Advice

[smile0784]

i use a 4kg flathead rod with 30lb braid and was catching 6kg snapper on it and you defently know you have one on when it doubles over
but its a hell of biceps work out and make sure you have plenty of line
i wouldnt go under 6kg if i had the choice

[cheaterparts]

As it has been said both bays are different , PPB I caught a 76 cm (5.4 Kg) snapper on a $ 13 Ebay reel with 10 lb Ebay braid off sunny side early in the season

dont try that in WP the same size fish with some tide flow have a bigger advantage

that being said the tide flows around the shallow side are quite light BUT! eagle and flat rays both tend to be in the same areas as snapper and gummies
they all eat the same baits so you will hook any of these while snapper hunting

a 1 meter eagle will give you a work out on 10 kg gear so keep that in mind

if its any help I use 6'6" 8-10 Kg rods with 300 meters of 20 lb mono on small penn 501s and have had big flat rays almost spool me till it was locked up and snaped off

so make sure you are geared up for the by catch

[Bartnmax]

If I got a rod with a line class of 3-6kg would that b able to stop a larger size snapper?

Ok, this is a really good question.

Let's start by once again discussing the 1st & 2nd 'Rules of 3'
The 1st 'Rule of 3' states that we can generally handle fish to 3 times line weight.
So, assuming you're using say 5kg line with yer 3-6kg stick then that can be expected to handle snapper up to around 15kg.
So, short answer is yes, it can most definitely handle large snapper.

HOWEVER, the short answer doesn't tell us the whole story.
Fer starters we need to realise that, although it's called the '1st RULE of 3', it's not really a 'rule' as such but more a general guide.
There's plenty of guys (& gals) out there catching fish far in excess of 3 times the weight of the line they're using.
F'rinstance there was a guy in WA a year or two ago that caught a 260kg Tiger shark on 6kg line.
However, a lot of that comes down to technique & experience, so the 1st 'Rule of 3' can still be looked at as a pretty good guide to give us an idea of what we can expect from a particular line weight.

The other thing to remember is that it is based purely on fish weight vs line weight.
It does not take into consideration factors such as line abrasion against structure, etc.
It also doesn't take into consideration any by-catch you could encounter.

So, we could easilly say that based purely on fish weight vs line weight, then yes, a 3-6kg stick with 5kg line would handle snapper pretty well, but would it?

If you're fishing around heavy reef with such light line you'll probably suffer continious bust-offs due to abrasion.
If you're fishing areas where you're likely to also encounter large stringrays, gummys, kings, etc then again you'll probably suffer bust-offs.

Then there's the problem if fishing to the conditions.
F'rinstance, yes a 3-6kg stick with 5kg line might handle the snapper but if yer fishing say Western Port where there are some very strong currents to contend with, then that weight rod/line combo won't allow you to use sinkers heavy enough to get yer baits down to where the fish are.
This is the reason a lot of Western Port fishos use rods as heavy as 10-15kg for their snapper.
It's not because they need outfits that heavy to handle the fish, but they are using large lumps of lead just to get baits down to the fish in those strong currents.

So, where does this leave us with our 3-6kg stick?
Well it'll work fine in areas where there's little structure to abrade your line.
If you want to fish around structure then use about 2 rod lengths of heavier leader & you should generally be ok.
It's also fine for fishing areas where you can use light sinkers (or better yet none) such as the northern reaches of PPB.

So, yes you can use a 3-6kg stick for snapper. I have several & use em as much as my 'standard' snapper gear (4-8kg & 6-10kg sticks).
When targeting pinkies I personally reckon 3-6kg is about perfect, as heavier 4-8 & 6-10kg sticks can be way too heavy for the smaller fish.

Lastly, getting a 3-6kg stick & using 5kg line is also not the only 'outfit' factor when it comes to 'stopping large snapper'.
If yer using a reel that's too small (not enough drag) or has a crappy drag, then it won't stop snapper, even if yer using a 10-15kg stick.
So, match yer stick to a good quality reel (no you don't have to spend upwards of $300 for a decent snapper reel), use good quality line & terminal tackle, tie yer knots well, & learn good fish fighting technique & you definitely WILL stop large snapper with a 3-6kg stick, no worries.

Bill.

PS, I know I haven't covered the 2nd 'Rule of 3' , but if yer interested ther 2nd 'Rule of 3' states that you need a reel that can deliver & maintain a drag of at least 1/3rd line weight. F'rinstance, if yer using say 6kg line with yer 3-6kg stick then yer reel has to be able to deliver & maintain a minimum of at least 2kg drag (not hard for any reasonable 2500-4000 size reel these days, hence I didn't think it needed to be mentioned earlier).

[Rogue_Hunter]

Drag pressure more than line strength as to when it will break.

But I normally use line that is matched to the rod and drag that is set to 1/3 of the line breaking strain for best rod action.

+1

It all comes down to your drag pressure.

Correct me if i am guys, but if a fish weighs 5kg out of the water, it 'weighs' less in the water. It may create some sudden pulses of force but that's when your leader\drag\rod adsorbs the pressure.

[Sparkyben]

Thanks everyone for the advice I will put this into practice

[Bartnmax]

Drag pressure more than line strength as to when it will break.

But I normally use line that is matched to the rod and drag that is set to 1/3 of the line breaking strain for best rod action.

+1

It all comes down to your drag pressure.

Correct me if i am guys, but if a fish weighs 5kg out of the water, it 'weighs' less in the water. It may create some sudden pulses of force but that's when your leader\drag\rod adsorbs the pressure.

Without trying to sound picky... has anyone ever really weighed a fish 'in the water'?
Weight is a combination of mass plus gravitational pull against the calibrated spring of the weighing scales.
However there's also flotation to consider.
Weighing something requires that the gravitational pull be directing the mass in a downward pull against the calibrated weight spring.
Flotation will be countering the gravitational pull of that mass.
Therefore it stands to reason that the weighed mass of a fish in water will be less than on land, but that doesn't mean the fish weighs less, just that the scales used to weigh it record the weight of that mass differently on land when compared to water.

PS. also dont forget that there's factors such as current, wind pull on boat, strength of fish, etc that all have to be factored into the 'fish vs line' equation. Classic example is the marlin. Damned near impossible to land a decent example unless you have a skipper that really knows how to handle his boat.

There's really no one single factor that can be said to define what's required for fishing or stopping a fish.
Rod, line, drag, strength of reel (the best drag is absolutely useless for stopping a fish if the reel's gears are stripped), terminal tackle, knots, angler skill, fish factors, environmental factors, & a whole heap more. They ALL must be taken into consideration for an angler to gain success against a fish.

[frozenpod]

It is also often easier to pull up a school sized snapper than pulling up a big sinker alone ie no fish as they swim and lift in the current.

[Bartnmax]

It is also often easier to pull up a school sized snapper than pulling up a big sinker alone ie no fish as they swim and lift in the current.

Don't necessarily agree with this. It makes no sense at all.
If we think about it, we generally fish for snapper at anchor right?
So the boat generally sits down current from the anchor.
Next we have our lines out back of the boat waiting for a fish?
So the fish bites & takes off away (down current) from the boat (if it came up current toward the boat we wouldn't have that well known tearing run that snapper are famous for. In fact we may not even know the fish has the bait as the line will slacken when bought toward the boat, agasinst the current, by the fish).
So, it stands to reason that generally when a snapper takes the bait it is swimming with the current.
If it heads for the surface it may lift the sinker with it, but if it goes deep it won't. In any case it will generally taker the sinker with it.
Best case scenario is that we use a running sinker & the sinker stays put, but sooner or late if that fish is going to be bought into the boat then so must the sinker (unless it is snapped off).
Also, when retrieving line, we are eventually then faced with pulling both sinker & fish against the current, against the wishes of the fish.
Basically that snapper is trying to take our sinker with him, so pulling up fish + sinker is generally not going to be easier thsan pulling up the sinker alone.
I've personally never had a snapper that pulled less than just the weight alone of the sinker being used.

[ducky]

couldn't agree more bill. what kind of stoned snapper have you been catching frozenpod? school snapper range anywhere from 1-4kg. not once have i ever had a snapper fight less then a sinker.

[frozenpod]

If possible I will fish for snapper on the drift. I only anchor if I have no choice due to boat traffic.

Fish takes the bait and tries to swim away they don't get far and start to lift and once turned they will continue to swim forwards whilst being pulled in with the occasional attempt to turn.