2023 Snapper Season

[ben475]

keep trying mate, sounds like your not doing too much wrong.

[Persistence]

You are in the right area. Find where the sand meets the reef and fish right on that edge. Between 6-8mt. Larger bait will slow the pinkies down till the larger fish have a chance to grab them. Wait for the rod to load up not just little bites.
Your best time is to get there an hour before sunrise.
https://flic.kr/ps/43mimA

[maxmikoo]

You are in the right area. Find where the sand meets the reef and fish right on that edge. Between 6-8mt. Larger bait will slow the pinkies down till the larger fish have a chance to grab them. Wait for the rod to load up not just little bites.
Your best time is to get there an hour before sunrise.
https://flic.kr/ps/43mimA

Thanks mate, went out again all night last night for donuts once again but the guys on the pier where we launched from we're pulling in fish over 60 all night. Oh well. Gonna try again tonight to fish the sunset and shortly into the night and i'll get some bigger baits. Few last questions, how important is it for me to see fish on the sounder? should i be looking for fish or just good ground because i'm wondering if the reason i rarely come across any decent marks is because of my sounder? And does anyone have any advice on stopping my lines from drifting so much? They end up under the boat and tangled half the time.

[Manz12]

Hey Mate,

If your trying at Black rock and fishing into the night if it blows up a little don't be afraid to go a little shallow into the evening 3-5m.

Hopefully you get onto them.

[maxmikoo]

Hey Mate,

If your trying at Black rock and fishing into the night if it blows up a little don't be afraid to go a little shallow into the evening 3-5m.

Hopefully you get onto them.

Cheers mate, went out again tonight and fished on the flats at 10m for only a small pinkie, salmon and baby flattie. Moved spots into around 6m and managed a few keeper pinkies and a nice flattie, i think we're on the right track and getting closer. I fished in around 3.5m for a while the night before since the wind was up n the guys on the pier were killing it but no luck. I'll go out again for sunrise tmrw morn and since it's supposed to be flat see if i can make sone better use of my sounder, i'll let you know how i go

[fishnut]

Try in the arvo 6-7m in evening between the first and 2nd green sticks from blackrock towards ricketts point

[Andrews]

Few fish pushing up the shallows on the Bellarine with this warmer weather

[maxmikoo]

Try in the arvo 6-7m in evening between the first and 2nd green sticks from blackrock towards ricketts point

Seems like everyone's saying a similar thing but i've tried a fair few times with still very little success. I've tried deeper aswell and same result. Tomorrow morning will be the true test after a big blow rising barometer up to 1020 and sunrise in conjunction with the run out tide should hopefully give me all the upper hands i need. I'll try sound around in 6-8 m and see how i go. Do most of you use your sounders for spotting fish or mainly just ground. It's the only area i feel i might be lacking in but if you guys don't use them much then i rlly dunno how i'm not catching.

[eddyt]

Here's how I do it. Give up on targeting big snapper. Just go for the pinkies. Downsize the hooks and bait. I got my first real snapper targeting flathead with small hooks and small bait. Every single time, I catch the big snapper with the light rod while the heavy rod with the big bait gets ignored. I have a lot more fun this way, constant action.

But if you're really serious on catching snapper (small or big), catch your own bait on the day. There have been many days where frozen baits get ignored while the fresh baits get smashed non stop.

[maxmikoo]

Well i feel like we must be getting closer, i cant work out if were the only ones not catching big ones at the minute. 4 pinkies around 35-40 today if i had to guess. This time i sounded up around a contour line but didn't bother looking for marks, just watched where the reef dropped onto sand at abt 8m. Managed to snag and lose about 6 rigs although i don't know how much avoiding that can be done. Do most of you consistently catch bigger snapper (50cm+) or are we just impatient and it takes a good 6 or 7 trips until you get lucky. I feel like sone people can get them everytime.