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Snapper on SP - Bate Bay

Larkin

By Larkin
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Larkin MAKO

Larkin

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Bit of a long story… I couldn't remember my phone password the night before heading out - I had guessed wrong 9 times, with only 1 try left before the phone was disabled. Thought I’d leave it till the morning in case my mind clears - but alas the tenth was also wrong.

All my navonics marks are on my phone - so had to fly blind today as i didn't have time to erase/reset the phone to get it working again.

Anyway, headed out of port hacking and into bate bay - I only had my fish finder navigation - which isn't the best, so instead of live baiting around the bommie in search of kings which was my original plan, I decided to go up to northern bate bay to try for some snapper.

I sounded up some reef that looked promising and threw out some cut baits, unfortunately no takers. Looking at the sounder I could see there was a good sized bait ball below with some larger fish underneath it and behind following.


I had recently purchased some 5inch Zman grubs in pearl, so decided to give these a try. Did a long cast out, left the bail open & let it waft down as @Scratchie has said to do in his “how to catch snapper on SP” article.👍
The grub wafts down through the bait ball & bang…big strike and off we go with a nice run. Wasn’t sure what it was at first - maybe a kingy? Nah, the run stopped and some head shakes - now I’m thinking a good sized snapper?  I'm fighting for about 2-3 mins with more head shakes and after a couple of runs, up comes a good sized Red.

My first snapper on a SP!! - was a nice fat fish going 56cm. 

 

Anyway cast out the grub again and hooked up to a decent sized sergeant baker - tossed back.

The wind picked up and the SP seemed to not be reaching bottom with the jighead I was using , so I decide to try bait again. Tossed out a paternoster and up comes another good sized snapper - smaller than the first this time going 42cm

At 10am decided to hit up my flatty spot to the south - but as I was heading down the wind picked up a lot - drift was too fast so headed back in to try for squid - unfortunately no go on the squid today.

19A75C8E-F3AD-4C69-897F-7B3D5B2616D3.jpeg.0cae161b0ed7c79c8581cf569c0f9b57.jpegE63EC8A6-C8CF-4E91-B499-C3F36E87C881.jpeg.c8653e658463571e0cecf96a8bf6183b.jpeg
 

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Larkin MAKO

Larkin

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11 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Now that's a feed! Good to see a few Raiders following @Scratchie's advice. Surprise surprise, when they do what he says, they get into the fish!

thanks mike!
Yeah that article he wrote on snapper fishing with SP is a must read for anyone wanting to get onto some snapper.

9 hours ago, Bluebenbomb said:

Wow, even though you didn't have your navonic marks, you still produced a solid bag of fish. Well done on the report and photos.

Thanks BlueBen, ended up just looking for a certain type of structure on the sounder.

7 hours ago, Yowie said:

Very nice reds from the bay, certainly paid off for the effort, and great eating size.

thanks Yowie, It was quite a thick and heavy fish. It’s surprising how thick they get once they reach a certain length.

7 hours ago, Rebel said:

Top report.

Great haul.

Well done.

Super photos.

thanks rebel! 
 

4 hours ago, Isaac Ct said:

Nice report mats, well done. Cracking snapper.

thanks Isaac was chuffed to get it on a SP

2 hours ago, Squidless said:

Nice report, sounds like an eventful day. A great snapper for your first one on SP! I have only caught tiny pinkies on plastics. What depth were you fishing at for them and what size jig head did you use?

Shame the squid haven't been cooperating lately.

Hi Squidless, was fun to get out for a fish and chuffed that I got it on a SP. Haven’t seen any squid around for about a month in the hacking. Although haven’t tried out in the deeper water.

I was using a 3/8 jighead in 5/0 and fishing in around 30-35m depth.

 

 

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Larkin MAKO

Larkin

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7 hours ago, Welster said:

Awesome report Larkin and congrats on your first SP red.  

Thanks Welster - wasn’t expecting it to get hit, was a nice surprise when the rod went off.

 

5 hours ago, jenno64 said:

Awesome work Larkin and congrats on your first red on an SP! Great size for the bbq:)

Thanks Rob, 

been seeing some big fish on the sounder, but not taking bait - the SP did the trick.

Might have to fire up the barbie on this one!

14 hours ago, Yowie said:

The red piggies do not grow too big at all, but are good eating. I just fillet them, if lucky to catch one now and then.

Do you grill, batter or crumb?

most fish I end up filleting and battering - although I prefer some fish, like mahi for example crumbed. Other times I’ll grill with garlic, butter and herbs.

On 9/17/2022 at 7:15 PM, Isaac Ct said:

I have heard pigfish are fantastic eating, as the saying goes, anything that is red tastes good. Or something like that

I heard they go alright too - nice white flesh with good flavour. Maybe next time if I’m lucky enough to catch another.

1 hour ago, Fried Rice said:

Nice fish. Do what everybody else does and write ur passwords down somewhere...

thanks fried rice!

I was installing a new computer - loading up all the programs, email accounts ect I had entered around 30+ passwords setting it up and my brain went to mush. Maybe I’m just getting old. Lol 

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Scratchie WAHOO

Scratchie

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Nice work on the reds! Especially on soft plastics. It’s a very addictive and active way to fish! The more you do it, the more you’ll work things out and the fish will get bigger! 
One thing I noticed was that you adjusted your drag after you hooked up! For me, this is a no no! With soft plastic fishing you should have a tight firm drag before you cast and don’t adjust it during the fight. The reason behind this is that the preset drag sets the tone for the battle, on big fish allows you to strike hard to set the hook and turn the fishes head asap! Just my opinion! 
Well done though, good fish! 😎

cheers scratchie!!! 

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Larkin MAKO

Larkin

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1 hour ago, Scratchie said:

Nice work on the reds! Especially on soft plastics. It’s a very addictive and active way to fish! The more you do it, the more you’ll work things out and the fish will get bigger! 
One thing I noticed was that you adjusted your drag after you hooked up! For me, this is a no no! With soft plastic fishing you should have a tight firm drag before you cast and don’t adjust it during the fight. The reason behind this is that the preset drag sets the tone for the battle, on big fish allows you to strike hard to set the hook and turn the fishes head asap! Just my opinion! 
Well done though, good fish! 😎

cheers scratchie!!! 

Thanks Scratchie!

even though I was wafting out a SP in snapper territory, I really wasn’t expecting a taker to be honest. 

Thanks for the tip on the drag, it was def set a little low. After the hit, I started to feel the fish turn downwards, so I cranked it up a little. Next time I’m going to be a bit more prepared. 👍

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