Snapper Fishing - the right weight

Although I prefer fishing for snapper with lightly weighted baits, there are plenty of times when weighted rigs suit the prevailing conditions much better.

And as far as I’m concerned, if my rod’s bent and line’s unloading from the reel, who cares how fish are hooked? Yes, a heavily weighted rig can be more effective, especially when the current is swift, the water deep and the snapper are holding close to the sea floor.

The two most commonly used rigs for this scenario are the running-sinker rig and the ledger rig, and what follows is my interpretation of them.

The running-sinker rig

When the current is strong and fish are large, it’s hard to beat the running-sinker rig. As its name implies, this rig allows the line to ‘run’ relatively unimpeded through the hole in a sinker. Consequently, a fish can grab the bait and move off without becoming unduly suspicious, so it’s more likely to wolf it down properly. Meanwhile the angler watches the line steadily peeling off the reel, signalling it’s time to engage the gears, pause until the weight comes on, and then strike firmly.

At least, that was the usual scenario before circle/re-curve hooks came along. These unlikely looking hooks allow the angler to simply engage the reel, wait for the pressure to increase and then slowly lift the rod to achieve a seemingly magical hook-up. And even if unsuccessful, the bait’s still ‘in the zone’ and the quarry hasn’t been alarmed by a rip-roaring strike.

These days all my weighted snapper rigs incorporate re-curve or circle hooks, because they’re so effective and allow me to release fish in good shape if desired. While it is possible to fish main lines with breaking strains down to 6kg with this rig, it’s better suited to 10kg – or even 15kg line if the current is strong and sharks and rays are present.

The main line might be nylon or superbraid, and each material has its pros and cons. Nylon is thicker, so its water resistance is greater, meaning it holds up in the current more and requires a greater amount of weight to get the bait down. But it is much cheaper than braid. And although lacking the fish-detecting sensitivity of braid, with nylon it’s often possible to leave your reel in gear, so when a snapper grabs the bait and moves off, removing any bow from the line and taking up all the stretch, the snapper’s own momentum works together with the line’s elasticity to slide the hook into the corner of its mouth.

As for braid, while its low stretch property and fine diameter are great for feeling bites, when snapper are not particularly hungry they often become suspicious after just a bite or two. Perhaps the same properties transmit the angler’s presence to the fish through the line? Whatever the reasons, snapper seem reluctant to bite again. Therefore I commonly have two outfits: one spooled with nylon and one with braid, so I can fish effectively no matter what the circumstances.

Making a running-sinker rig

Tying up the double-hooked trace is the most complex aspect of this otherwise simple rig. I like my 50-60lb (24-27kg) traces to be about 60-70cm long when completed. While some anglers are adamant that much longer traces perform better, claiming that they ‘wave around naturally in the current’, I’m not sold on the concept; I’ve seen too many baits lost without anglers feeling the bites, and an unacceptable number of fish swallowing the hooks. In addition, should you wind a large kahawai to where the swivel is at the the rod tip and you can wind no more, this fast-moving fish on a 6-7m trace can create absolute havoc with nearby lines.

Just like the strayline rig I described last issue, I tie a larger trailing circle hook to the trace first with a Uni knot, then snood the second, smaller re-curve hook in place (see the January 2009 edition for the knotting process). Generally this leading hook will be a 5/0-6/0 Black Magic KL hook, as it’s compact but strong – perfect for pinning the skinnier end of a strip bait or the head of a whole baitfish – while the trailing hook tends to be a 7/0-9/0 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle, as it’s slim in diameter and super-sharp, so easily set, yet surprisingly robust. However, if fishing a location where fish are nearly always pretty small (1-2kg, say), I’ll scale the hooks down by a couple of sizes to suit smaller squid and half-pilchard baits. And don’t worry, provided you’re using re-curve hooks without offset points, you’ll rarely hook fish deep down, undersized or otherwise.

When snooding the leading hook, try to visualise the size of the baits you’ll use (or better still, get a sample out of the freezer), so you can determine how far apart your hooks should be to provide reasonable coverage of the bait. Finish the trace by tying a simple barrel/rolling swivel on the other end. It doesn’t need to be very big, as most are surprisingly strong, but it must be larger than the sinker’s hole to prevent it jamming or passing right through.  I make a whole heap of traces up before heading out, so time spent re-rigging on the water is kept to a minimum.

Now we just need to get the whole lot down to where the snapper are grubbing around on the seabed below, looking for food. Since I only change to a running rig once my lightly-weighted ‘strayline’ rig fails to get down with two or even three one-ounce ball sinkers, at least four ounces of lead weight will be used with the running rig – possibly much more. As usual, try to use as little weight as is necessary to get the rig down to the bottom. The faster the current, the thicker the mainline and the larger the baits used, the more weight you’ll need to get the job done.

I usually thread one or two ball sinkers onto my main line, as this lets the rig roll around a bit, attracting the attention of snapper in the process. I suggest threading a rubber luminous bead or section of tubing between the sinkers to stop them knocking against each other. Sinkers are relatively soft, and repeated contact can squash shut the entry/exit holes, which jam tight on the main line, preventing it from running.
Even though there’s no casting involved, I like to fish this rig with a reasonably long (2m plus), light-tipped rod with plenty of power in the mid-to-butt section. The rod’s length is mainly used to slowly move baits away from tentatively biting fish – there’s nothing like an escaping meal to make a snapper realise it does want to eat that freezer-burnt mackerel after all! As for the rod’s light tip, this provides slight resistance initially, so dinner appears to be fighting back, encouraging the snapper to grab it more firmly, at which stage the gruntier part of the rod kicks in, pulling the hooks into position in the snapper’s mouth – provided they’re well placed in the bait. If not, some of the bait will probably have been chomped off, and it’s up to you to tempt fish into giving you a second chance with what’s left.

Try letting a little line out. Wait a moment. Nothing? Now wind in a little bit. Still nothing? Drop back again. This will usually do the trick if there’s a reasonable chunk of bait left on your hooks. And once the tip folds over properly, it doesn’t hurt to lift the rod steadily in response. This should see the hook well set. 
The same slow lifting and dropping action is also effective while waiting for a fish to bite, as the movement attracts nearby opportunistic fish for a closer look. Just as importantly, this tactic also reduces the bow in your line, improving sensitivity to bites, and repositions your bait in a slightly different – possibly better – location, away from the slow-moving clutches of starfish, crabs, snails and moray eels.
What I especially like about this rig is that it’s possible to drop a whole baitfish (such as a mackerel) rigged head-first to the bottom, wind it up a little – no more than a metre – engage the reel and then put the outfit in a rod holder. The current moves the bait about, while the waves and wind that push the boat around add jiggles and glides to the movement. Generally only the bigger fish take a bait set this way, and do so in a rush, so often the first indication of interest is a ripped-over rod – and crackling line.

This article is reproduced with permission of New Zealand Fishing News Feb 2009 - by Mark Kitteridge Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited