Snapper Behavior

[FISHAWN]

Hi all,

After moving up here two years ago i've become obsessed with fishing to the point of buying my own boat and fishing or thinking about fishing every spare moment i have.

I have learnt through this site that we get a snapper run here on the gold coast roughly between april-august and i would like to know a little bit more about this and hopefully catch a knobby or two, as opposed to the squire i caught last season.

- Why do we get this run between these months & where do they go outside of this period?

- Where do they start to come on and why ? ie they start schooling at 36 fathoms and make their way onto the 18 fathoms or vice versa ?

- During their run which times/moon phases are best to target them ie may-july they come on best at 1st light or last light?

cheers

dave

[jtpython]

The closest thing i can come up with is they end up this way further north then you in the cooler months they must travel up the coast . We have scored a couple over the years and a mate caught one on sunday off a wreak here
Apart from that i'm no help sorry
JT

[revs57]

Yep, its all about water temp.

Snapper are not migratorary like pelagics as such, in that they don't follow the currents up and down the coast with the EAC. Their migration is to follow water temp and move closer to the coast as the water temp cools, and out in to the deeper water as the water increases its temp.

I'm not sure where exacty they start "coming on" down the Goldie, but the Snapper run begins up the Sunny coast way off M'bah out in the hard line of pinnacles (the hards) from februaryish. The water depth starts at around 70mts out to 90plus mts. the fish go further out and deeper than that, I just haven't been out further to bother chasing them, they deserve a rest at some point.

Over summer, as the water temp increases onshore, that's their trigger to head wider and deeper.

Best moon phases are a few days before and up to the new moon, and a few days before and up to the full, although we have done very well up to a few days after each new and full phase. I've found moon more important than tide, as with the moon you get more water moving. They are a fish that do like a bit of current when they feed, schooling off structure and feeding off the tucker that the current pulls in and over the structure.

We've found the morning and eving bite times are best, sometimes, they'll stay on through the day and I'm not really sure what that's about, I do understand atmospheric pressue has a bit to do with their prime feeding the old saying 1020-fish-a-plenty is pretty true, the closer the barometer gets to that magic 1020, the more they seem to want to feed, but again they can be very unpredicable, there are always the days that break all the "rulz". We've been out when conditions are perfect, moon, tide, baro and wind and weather and got nuthin, we've been out when it all points to a lean trip in some really marginal conditions and boxed up - its a bit of mystery actually - that's fishing!

Cheers

Rhys

[Noelm]

I have found (sort of like the above post) that indeed Snapper do not migrate, you just catch them at a different depth/bottom, but they are there all the time, and to a point, the best catches coincide with the better more stable weather, mainly because I reckon there is more people fishing, and it would seem up your way (as distinct from my area) that very few people fish right in close for very big fish, it seems to be more a drift with big leads thing up North.

[Noelm]

I guess I should also add, that not everyone drifts, but it seems the most common method from about the NSW border and further North.

[Teachnthekids]

Revs and NoelM have hit the nail on the head - down here in Coffs harbour we have Snapper accessable all year round.

In winter we target the fish on the close reefs 12 - 20m and as the weather warms - sun gets higher - they move out from 36 - 95m (probably deeper but who wants to chase them there).

There are exceptions to this general rule, in particular after big seas have smashed the coast for a few days the Snapper will come in really close no matter what the season and are a viable target around the headlands and on the close reefs.

I would agree with Rhys about the moon phases, barometric pressure and times of day.

Hope this helps
Rob

[tunaticer]

All this beingsaid and it is all true for the most part however, most reef systems do retain some resident fish that will spend the summer months living around a specific reef or patch of reefs. By and large the majority have moved on but there are still some excellent sized fish remaining.

[jayvee]

sunny coast,pretty much may to september, and on the full moon or a few days either side of it. wind direction doesnt seem to make a diff for us. anchor up with a nice burley trail and cast out unweighted pillys. we consistantly catch good snapper (upto 7kg) in 30-50ft of water. probably the only positive i can find in winter!!!!
JAYVEE