Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Big Red's, Pinkies, Pagrus auratus, Melbourne Snapper, the Crimson Tide
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yepi'mon
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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by yepi'mon » Fri Nov 18, 2016 3:41 pm

Looks interesting mate, have only tried anchored up....

Typically what size sinkers are you using matched to wind speeds? (Not sure I understand... are you saying use a sinker so your bait drifts to the bottom rather than out the back?)

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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by laneends » Fri Nov 18, 2016 9:07 pm

fitzy90 wrote:
ChrisAbout wrote:You wouldnt want to try drifting for snapper in Western Port, or would you?
Ive never fished westernport, if you had a strong wind against tide situation to slow the drift down i dont see why it would not work....... i stand to be corrected.
wind blows boat one way and tide drags lines another, gets messy. tide flow varies too much to get predictable drifting. Doable but harder.

More distinct drop offs etc that can complicate things.

Easy to do on a pedal kayak as you can drift backwards and pedal to stop drift altogether when on the mark

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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by fitzy90 » Sun Nov 20, 2016 11:23 am

Went out today, launched at 2am and headed out to spot x where we heard fish were caught yesterday, anchored up for a few hours and didnt turn a reel all morning. Decided to try out a bit wider and have a drift, found a school and drifted over caught 8 snapper in 45 mins biggest went 5.5kg. Wind died off too much and couldn't drift any more so headed home, great morning on the water.
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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by Lightningx » Sun Nov 20, 2016 11:49 am

That's a great catch mate! Well done :thumbsup:

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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by gregmaka » Sun Nov 20, 2016 12:24 pm

You have given the best advice i have ever seen on this forum, Fitzy90 .Thumbs up.

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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by williwonder » Sun Nov 20, 2016 12:28 pm

Great stuff fitzy. i tried your settings on my sounder and found arches yesterday. Big thumbs up. cheers

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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by fitzy90 » Sun Nov 20, 2016 12:34 pm

gregmaka wrote:You have given the best advice i have ever seen on this forum, Fitzy90 .Thumbs up.
cheers mate, happy to help

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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by fitzy90 » Sun Nov 20, 2016 12:35 pm

williwonder wrote:Great stuff fitzy. i tried your settings on my sounder and found arches yesterday. Big thumbs up. cheers
Glad to help, did you manage to convert any of the arches to fish?

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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by Boonanza » Sun Nov 20, 2016 12:59 pm

Great stuff Fitzy :thumbsup:
A smart person knows what to say. A wise person knows whether to say it.

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Re: Drifting for snapper - Port phillip bay

Post by Wolly Bugger » Sun Nov 20, 2016 9:20 pm

laneends wrote:
fitzy90 wrote:
ChrisAbout wrote:You wouldnt want to try drifting for snapper in Western Port, or would you?
Ive never fished westernport, if you had a strong wind against tide situation to slow the drift down i dont see why it would not work....... i stand to be corrected.
wind blows boat one way and tide drags lines another, gets messy. tide flow varies too much to get predictable drifting. Doable but harder.

More distinct drop offs etc that can complicate things.

Easy to do on a pedal kayak as you can drift backwards and pedal to stop drift altogether when on the mark
This is all anecdotal, but my cousin told me that he was talking to bloke who drifts for snapper in WPB and doesn't anchor until he has at least two rods loaded up.

I imagine that drifting in WPB you would not need as much weight to keep you bait down.

In my small tinnie I often drifted for squid, in my bigger boat I havent quite got the hang of it yet. I also in PPB used at times a sea anchor, to slow the drift.

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