Going Soft For Snapper At Port Stephens

[Byron]

G'day all,

Well it has been too long between decent reports for me so I was very pleased to be heading up to Port Stephens to meet up with my good mate Nick Brown and get amongst a few Snapper on soft plastics. I knew from experience that a day out with Nick would result in something to write about and I was proved correct on that score.

Headed up to Port on Friday night in my shiny new X-Trail ( ) and settled in at Nick's place for a few sneaky beers and enthusiastic chat about what Saturday would bring. Plans were set for a session on the Snapper, only for once the float baiting rigs would be ditched in favour of soft plastics. We briefly considered heading up to Hallmark Mountain to jig for kings, considering the weather was forecast to be as benign as conditions get, but we stuck to the original plan.

Saturday dawned as a magic day as expected and we were soon heading up to one of my favourite Snapper spots, Broughton Island (see my avatar for reasons why ).

First stop was a gravel patch near Little Gibber, and after sounding around and establishing the direction of the drift we both cast out our 4" Power Minnows on 4-6kg threadlines and began to work the bottom.

Nick quickly drew first blood with a just legal squire, and I followed up with another sub-legal specimen. A procession of mixed reef species followed (Red Rock cod, bakers, wirrahs, pike and wrasse), before we re-positioned for another drift. Again a few small squire were hooked and released and after a couple of drifts we decided to relocate to try and find some serious Snapper.

Now I make no apologies for being a little vague in my location description, however we sounder around the eastern side of the island, and tried a few promising looking locations between 15-25m deep to no avail. Nick then mentioned that he had heard a few reports from divers that a particular spot was holding a few snapper, but they were also vague as to exactly where. Again we sounded around and finally found a spot (now known as the Swimming Pool) that really looked the goods. It was basically a finger of reef in 8-10m that stretched out from the shore about 100m, and dropped away to 13-15m on the edge. It looked very fishy.

Two casts later, Nick was the bearer of the first screaming drag of the morning as a solid fished nailed the powerbait on the drop and made a concerted effort to get back into the reef under a healthy drag setting. A few heart stopping moments later, I slid the net under a beautifully conditioned 3kg Reddie that had absolutely smashed the 4' Berkley. High fives were exchanged and after a few happy snaps, I was super keen to get back into position and post a fish on the scoreboard myself.

As Nick Knocked the motor out of gear, my plastic was already sailing towards the ledge and after a few moments count down, I began my retrieve. Jerk, Jerk, Jerk.....I dropped the rod tip and while taking up the slack was absolutely crunched . I immediately called it for another reddie as it powered off exhibiting the trade mark headshakes of a nice fish. Moments later we had another fish of about 2.5kg in the net and to say we were stoked would be an understatement

What followed over the next hour was some of the best snapper fishing I have experienced. A highlight for me was casting out and whilst counting the lure down to an appropriate depth, and without having closed the bail arm, line just started ripping off the reel. Quickly realising that I had been hit on the drop, I engaged the reel and came up tight on another fish that fought like a demon. I was calling it for the best fish of the morning, however it proved to be another Snapper of around the 3kg mark.

Unfortunately, no bigger fish were encountered during the morning, and I put that down to the benign conditions. I am a firm believer that you need a bit of a stir up to really get the fish on the chew, especially the bigger fish that didn't get that way by being stupid. That said a bag of 2.5-3kg snapper was pretty special considering it was our first real go at Snapper on soft plastics.

After a few drifts with no result, we decided we had enough for a good feed between us, and a decision was made to run over to one of Nick's productive Sand flathead drifts and pick up a few more fish for the table.

Now I am not usually the biggest fan of the bottom bash, but no sooner did our baits hit the bottom in 40m of water that the tell tale rattle of the sand flattie was felt through the braid and my excitement built. A grin spread from ear to ear on my dial as I proceeded to hook up a double of lovely tasty flatties and winch them up to the surface. After one drift of 500m we had a beaut 10 fish bag including a cracker 60cm+ specimen. We left them biting and headed back to the ramp, looking forward to the superb dinner that was on the agenda for the evening.

Now for a few SP snapper details:

Rods were 4-6kg 7 footers with light tips and tough butt sections. My St Croix, built by AG, was an absolute sensation.

Reels were of the 2500 size and spooled with 10lb fireline. Good drags are a must!

Jig heads were Owner Darters/TT Gamas/Nitros in the 1/4- 1/2 ounce range (depending on depth) with heavy wire hooks.

SPs were Berkley Power Minnows in 4" and 5" Jerk Shads

Colours were everything from Smelt Scales to Chartreuse and White

We both fished 20lb Nitlon leaders of about 1.5-2M

Pictures will follow as most were taken on slide film.

Lastly, a big thanks to my mate Nick for once again putting us both in the right place at the right time. Always a pleasure buddy and thanks again!!

Cheers

Byron

Edited July 25, 2005 by Byron

[Trouble]

Great effort byron sounds a like a top trip with some solid fish caught..

[clutch]

Top stuff Byron and an excellent report

I look forward to trying for Snaps on the SP's

[DaveW]

Sounds tops mate - I heard a report on 2KY Saturday morning that plenty had been bagging out on 2-4kg Snapper, good to see it wasn't tackle store talk up

More importantly, did you christen the 'Limited Edition' ?

Nice work!

[Byron]

Sounds tops mate - I heard a report on 2KY Saturday morning that plenty had been bagging out on 2-4kg Snapper, good to see it wasn't tackle store talk up 

More importantly, did you christen the 'Limited Edition' ?

Nice work!

59289[/snapback]

Mate, trust you to think of that!! Actually it performed well above expectations. Nick used it as his other outfit was a little light. Casts nice and loads up well under load. He was so impressed he wanted to take it off my hands! (Congrats on the 8th place too. (P.S. check your PM's on Ausbream mate)

Also, thanks for all the other comments from Fishraiders. All I can say is get out there and have a crack at it. You may be surprised.

Cheers.

[Bashir]

I thought I had a good weekend because the tigers are 4 on the trot That stuff sounds like good winter fun.

[Guest MarkD]

Nice work Byron Thats a solid session. Look forward to the pics.

[ankles]

well done byron

cant wait for the PICS

........ ....

[harry.dz]

Great work Byron.

You had me drooling reading your post, your describions made me feel like

I was fishing withyou.

Top staff.

Hazza

[Guest fishrunner]

great report Byron,

lookin forward to the pics, congrats on cracking the snapper on plastics

cheers

[Guest Jocool]

Great stuff Byron! Sounds like a fun day.

[Byron]

Beers will be sorted my good man!!

Nick has the majority of pics on his SLR, which won't be available till next week. He uses slide film for shots that will make the grade for the mags.

Cheers!!

How is that ridiculous grin of mine

[Guest hottuna]

What can i say....i new we should have made the effort. Getting those sms while Ag and i were getting jack out broken bay wide in perfect conditions was just pain nasty!

Good fish mate

Dan

[ko-i]

Good stuff mate.....

Top report and blow me down, nice pic to boot. Sounds like an unforgetable session.

cheers,

Andrew.

[Byron]

Cheers all!!

Yeah I confess the grin was a bit much but I seriously couldn't help it. I was chuckling away like a fool, and Nick was doing likewise in response.

On the mag front JD, Nick has had quite a few articles published in Saltwater, with another coming up in the Spring addition. As such he always takes shots using slide film to ensure the pics are of the required quality.

Dan,

You are right mate, you should have made the trip, but I will let you know when we are heading up there again (Mid August at this stage) and you are more than welcome to come join us on the water. Sorry about the SMS mate, did not mean to be rubbing it in, just excited about a cracker day!!

Byron