Who saids there are no snapper in the bay? Part 2

[Aquarius]

Nice session there Chris and Neil, Steve and I were heading out until the rain came down.
Should have braved the conditions going by your report.
I love the way those 3x strike king plastics stretch to the length of an arm.
I imported a few packets from the States a couple of years ago but have had better luck with the zoom baby bass so far.
May have to persist with them for longer.
My theory is if the fish is hungry and you can drop a plastic in front of his or her nose you are almost there.
Cheers Brent

[JJT]

funny thing the bay isnt ti we were out at peel yesterday mornign bout the same time got hell drenched adn ended up wif alot of smaller squire 3 that went juz under 35 and 1 at about 45.
which side of mud were u at if u dnt mind. im normally on the north western side few nice humps out there
regards jason

[Horse]

Yea Jason, we were on the NW side. Plenty of other boats around us but I did not see any action on them

[BayDog]

Hey nice fish mate, i wouldnt mind getting a few of those myself. Only ever fluked one snapper on plastics before but I would like to get into them. What size jig heads and plastics should i use? I have 8lb fireline and 10lb leader on my setup, is this good for the snaps? Usually when fishing with baits i find the reef edge and anchor just out from it, this is at peel where i mainly fish. Should i look for the same areas when using plastics at mud?

Also u said you drift, do you cast out to the side of the boat and let it sink and then work it back or do you just drift with your plastic out the back of the boat? I would really appreciate some tips from some guys who know what they are doing.

Thanks Si

[bayfisher]

Hey nice fish mate, i wouldnt mind getting a few of those myself. Only ever fluked one snapper on plastics before but I would like to get into them. What size jig heads and plastics should i use? I have 8lb fireline and 10lb leader on my setup, is this good for the snaps? Usually when fishing with baits i find the reef edge and anchor just out from it, this is at peel where i mainly fish. Should i look for the same areas when using plastics at mud?

Also u said you drift, do you cast out to the side of the boat and let it sink and then work it back or do you just drift with your plastic out the back of the boat? I would really appreciate some tips from some guys who know what they are doing.

Thanks Si

Your setup is already perfect, we only fish on the drift letting the plastics drift behind the boat. Usually one rod is set in the rod holder and left alone (the dead stick rod) and the motion of the boat imparts enough action onto the soft plastic. The other rod is worked by short or long lifts of the rod for a bit more action, You can work this rod in any fashion you want casting off to the side and jigging back or just jigging it behind the boat as you drift or even casting ahead. Normally though it travels behind the boat and is just jigged to impart more action as the boat pulls it along. Jig heads usually vary from 1/8 to 3/8 in the shallows (say under 40ft) You want you plastic to be lightly touching and bouncing off the bottom but not plummeting down nor dragging. On this day we had 1/4's and 3/8's on. Reef edges, bommies, good reefy ground all seem to produce at mud. Its always nice to sound fish and bait and work that area, though it not always the case. If there is not a real lot going on its still good to do a few drift over good ground as the fish may be just moving, searching and feeding over the reef rather then around bait.

[bayfisher]

I just might add the areas we were fishing is no secret there were a few boats there fishing it i just think the better presented soft plastics attracted the fish.

I have also for got to mention soft plastics, usually around the 5inch mark works. Though some day bigger seems to be the go and some days they will only look at smaller offerings. Jerk shads in a baby bass or green type colour are the staple but just about anything will catch a snapper, Swimbaits, grubs, worms, creatures and the jackal type lures all seem to work. Some days they just seem to be more switched on to a certain lure but on other they will take anything dragged past there nose.

I hope i have been of some help
Cheers Chris

[Fishbait]

Beautiful Snapper - will have to get down that way myself soon to for the action. Cheers, Darren.