Broughton reds

[Maverick1]

Rick/Jeff, firstly congratulations on a great days fishing - doesn't happen all that often so you have to live and breathe it when it does!!

I'm a new member and first post so what I'm not what I do next follows right etiquette or is in the correct area of the forum.

We also do a fair amount of float lining for snapper, mainly out of Norah head (but have done the Bay and Broughton Is) and do ok but we have major problems landing the size of snapper you seem to boat on a regular basis.   And we are fishing 18-20m and what I read you are in 13-14m??

We use 4000 size reels, combination of straight through 20lb mono and braid with 20lb leader, snelled 4/0 circle and J hooks, and whole pillies and squid for bait.  We have tried lighter lines but that just doesn't work.  We can land good size pennies but the XOS just beat us everytime, by reefing us or just break the line due to the drag we try to use.

What are we doing wrong???    Any advice would be really appreciated as it is really frustrating the hell out of to know they are there, you can hook them but no chance to landing them get them...

Again apologies if I'm pushing my luck asking for advice but I had to give it a go.

Cheers

Paul

[Scratchie]

1 hour ago, Maverick1 said:

Rick/Jeff, firstly congratulations on a great days fishing - doesn't happen all that often so you have to live and breathe it when it does!!

I'm a new member and first post so what I'm not what I do next follows right etiquette or is in the correct area of the forum.

We also do a fair amount of float lining for snapper, mainly out of Norah head (but have done the Bay and Broughton Is) and do ok but we have major problems landing the size of snapper you seem to boat on a regular basis.   And we are fishing 18-20m and what I read you are in 13-14m??

We use 4000 size reels, combination of straight through 20lb mono and braid with 20lb leader, snelled 4/0 circle and J hooks, and whole pillies and squid for bait.  We have tried lighter lines but that just doesn't work.  We can land good size pennies but the XOS just beat us everytime, by reefing us or just break the line due to the drag we try to use.

What are we doing wrong???    Any advice would be really appreciated as it is really frustrating the hell out of to know they are there, you can hook them but no chance to landing them get them...

Again apologies if I'm pushing my luck asking for advice but I had to give it a go.

Cheers

Paul

Hey Paul,

Firstly, welcome to fishraider!!! 

Rick and I fish totally different generally but on the odd occasion I do use ricks method of bait and it works beautifully!!! 

Chasing snapper is my passion and there is no greater feeling than landing a beaut on sp’s! Most of the fish I chase now days are on soft plastics. Less bycatch, more active imo and not as smelly! Lol. 

But...... if I’m anchoring to catch fish, I use burley, fresh bait and lightly weighed presented hooks as possible floated down the burley trail. My setup is generally a 20lb braid mainline with 20lb fluorocarbon leader. 4000 fk stadic and a 4-6kg rod. (Rick uses slightly different but works for him) 

The area is the key amongst many other factors. There is no one magic answer but using the right gear, bait and technique in the right area should yield some decent fish. Too add, I fish with a decently tight drag so I can turn the fishes head ASAP. If it’s a big fish I know straight away as it will pull some good drag. There is a balance though between tight and too tight. 

Mostly though, everything comes from experience. Ive spent many years with trial and error, and have also fished these areas for many many years! 

Reading the info a lot of our experienced raiders provide is priceless!!! 

Hope that helps,

cheers scratchie!!! 

[rickmarlin62]

hi paul  welcome to the fold  mate its a balancing act with bigger reds in shallow reef areas..over the years ive tried light/heavy.and have settled on 15lb mono..i fish light to medium drag..the more hurt you put on them the more they will go to ground and brick you...I have had 100 mtrs of line out on 8kg fish then work them back no problem..then the next fish will brick you..how big some of these lost fish are anyones guess..ive caught a few over 10kg..but been smoked by others.???????   I got dusted by a red on fri evening.then my mate got a 78cm next throw that gave no bother..occasionally I fish twenty lb on an overhead with big baits..im talkin nearly a whole 30cm slimy..i wont use circles..i use fairly small hooks  1/0 short shank titaniums for strips..3/0 4/0 for slimy or yakka heads pinned thru jaws..most fish are hooked in lips  circles struggle to bight in such a hard mouth....we get reds in surprisingly shallow water just on dark..but I get a lot in the 30/50 ft range even in the middle of the day...I live at gorokan and have fished Swansea/norah/terrigal all my life..there are good spots near bird island and south of norah...a lot of ground holds fish but most guys drive past it goin out to texas and the perch grounds...keep watching this space if your interested in a meet greet fish weekend soon...rick

[Maverick1]

Thanks Jeff and Rick, your advice is very much appreciated and we will be changing a few things to our setup - circle hooks will be dusted.  The rest comes down to being on the water and patience

Bird Island is one of our favourite haunts that's where we lose them...

Jeff, we use plastics extensively as well and again get some good fish but don't seem to get the same numbers when they turn on in a burley trail.  We normally use plastics in deeper water during the day and finish with floaters in the evening...

Would definitely be interested in a meet greet fish session so will keep an eye out.

Thanks again gents

[Scratchie]

18 minutes ago, Maverick1 said:

Thanks Jeff and Rick, your advice is very much appreciated and we will be changing a few things to our setup - circle hooks will be dusted.  The rest comes down to being on the water and patience

Bird Island is one of our favourite haunts that's where we lose them...

Jeff, we use plastics extensively as well and again get some good fish but don't seem to get the same numbers when they turn on in a burley trail.  We normally use plastics in deeper water during the day and finish with floaters in the evening...

Would definitely be interested in a meet greet fish session so will keep an eye out.

Thanks again gents

What soft plastics do you use to target snapper and what jigs? 

Most to nearly all my sp snaps come from 8-15m of water! 

P.s I don’t use circle hooks either. Only for when live baiting for marlin. 

[Maverick1]

normally 7" gulp jerk shads in assorted colours, normally start with pearl white and go from there.  3/8 and 1/2 oz TT jigheads depending on depth and current.  2500 size reels with variety of spools with 10, 15, 20 lb braid and same fluro leaders.  6'6" rods. normal SP gear

you must be fishing first light and dusk for that depth?   I'm talking 20-40m in the daylight hours light "the V's" at PS 

And I imagine Port Stephens has lots more options for SP's around the islands etc than the central coast and Sydney?  What type of fishing locations do you look for?  when fishing shallow water we normally try to find reef peaks with 2-3m drop-offs and throw plastics around searching for fish or anchor up current and float baits back towards to peak

This a typical catch, doesn't happen all that often and not complaining but we would miss 3-4 XOS during a session.  

[Maverick1]

There is one more question I had (actually I have lots :)..)  I was under the illusion that mature snapper headed out to deeper water 40+ during the summer months and were only in shallow water during the winter months to breed and eat cuttlefish.

You have obviously blown that myth out of the water - are these resident PS snapper?  Any thoughts on this?  

[rickmarlin62]

after many years of comp spearfishing..you would be amazed where I have seen big reds in the middle of the day....this led me to knowing spots to fish burley n floaters...there are lots of shallow reefs up n down the coast..find a spot to try anchor up current and fish back to the face of the reef and onto the top of it.....looking on google or any of the mapping sites with satellite..you can pick hundreds of reefs just off headlands..from barrenjoey to north head there are dozens of reefs that look good on satellite...how many people ever try them.???rick

[Scratchie]

7 hours ago, Maverick1 said:

you must be fishing first light and dusk for that depth?

Yes mate! They are the most productive hours but in saying that, my last two over 80’s, were in the same area in the middle of the day! 

With your setup, the main thing I’d change would be your reel size. A 4000 reel gives you that bit more grunt to turn the fish. Don’t worry about 10lb. Your jigs are fine with that depth. But in shallower water I use nitro tt 1/4oz 4/0xh matched with a 5inch and 1/4oz 5/0xh with 7inch and sometimes a 1/6 weight. My favourite go to lure is a zman 5 or 7 inch shad in coconut ice! Deadly! The other part of sps is keeping the lure in the “strike zone”. Believe it or not I actually don’t impart much action at all. A long cast is more important. Let it waft, then long high loops always maintaining close contact with the line. Once your close to the boat wind in fast and you’ll be surprised at the bycatch( kings, bonito, trevally etc) then repeat process! 

The other thing, is work those drop offs like rick suggested. Bait will either sit on top or push hard against the ledge. Snapper are opportunistic fish and will sit under waiting for an opportunity! A nicely presented sp or fresh bait and your on! Hope that all makes sense! 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[Maverick1]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the help and advice.  Will be trying a few new things in both gear and locations.

Next time we go to PS will give you a ping.