Ever wondered how to target Winter Sunny Coast Snapper? Wonder no more. In the cooler months, Snapper will school up in large numbers to spawn. This makes them an easy target, and there is a number of ways to get them.
Both bait and lures work well. One little tip with soft plastic lures is to not use a jig head weight that is too heavy. Assess the speed of the current, and rig up a jig head that will let your soft plastic just waft its way through the water column, rather than plummet straight down. This way the fish that sit in the middle of the water column have time to see it.
When using bait, there are a couple of rigs you can use. The first is the classic paternoster. Heavy lead at the bottom, one or two swinging hooks and pieces of squid, mullet, whatever takes your fancy.
The other rig to try is fairly simple. Take a set of ganged hooks and tie them on with a running ball sinker on the same line. Again match the sinker weight to the depth and run in the current. We used a 5 weight in 90m of water. From here, tie this line onto a swivel, this prevents the sinker running up and down your main line. Finally, we would recommend a little piece of lumo tube to attract attention.
We recommend heading out with a guide to learn all the tips and tricks. Rob Smith of Smithy’s Fishing Charters is one of the best operators on the Sunny Coast. He’s been doing it forever, and knows all the tricks in the book.
You will find a range of plastics, jig heads and tackle to chase snapper at your local BCF.
