Snapper Session Bate Bay

[Larkin]

Thursday 26th May 2022

Gday Raiders,

I’ve been doing a bit of research trying to find some potential snapper spots around port hacking. 
Last week headed out and did some recon - sounded up some spots that were looking good on navonics. 
I’ve been trying to find reef drop offs & ledges that drop down onto gravel. 
During the recon session caught a couple of 28cm pinkies, 2 sergeant bakers, 2 x scorpion/red rock cods and a Mack tuna on the troll. Just kept the Mack for bait.

I also wasn’t happy with the paternoster rigs I was using - they kept snagging and twisting. (Good for flatties over sand, but no good over reef)

Ended up adjusting the lengths on my paternosters, put a break away line on the sinker and purchased some high quality ball bearing snap swivels and added some 3ways which fixed the issues.

Headed out this morning - as I was entering Bate Bay noticed some surface action - tossed out a jerk shad (that I had pre rigged for my snapper session) and after 2 casts hooked up to a tailor.

After a few more casts they seemed to have moved on and so did I.

Reached my destination, sounded up the ledge I had been planing to visit and started my drift.

bait used: salted Bonito & Mack tuna strip baits. 

the take:

5 x snappers - largest 54cm

4 x scorpion/ red rock cod - caught more but released

2 x bonito (one caught on white jerk shad and the second on the troll - halco hardbody 140mm)

1 x nannygai

As I was fishing 5 meters away from my JetSki a humpback whale surfaced and blew air. It took a peek at me, submerged and decided to swim beneath my ski (I could see it swimming under me) - it surfaced again on the other side just meters away, again blowing air. It submerged one more time coming up 15m in front,  took one more dive and left.

Edited May 28, 2022 by Larkin

[leonardgid]

choice bag of fish , some other time  can you show us a photo of your   rig  that you used on these fish  please 

 

[Little_Flatty]

Now that's a feed and a half @Larkin!

Always satisfying when a plan comes together. Is that esky on your jet ski?

[Isaac Ct]

Great stuff mate, must be very satisfying for your plan to pay of and for you to produce great results.

Well done.

[Scooter0069]

Nice bag of fish Larkin hoping to head out on Sunday might see you out there

[frankS]

Great bag of fish you done well.

Be careful around whales, they sometimes like to scratch their back on the bottom of a boats hull, your Jet ski would easily be toppled over.

Frank

[saltrix]

Nice catch and good video.

How big was the whale.

Be careful with those red  rock cod, sometimes they cause really severe pain from a spike, I don’t know why, other times they don’t seem to.

[Larkin]

10 hours ago, leonardgid said:

choice bag of fish , some other time  can you show us a photo of your   rig  that you used on these fish  please 

 

Thanks leonardgid,

it’s a standard paternoster with one dropper (5/0 suicide). 
I lost a few rigs the week before, so made the dropper a little shorter and the line to the sinker longer to keep the hook from getting snagged. I also used 12lb line on the sinker so it would break away if it got snagged. 
Purchased some high quality ball bearing snap swivels - not cheap at about 10 bucks each - but difference was night and day regarding line twist. I’ll put a photo up for you later.

3 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Now that's a feed and a half @Larkin!

Always satisfying when a plan comes together. Is that esky on your jet ski?

Thanks little flatty, been researching maps/ sonar charts and reading older posts on what types of structures to look for.

The esky is a standard extra from Sea Doo, it locks into the back of the ski. It has rod holders that attach to it. Mine has an extension (smaller compartment on top) and I have a live bait tank attached to the side.

2 hours ago, Isaac Ct said:

Great stuff mate, must be very satisfying for your plan to pay of and for you to produce great results.

Well done.

thanks Isaac, I go over maps, depths, sonar charts when I’m at home - I use navonics on my phone and plot areas to explore.

I mainly look for very steep drop offs where depth changes dramatically.

I found this works on sand too when doing a deep water flathead drift - find an area where the water depth changes over a short area and drift fish the top edge.

2 hours ago, Scooter0069 said:

Nice bag of fish Larkin hoping to head out on Sunday might see you out there

Thanks scooter, good luck out there mate.

1 hour ago, frankS said:

Great bag of fish you done well.

Be careful around whales, they sometimes like to scratch their back on the bottom of a boats hull, your Jet ski would easily be toppled over.

Frank

Thanks Frank, it came out of nowhere.

seas were really flat, no wind - perfect conditions & didn’t see anything around - was just drift fishing and up pops a whale beside me. It had a look and after a minute, left. To say it was a surprise is an understatement.

1 hour ago, saltrix said:

Nice catch and good video.

How big was the whale.

Be careful with those red  rock cod, sometimes they cause really severe pain from a spike, I don’t know why, other times they don’t seem to.

thanks saltrix, was a good day out.

I guesstimate it was about 3 lengths of my ski, so around 9m or so. Wasn’t a huge huge one.

When I was a kid around 9 or 10, I got spiked by a scorpion fish - to this day I vividly remember that pain. 1 hour of the most intense throbbing pain I’ve ever felt. It didn’t dull or pass for a solid hour at a pain rating of 10/10. 
That’s a memory that stays with you for life 😂

[Restyle]

Cracker trip out! Awesome bag of fish,better yet at a spot you found yourself 

[Rebel]

Great haul.

Super photos.

Well done.

[Larkin]

9 hours ago, Restyle said:

Cracker trip out! Awesome bag of fish,better yet at a spot you found yourself 

Thanks restyle, been researching the local area looking for the honey holes. Still have a few more spots I plan to try out.

9 hours ago, Rebel said:

Great haul.

Super photos.

Well done.

Thanks Rebel

[Pickles]

A top mixed bag @Larkin, looks like a fish shop window - well done.

[Scratchie]

Great report and some great work on your capture too! Doing a bit of research and coming up successful is very rewarding! Well done 👍 

cheers scratchie!!!

[jenno64]

Go Larkin!

 

Your preparation paid off and some top table fish there!

[Larkin]

On 5/29/2022 at 3:29 PM, Pickles said:

A top mixed bag @Larkin, looks like a fish shop window - well done.

Thanks mate, Will make a few good meals and some went to family.

11 hours ago, Scratchie said:

Great report and some great work on your capture too! Doing a bit of research and coming up successful is very rewarding! Well done 👍 

cheers scratchie!!!

Thanks mate, your snapper article helped me out a lot. I threw out the jerk shad - long cast and let it work it’s way down - and made sure to circle back around not to spook - but i only gave it a few casts here and there as the bait lines kept me busy. Next time will give the plastics more of a crack and hopefully pick up a bigger model!

9 hours ago, jenno64 said:

Go Larkin!

 

Your preparation paid off and some top table fish there!

Thanks Rob, been trying to crack the snapper code for a while. Hopefully I can back it up again. 

[Yowie]

A nice bag of fish, for the table and the bait box. The larger reds are a good eating size.

[frankS]

With that bag of fish you have there I would say you have found a honey hole, so keep at it and you will find you will be able to fine tune the location and get great results. No need to travel all over the ocean when you find a good spot stick to it and refine your style of fishing and you will get regular results.

Frank

[Larkin]

21 hours ago, Yowie said:

A nice bag of fish, for the table and the bait box. The larger reds are a good eating size.

Thanks yowie, was happy to finally find a few.

7 hours ago, frankS said:

With that bag of fish you have there I would say you have found a honey hole, so keep at it and you will find you will be able to fine tune the location and get great results. No need to travel all over the ocean when you find a good spot stick to it and refine your style of fishing and you will get regular results.

Frank

Hi Frank, they were all caught between 9am and 11am on an incoming tide (I had tried two other spots earlier, on the way there).
Next time going to try some larger baits, snapper flasher rigs and cast out some soft plastic jerk Shad’s just to see what works and if any larger models about. 

Hopefully wasn’t a one off passing of fish.