Snapper On Plastics

[brunny23]

Hello Raiders,

Purchased a bluewater boat 2 years ago to do some serious snapper fishing of Sydney and the Gong, Have been putting in a fare few hours with very limited success. I know there are a few threads out there on techniques but, i am after a bit more detail from any experienced red fishos out there.

I have been targeting them on plastics both gulp and squidges and i am looking for bait shows on sounder and fish hugging the bottom then throwing plastics at them with the usual douple flick and slow retrieve, I am using a furuno fcv 620 which i am told is a good bit of gear which i am using on bottom lock.

I have caught to big reds over 4kg but very few little fish in between i am probably averaging 1 red every 4 trips or so, is it that tough out there or am i that hopeless? Go easy!!!

Any feedback on technique and what Reds look like on Furuno FCV 620 would be greatly appreciated.

Regards Brunny

[wojciech]

Wish I could catch one big red for every four trips... great work!

If they were easy to catch I guess no one would bother.

[gamefishn]

G'day brunny,

Thanks for your honesty and a great qn too.

Well 1 fish every 4 hours is pretty average when everything falls into place you will see better results.

Re the sounder you are using, I have not used that model b4 so I can't help you there though I can recommend using burley. Even when you are fishing w plastics set out a burley trail and see the difference in results. I have found by burlying my results greatly imporved.

Good luck and I hope that helps

[BFB]

Hi Brunny23, I have been trying to get onto some good reds for about 3 years and have not had any success. I think you are doing great.

[Dfishin]

Have you tried the old school method. Find the reef and fish schools you are talking about, Anchor up, Burley fairly hard, Floatline baits and some baits on the bottom, try your soft plastics while your baits are in. I Generally can get a nice feed of reds using this method although they can get pretty quite at certain times of the year. I find it alot easier if you have at least one other fisherman in the boat with you because it is hard to keep everything going. what i mean is once you get your burley trail going you will start to lose baits regularly and catching fish, you need to be able to be rebaiting, catching fish and keeping that burley going constantly.

The prime time for snapper is pretty much over. I find the best months are may-September. They are still around but they tend to move out into deeper reefs through summer.

I hope this helps you a bit.

Dave

[Dfishin]

They also come on the chew straight after a big southerly swell and wind on the shallower reefs ( like right in close ).

So try going out as soon as it is safe after a big southerly storm.

[brunny23]

Thanks for the feedback will try the berly with SP's

[brunny23]

I will post another topic on Furuno fcv-620.

Cheers

[dabble]

i think the problem you might be having is that your using the sounder too much. I know it sounds strange but if your plasticing you should be fishing ahead of your drift and catching snapper that have not been spooked by the boat. This is why alot of good snapper on plastics are caught while the plastic is sinking often very high in the water column. Use your GPS and map cards more than your sounder. Look on your charts for reefs in 15-20metres then try and line up a drift to pass over the top casting ahead and slightly to the the side of the way your drifting. Most fish will take the plastic while its sinking. I mostly use 3/8oz jig heads. Most importantly DO NOT drive over the areas you are about to fish. I got all this info on a DVD and it has worked well for us, improved our hit rates massively and makes alot of sense. You would never drive over sand flats or around oyster leases before fishing for bream and the same principle applies even in 50ft of water. We have caught them right up on the surface in 70ft of water!

good luck

[brunny23]

Thanks mate i will give that a go! Are you using this method through summer or just in the colder months?

[dabble]

Thanks mate i will give that a go! Are you using this method through summer or just in the colder months?

All year round, surprisingly we have had some good sessions in the middle of summer. Also worth remebering to cast at anything out of the ordinaary that you see and let your lure sink under it, floating objects, schools of sweep, pelagics breaking the surface , current lines etc. This method works in the washes of big headlands and also in shallower water - just scale down the jighead weight a bit to 1/4 maybe.