Snapper fishing - casting, lures & timing

Bite you beggers!

It’s summer time, and part of our culture over these warmer months centres around the snapper coming in and the fishing being good. But is it really?

Back in the day when my father was fishing, their boats were not as good as today’s, so the distance they travelled was not as far, generally only venturing out to Auckland’s inner harbour. Consequently, I believe the tale of the fishing being best in summer is due to many of the snapper coming closer inshore during this time; out further though, some of the fish remain available all year round.

Personally, I find the summer months to be a challenging time of year to consistently catch snapper.

It happens every year: spring is work-up time, then the fish move in closer and the inshore spots start to fire. These fisheries do not fire at the same time though, so once the work-ups stop, come inshore and save some gas, as charging all over the ocean can be a big waste of money. Instead, it often pays to fish your feet first for a while.

The timing of this changeover can vary considerably. Last year it was the end of December; this year the inshore fish are only just starting to come in now – in mid-January – so that’s quite a considerable difference in timing. I suspect this may have something to do with the warm water currents, as the snapper fishing seems to pick up inshore when the blue water currents move into the Hauraki Gulf.

Whatever the reason though, some days it sure can be tough to catch them, and over the years I have come up with a few ideas to get the beggers to bite.

I believe that when they come into the harbours and channels, their feeding pattern generally changes to foraging around on the sea floor. I know this because the bellies of these inshore fish are full of shells and a wide range of other morsels that live on the bottom – unlike the snapper from out wide, which often spew up baitfish.

I visualise these summertime snapper as a spread-out herd of cows, their heads down and grazing at their leisure. Consequently, because they’re not charging around after baitfish, they become more relaxed and less alert for other feeding opportunities.

So now you have the picture in your mind, let’s look at how we can catch them.

Firstly, timing your trip so you’re fishing when the snapper are feeding seems to be more important than at other times of the year. So go when the tide is flowing and leading up to a bite time – and, preferably, try to get the wind and tide going the same way.

Let’s talk about the traditional bait fishing first. If the snapper are hard on the bottom, the berley needs to be too, so use a well-weighted dispenser that can be dropped down on a cord. If it’s not getting down in the current, extra weight needs to be added – perhaps a dive weight or hapuku bomb.

Next is your rig, which should also be hard on the bottom. Ledger rigs are often hard to beat, but make sure the first branch of the rig hangs close to the sea floor (if using pre-tied rigs, you may need to shorten up the rig backbone between the lower branch and the sinker). For the same reason, I always put the best bait on the bottom hook.

Another trick is to use smaller baits, as these fish are grazing on all sorts of marine critters, so a tasty little morsel that’s easy to digest – similar to a piece of chocolate – may offer more appeal than a large bait that they have to crunch up and swallow.

Another technique involves slowly letting your ledger rig drag back in the current along the sea floor, so your baits hopefully trundle past the nose of a snapper. If nothing happens, very slowly wind the rig back towards the boat. Your rig must not lift off the bottom, so more weight may be needed to do this.

Know your quarry

Before going any further, I want to expand on the two different ways I believe snapper feed. The first, which I have already explained earlier, where the snapper graze along the bottom, I call grazing. The second involves them actively hunting down baitfish, and the snapper will often come charging well up off the bottom to do this. These fish are actively hunting. These techniques are obviously very different, so very different tactics are required to catch them. Consequently, upon getting to the area you want to fish, ask yourself how the fish in the area will likely be feeding. If the marks are showing hard on the bottom every now and then, and not grouped up, it makes sense that they will be grazing. However, if there are groups of marks up off the bottom and/or birds around you, it’s likely your quarry will be chasing baitfish well off the bottom instead. The latter will also be more active, so should be easier to catch – if you use the right technique – while those that are grazing could be more relaxed and harder to catch.

The lure of lures

Now for lure fishing. I love inshore snapper fishing because it involves my favourite from of fishing – soft-baiting. This technique suits our inshore fishery really well, works a treat, and is also a whole lot of fun.

Dragging

So what can you do to try and get the fish to bite your imitation piece of rubber? When snapper are grazing, I find ‘dragging’ works best. This typically involves dredging 3-5” soft-baits along the seafloor behind a relatively heavy (3/4-1oz) jig head. I mostly use a 1oz jig head with a 3” or 4” soft-bait with an active tail, such as a paddle or grub tail. I find the darker coloured soft-baits tend to work better, with my favourites being various shades of brown.

Be sure to let enough line out so your lure is pulled along the bottom rather than up off it. You may need to let out quite a lot of line to achieve this. When you feel your rod tip going tick…tick…tick… you have it right, as this means the lure is bumping over the bottom. Otherwise, increase the weight and let more line out.

Some days you can feel the snapper lethargically nipping at the soft-bait. When this happens, try very slowly moving your rod so the lure is pulled away a bit faster from the fish. The snapper thinks the lure is trying to escape, often triggering a bite.

You can also try the opposite by letting out a bit more line, which causes the lure to suddenly stop, the change in movement often triggering a bite. While the slack line also produced means many bites will be missed, you’ll still find that snapper are chewing on the lure when the line comes tight again, or harder bites will occur soon after resuming the drag, so be prepared to strike immediately.

Other factors

Sometimes reducing your leader thickness/poundage – right down to 5 or 6kg if necessary – can make all the difference when trying to get shy fish to bite.

Scent can also do the trick big time; most well-known additives and fishy greases will usually help, but I believe a product made from crabs and/or other crustaceans/shellfish would be better still for this application. After all, it makes sense to match the scent being used to what the snapper are feeding on.

Incorporate ultra violet properties if possible. Yes, I’ve banged on about this topic before, but having some ultraviolet presence on whatever you’re offering predators can bring greater success. Remember though, in this case it’s not a ‘glow’ paint. Rather, this almost invisible coating reflects UV, enabling it to work well during overcast or low-light conditions.

When the fish are being wary, you really need to concentrate on inducing and detecting any bites, and then be ready to react.

Casting and retrieving

The other method of soft-baiting is the casting forward/out to the side technique, which works particularly well when the snapper are feeding on baitfish.

As far as I’m concerned, the most important aspect to this technique occurs during the descent, or drop, as many snapper are attracted at this time. Consequently, always consider your lure’s rate of descent: you want plenty of ‘hang time’, but the lure does still need to reach where the fish are holding.

If weighted correctly, your soft-plastic should slowly swim down to the bottom like a wounded baitfish; the higher up the lure remains in the water column, the more visible it is to fish – much like how you can see a plane high in the sky. This sight and movement attract any nearby snapper in for a closer look, and they will usually hit the lure when it’s close to the bottom. So if the lure drops too fast, the fish don’t have much time to see it and respond, while if it’s too light it won’t make it into the bite zone.

It’s therefore important to have a selection of jig-head weights available that go up in increments of 1/8oz, enabling jig-head sizes to be changed till you get it right. It’s amazing what such tiny changes in head weight can do!

Once again, lure size can be important. I find 4” soft-baits to be the best during the warmer months, with my choice being 3” and 4” wiggly-tailed soft-baits 90% of the time. It’s a trend I’m seeing amongst some of my fishing peers, too.

Detecting bites is another very important part of this technique. Always keep an eye on your braid, and if you see any movements out of the ordinary, strike straight away.

As for lure manipulations, try playing around with a ‘twitch and die’ action, where you imitate a baitfish going through its final moments of life by twitching the rod then being still. This apparently easy meal on offer can get a snapper’s predatory instinct firing.

While catching shy or wary fish can be frustrating, it’s possible to still do well by applying some thinking and patience. By changing rigs and techniques it’s usually possible to find a way to get that first fish to bite, and you’ll find that cracking the code makes the catching of snapper afterwards even more rewarding.

	This article is reproduced with permission of New Zealand Fishing News 2014 - by Paul Senior Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited