Snapper
Snapper fishing in Moreton Bay MORETON BAY
Spero Kartanos
Snapper are as good an eating fish as you will find in Moreton Bay and, depending on what gear you’re using, they are a great fighting fish as well. Those of you who read my weekly fishing reports (reports.fishingmonthly. com.au) would know that I love catching these fish. I get a lot of questions from readers asking for advice, so I decided to write an article to help all the local snapper hopefuls out there. Follow these tips and you should be on the path to success! LEARNING THE ROPES I started catching snapper in the 1960s with my dad, fishing in the very fast running tides in the entrance to Port Philip Bay
A steady stream of berley attracted this fish to the bait.
Green Island is easy for small boats to get to. in Victoria. We used lead the size of a small Coke bottle and a 30-40ft trace, with smashed up blobs of squid for bait, or alternatively fresh barracouta (with the bones broken) or salted pilchards. During snapper season there were plenty
of big fish around 20lb, although my dad loved eating the smaller 20-30cm ‘pinky snapper’, which we Queenslanders call ‘squire’. After moving to Brisbane 42 years ago, it was time to put the knowledge my dad had
passed onto me to catch the snapper in Moreton bay. However, I discovered that it’s not the same as fishing for them in Victoria – especially the type of baits and rigs to use. I remember sitting at the Harry Atkinson Artificial Reef for months on end when there were only a handful of boats, even on the weekends, and I caught hardly anything – just a small fish every blue moon. And yet, a lovely old fisherman would turn up, anchor 50ft from me and within an hour (depending on the tide) he would have two or three huge snapper in the boat. All I could do was sit and stare, wishing I knew what he was doing. After a while he must have felt sorry for me, because one day, after catching his snapper, he came over and said, “I see
CUT
Often, a small break in the shoreline is the best place to sit and let the fish come right to the hook. That’s why these classically-styled Costa Cut sunglasses are the perfect companion.
COPPER:
OPTIMAL USE: Cuts glare for eye comfort in a variety of situations, from sight fishing to driving. • 12% light transmission
10
JUNE 2018
• Excellent for sight fishing • Everday activities • Most versatile • Cloudy days
you’re not getting very many.” He proceeded to let me know how and when to target them, and what was and wasn’t the best bait for snapper in the bay. On my next trip I went back to the same spot on a grey and drizzly summers day, with a bucket of whiting for bait, and I caught 11 snapper in an afternoon session. Four or five of them were over the 15lb mark, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! Everything changed from that day on. Some 40 years later, we obviously don’t have the numbers that we did then. However, it’s not all that hard to catch a keeper if you put the time and effort in, and the weather and tides are on your side. Moreton Bay has plenty of fish for all, and snapper are one of the best eating fish there is. You can also pick up a tasty bycatch of grassy sweetlip while you’re at it. BAIT AND BERLEY Whiting is my first choice of bait. Live whiting are best, but whole dead ones are excellent too. Even just the whiting heads are good baits, with a hook through the nose and the frame cut up for berley. Over the years I have found other baits that are extremely good are garfish, pike, razor pillies, small horse mackerel, cuttlefish, small octopus and whole squid. If you’re running low you can also try grinner fillets, if you can put up with the stink. In the past I have also used mullet strips and pillies, but I’ve found that the small picker fish rapidly demolish soft baits, so most of the time you are sitting there with an empty hook, waiting in vain for a
The author with a quality snapper caught in the middle of the day. fish to bite. Yes, there’s a chance you may catch a big fish on a pilly, but for me whiting is the safest bet. This tough bait will resist the pickers for a long time, giving bigger fish a chance to home in on it. Another thing I strongly recommend is to always berley when you’re fishing for snapper. I can’t believe the number of times I’ve found heaps of my berley in their stomachs. You can berley with just about anything, including mashed up fish frames, old
bait, prawn shells, cat food, livestock pellets with added tuna oil, or just pre-made berley from a tackle shop. However, my preference is to simply berley with whatever you are using for bait. You should deploy small pieces of berley (no larger than 2cm) and keep a steady stream going. Add a bit more every 3-5 minutes. People worry about overfeeding the snapper, but with the amount they can hold in their stomachs, and the sheer number of
With their iridescent blue spots, juvenile snapper are a pretty fish.