Who Is The Fishraider Snapper Guru

[PPSGT]

Hi Fishraiders -

Its Friday afternoon and the boss left for an "appointment" at 11.30am so after a extended lunch break

I have spent the rest of the day searching through fishraider to find a local Sydney Snapper Guru.

I have been in Sydney for about 2 years now - and have had a ball chasing Kings and there are plenty

of King Guru's to learn from - but just like back in Adelaide people would give away family members

before their favourite snapper marks - and Snapper Gurus leave ramps early, arrive back at ramps early

and go by the motto " you didnt see anything..." ( i used to live next to a boat ramp in Adelaide )

Anyway would love to hear from any gun Sydney snapper fisherman who would like to swap some

tips and tricks on chasing reds off Sydney - happy to share my Snapper resume I've caught

a "mythical" 30 pounder and plenty of 6-8kg fish - But my goal is to get one over 5kg off Sydney,

so I can send a photo back to my mates in Adelaide as proof that legal snapper exist in NSW.

I dont have any Sydney marks to share - but have an extensive Snapper DVD collection and heaps of knowledge to share in return for some marks or tips.

Also if anyone is looking for a snapper fishing buddy let me know - either as a deckie, a spot on my boat

or team up 2 boats for a day on the water. Dont mind overnighters or cold weather and never get seasick

(PM me if you like - I'll take your marks to my grave )

Jason

PS: I think FR should have a "BIG RED" Social - The Kingy one was fantastic!

Sharing BBQ'd snapper at Clifton Gardens with other Fishraiders would be a great way

to end a day on the water

[netic]

Mate from my time on FR i have never seen a SNapper guru...they are people who do get the good snapper here and there but none regurlary.....from what i know Longy is a good spot to try for some reds

[Guest DV8]

"I didn't see anything"

[abiasin]

Mate from my time on FR i have never seen a SNapper guru...they are people who do get the good snapper here and there but none regurlary.....from what i know Longy is a good spot to try for some reds

i know of a couple of guys that fish long reef for good snapper and also east reef out of broken bay.

[livo]

Big Reds on the coast are few and far between these days. One afternoon after work about 6 yrs ago (I think) I took a mate out to Terrigal Wide and we bagged out on plate size reds and 40 - 50 cm flatties BUT when we were cleaning at the ramp a larger boat came in from Texas with a 2 man bag limit of Reds above 2 kg and up to 5 kg. Amazing and I've only seen it that once. They were throwing good fish away because the bigger ones kept coming up. Fish were going mad that day and we ran out of bait in about 2 hours.

To give you an idea of the time it was just before the size limit changed from 28cm to 30cm. I can't remember when that was but someone will. My mate was pissed at me because I had him throwing back legals and telling him to get used to it. The guys from the other boat said they were pulling them up as doubles on Paternoster rigs out of deep water. They were obviously prepared for it as they were cutting up cutlets with a hacksaw, which I can tell you is not part of my usual cleaning tool kit.

About 5 years ago at Easter another of my fishing mates went out from Norah Head with his "very secretive buddy" and scored a full box of big Reds to 5 kg at Bird Island in 35 mteres of water. Just one day and they were there. I think it's mainly a matter of luck as we've been back to this spot for small reds and or nothing. People will say there are no more Snapper at Norah Head but the blokes who still catch them don't believe it.

The above-mentioned "very secretive buddy" would put his boat straight on the trailer and drive away from the ramp without talking to anybody. Never cleaned fish at the table so no one would see what they had and my mate was under instruction to "Tell them nothing" while holding the boat, waiting for the trailer to come down the ramp. I cant make my mate fish with anything other than a running ball sinker down to the hook as that was how he was taught to catch reds and thats all he wants. Mind you he catches some.

My old butcher, Grant and his mates used to hit Wooli with 4 boats for a two week Snapper session every year and maybe they still do. I haven't seen him for about 3 years since he moved shop but they sure did catch some. I've seen his photos. 70 odd fish in four or five fishing days per boat over a 2 week period. He also used to catch Reds at Norah Head and he told me that most fishos motored over the top of them to fish deep water for nothing.

Our waters here are very different to places like Port Phillip Bay which is obviously a point on the migratory route of Reds. I'd love to go there as there is very little that comes close to the hit, run and shake of a good snapper.

I've caught a couple of nice ones just south of Broughton Island in about 20 meters of water fishing with floaters in a heavy berley trail but as far as East Reef goes I've caught nothing bar 1 just legal fish in my last 4 stops.

The Red has become a bit of a challenge and I dont think your ever going to outdo your southern friends.

Edited May 29, 2007 by livo

[wildfish]

thanks livo for some good info, as opposed to PPSGT im just looking at learning to catch a feed!

so not needing to out do anyone!

[Guest DV8]

When i bought my boat 10 years ago my mate told me the best lesson.

He said everyone wants to be a hero and go miles out, no one fishes in close anymore.

I started my reddie fishing following that advice and just stayed in close. Most of the grounds I fish i have never seen anyone else fish and I get my share of reds. Just get out there and look for cobbly patchy ground close in.

davo

[Kiwi Dan]

Hello mate,

Im heading out to long reef Monday for a Snapper session, if your avaliable and want to bring your boat along. Ive never fished it so im just going to play it by ear and give it a go.

Cheers

Kiwi Dan

[sparkles]

If we have a hacker who can hack into the camera on top of the long reef submarine bouy. we could watch where people are catching the big reds.

Then we can say "we saw everything."

[Frantic]

yes caught a few good snapper up to 5kg but is off Nambucca Heads .Only in about 25 to 40 m of water.

and had friends go out to 70 to100m of water and get nothing but babies.500m off the beach.

[azza84]

mate if get da chance to go down south dares plenty of good reddie spots down there.but u wont get to many ppl tell u where they are ull ave to just try and find a spot urself.

[keenas]

I think the days of consistently catching 5kg reds off sydney are long gone. The months leading up to and

including spring are proberbly your best chance.Fish 0f 1-2kg range are pretty consistent all year round,but

sometimes you may have to work a little harder to find them.I personally like to fish water 35-50mtrs on

all sorts of ground,most times do not have a problem with the jackets at this depth.As for a surefire way

to always catch snapper i have yet to find it ,as you already have caught good reds in S.A. you

would know the general musts of catching reds,i.e. steady burley trail,freshest bait available,least amount

of lead possible, soft plastics are also another option.As for location edges of hard reef,broken reef,or gravel,if you can't find anything on the sounder try drifting until you find fish and anchor up.I believe

there are 10kg fish off sydney just gotta catch it . As big rexxie says if we always caught fish it would

be called CATCHING

p.s. did reply to your p.m.

i'm going out this friday if you want to come along

[wildfish]

not sure how true but in todays paper the fishing report mentions a 5kg snapper caught at banjo patterson reserve during the week!