I believe in early Snapper season in Melbourne. Although the reds don't feed as much while the water temperature is still low, I have found that smaller baits can be the key to your success in those earlier months (September and October). In Victoria the maximum amount of rods you can use at one time is 4. On the spread I will rig 2 snapper snatchers and 2 traditional snelled hooks. When I fish for Snapper I always fish with atleast 1 snatcher rig in combination with my sounder to gage if I am in the right area. For example, if I am catching lots of Flathead on the snatcher flasher fly rig I tend to pull up the anchor, turn on the sounder and leave as I believe if the flathead are on the bite, I am in the wrong fishing spot as I have personally noticed the flathead shut down when the Snapper are in the area. So I will use the sounder to look elsewhere for the Snapper.
In November when the school fish move in, I use snapper snatchers because I find they are easy to drop straight down and are much easier to bait up. When your burley up with pilchard chunks, the same sized chunks are what I use on the Snapper snatchers so I find it saves time when the snapper are going ballistic.
Whatever rigs you use when fishing, I highly recommend you have atleast one flasher rig (snapper snatcher) on your spread as it will improve your chances of catching Snapper.
These rigs also
work well on Gummy sharks and other reef species,
they are an awesome rig to catch most fish with.
Reedy rigz
This rig is used for offshore fishing in bays, lakes and even rivers. You can catch many species on the rig if you use the small 1/0 hook size. The rig is suitable for many fishing scenarios e.g bream fishing or whiting.
My favourite would
be fishing for salmon in the surf with the 1/0 hooks . 4/0 hook size and up can
be fished pretty much anywhere, including offshore, deep sea or just plucking
snapper. Many Mulloway have been caught
from the surf using these rigs, as the flasher works as a lure in the waves,
being washed around enticing the fish to chase it.
Also whilst surf fishing I have caught more Salmon then I can
remember and half the time they don't have bait on them, that's how good they work
in the surf.
We personally used and tested the rigs in Melbourne Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, but we have had excellent feedback from Brisbane's Morten Bay, and we have also had many fishing reports from Sydney Snapper scene on the New South Wales coastline. Shark Bay has reported some great Snapper catches over in the west. We have sold many to Northern Territory, and down in Tasmania they are selling aswell. There has also been good reports from Western Port, Victoria and Adelaide's St. Vincent's Gulf, South Australia. Our charter friends have been catching reds on the pink sunrise and live pilchard models.
We personally used and tested the rigs in Melbourne Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, but we have had excellent feedback from Brisbane's Morten Bay, and we have also had many fishing reports from Sydney Snapper scene on the New South Wales coastline. Shark Bay has reported some great Snapper catches over in the west. We have sold many to Northern Territory, and down in Tasmania they are selling aswell. There has also been good reports from Western Port, Victoria and Adelaide's St. Vincent's Gulf, South Australia. Our charter friends have been catching reds on the pink sunrise and live pilchard models.
Why not try your luck early this Snapper season ?
