craigbutcher Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 HI Raiders, Did a session last night off the northern beaches. Within 5 minutes of baits floating down, line screams off, I said to my bro “set the hook”, he didn’t set hard enough and it managed to get away…. Ahhhh. Good red! I am calling 5kg at least. 30mins later, and some berley has been deployed. I have my bail arm open as I drifted a float down the berley trail, I look down and can see the line flying off my reel with the bail arm open. Quickly snap the bail arm down and I am on. Good red! Around the 4KG MARK. No Jews, however, had some fun on the reds last night! Butch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISHARK Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Very nice red there Butch .....Well Done mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Great catch Butch What type of gear are you using and what's the fight typically like with a red like that? Would love to get onto one in the future. Cheers Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigbutcher Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 HI Paul, Depends on the terrain a bit bud, most reds won't reef you as it's not their nature, however, the big ones can quite easily on their aggressive strike & first run! I was running only 20lb braid & a long 20lb fluro leader, and I have fished as light as 10lb for them, however, you can loose big fish and I have lost some big reds fishing too light! Their first run is explosive, then they ease a little! Butch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbf1 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Nice fish! Was that on live bait? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigbutcher Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hi Mate, no was taken of SQUID STRIP which i caught, however, froze and defrosted twice, very ordinary bait. However, we got nailed on Yakka fillets too. They arent very fussy offshore some of these REDS when you get that berley working! Butch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbf1 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Wow i have always gone North of Coffs to catch Reds like that and never got them at night. Nice to see our local water still produce nice fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Really nice snapper there!!! North beaches??? Palm beach area??? I love catching em, and your right the first run is a cracker!!! Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinny1 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Holy Snappin well done mate , you should have put a boot in front of that red i reckon you would have been a walk up start for "catch of the month " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wahoo76 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hey Butch. Well done again mate. You are the Snapper king in my opinion. I've fished Longy hard over the last couple of years with limited success. Would you say you get results (good fish) most times you get out there? you've mentioned your technics publicly about a good berley trail and floating baits back which makes sense but I can't seem to crack any reds. Plenty of other non target species like wrasse and trevvas. Maybe it's specific spots but I do drift around abit also. I always start thinking Longy is over rated, then you put a report up and G me up again. Anyhow well done again. Pleasure reading your reports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigbutcher Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 G'day Wahoo 76, yeh buddy, we do usually get a reasonable fish each session as long as there is some current, however, in the early days spent a lot of time with not a lot of success, I at one point was fishing lony 3 times per week. One important thing to release with REDS is they love Current, and plenty of it! Spots that ARE OUT OF THE current (protected from current) such as MUGS reef and some of the close reefs are not good places to chase reds, as they like a good current. "NO RUN, NO FUN". Fish those zone where the current is raging and there is some form of structure. Opportunistic feeders sit in the current and take bait which is moving with the current. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigbutcher Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 HI Wahoo 76, better clarify without sounding like a D?;K:*&D in my last post... We still have plenty of days when it's just not happening too. Absolutely! I just make sure I spend lost of time listening to guys in the northern beaches fishin club and learn as much as I can. They talk about what spots to fish in a north current, what spots to fish in a south current. I just listen and learn and try not to say much... All the best bud! Butch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Thanks Butch Some great info there and very inspiring. Hopefully won't be too long before I get to give it a shot. I've always felt the smaller snapper have fought similarly with the initial explosive pulls so very keen to try and get onto something bigger. Cheers Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigbutcher Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Yeah Paul, you will mate. Sounds around the 30-40m mark anywhere where there is current and a little bit of broken reef. Achor up and berley like a mad man! 4kg of pillies or yakka cubes, they all work! The Snapper will come eventually... Last year Gav & Muzza two brothers from the fishing club told me they were fishing around the 40m mark on a known reef for like 2 hours, no real hits. They just kept berleying and berleying. As soon as they were about to pull the anchor and head home, all hell (heaven) broke loose! ZZZZZZZ... I think the final takings ended up being 15 big snapper up to 5kg, 3 solid Trag and 1 Big Jewie! Amazing session! They reckon it was light turning a light switch on, every rod started to go. Epic! Butch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wahoo76 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Thanks for the info Butch. Mate appreciate it. I'm chasing kings this weekend the next trip is a snapper bash. I'll try find a good spot in 40 metres and work it hard. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwood1980 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 when catching snappers you don't use any sinkers? Nice catch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigbutcher Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 Hi Eastwood 1980, Mate fish as light as you can. you want to bait to work down the berley trail slow. I have got snapper just under the surface in 32m of water, no kidding. As you get down on the bottom you will catch the BAKERS, BANJOS & PESTS. Keep you baits on the middle water and drifting slowly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasksta Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Exactly what brand do you use for burley. 4kg of WA pillies is one expensive snapper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Think the snapper was 4kg, not the burley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil D Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Nice catch, great to see the Snapper are coming back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigbutcher Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 Yeh they are on Groper. How's fishing buddy? Mate, you've got more RECORDS than THE DEEP SOUTH! Love your work! Butch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Mate, curious to know have you even thrown out a whiting head on a big hook as bait while cubing up for snapper? Ive heard they love them and seems like a good idea seeing as you can catch good whiting off the beach atm, still seems to be some good snapper around based on your reports as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigbutcher Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Mate I have used whiting heads for bait, however, it got dusted by a shark. My mate uses BONITO HEADS, SLIMEY HEADS, FRIGATE HEADS etc and all work well! The problem is the sharks though, they love the heads too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Hmm yeah good point on the sharks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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