country by all sorts of anglers. They get very big, but even at a juvenile size they fight hard. Combine their size and strength with the fact that they often hang around areas of ground that offer coverage, around reef or structure, it makes targeting snapper an exciting challenge to do successfully.
Snapper are scavengers and opportunist feeders, and will take just about anything that's presented correctly. You can use live bait and also use dead baits as Snapper eat a wide range of baits. However, it's important to combine the right hook, bait and to present the bait on the hook correctly to have a chance when targeting Snapper. The most consistently successful baits are pilchard, skipjack tuna and squid. As far as the best style hook to use, most anglers use 4/0, 5/0 or 6/0 suicide hooks. Rather than just slapping bait onto the hook, take care to give the hook plenty of exposure and not hide or bury the hook.
If your targeting Snapper from a boat one of the most popular techniques used for snapper is slow sinking baits. Snapper find slow sinking baits hard to resist, so if you’re in water that’s 30m or less deep, floating lightly weighted baits back into an established berley trail is hard to beat.
Land based Snapper fishing can be challenging for the beginner as the best spots can be dangerous and require specialised gear such as long gaffs, nets as well as surf rods. However in certain locations it can be a reliable technique. The best locations will be areas with access to deep water that have a decent amount of reef within casting distance. For Melbourne locals Mornington Pier is probably the most productive location for targeting Snapper.
Another technique for targeting Snapper, flicking soft plastics has become highly popular. When using soft plastics for snapper, don't switch off when letting your lure sink to the bottom as often a lot of bites will come on the drop. When on the bottom, always move the lure back to the boat keeping it in the bottom 3rd of the water depth. It's also highly important to change up your retrieves and styles and colours of plastics until you find the right combo that suits that specific day.
Berley definitely increases your chances of bringing fish to the boat and often big Snapper can be seen just behind the boat after having followed the burley trail all the way to its source. The aim is to encourage shy fish to feed with determination and you will know your berley is working when you see it in their mouths. The simplest and best snapper berley is chook pellets.
120Pcs Snapper Pack Fishing Tackle
$15.90
$19.90
Ready to fish SNAPPER PACK including Hooks, Swivels, Sinkers in a handy tackle box. 120 Pcs Snapper Pack Chemically Sharpened Size 2/0 Octopus Beak Hooks X 25 Chemically Sharpened Size 3/0 Octopus Beak Hooks X 25 Chemically Sharpened Size 4/0… read more