Mud Isl. Snapper when the heat is on

[Brad_H]

Hi Guys & Gals,
I have been following a few threads about Snapper in Moreton Bay and Mud Island in particular.
I fish the area on a fairly regular basis for both Snapper and Bream, and have had the pleaseure of fishing alongside Troy as we snaffled a few Pinkies from the reef off Mud. Troy certainly has the runs on the board and it was an education to watch him fish.
I however have never had much success with the same techniques that Troy and others employ, and tend to fish tight to the bottom, rather than mid water as is the trend most trips. In 2 trips this summer I have caught good snappper both times and the last trip saw a PB of 61cm/3kg (6.4lb) come into the boat. It was also the only snapper bite we had in 4 hours of less than perfect seas!
In analysing the trips we came to the following conclusions:-
1. Best results came when you are able to drift across the reef, rather than along it. (This was the case last trip, when tide was going out against a NNE wind.)
2. Hot & humid days require a different approach, especially if fishing near midday, Our best results have come from fishing tight to the bottom(I mean dragging the jighead over the lumps and bumps)
3. When the fish activity on the sounder is low, downsize your soft plastic to a smaller profile or a skinny worm type tail(The 61cm came on a Green Pumpkin 3" Slider Grub)
4. When fishing early morning or late afternoon, the mid water presentations produce more fish. Fish a 4-5" jerk bait tail on 1/16-1/8oz heads and fish ahead of the boat allowing a see saw type retrieve.
5. Persistance is an absolute must. Especiallly if the bites are scarce, Keep plugging away as the bigger fish seem to come when the fish activity is slow.

I hope this gives some hope to the guys who are keen to get amoungst the Snapper in the bay. Remember to catch a feed, not a limit as the fish in the bay need some helpto survive.

Cheers Brad

[ShaneJ]

Which particular reef at mud have you been having success at? In my trips there so far I have spent my time of the north west corner with out too much success

[Brad_H]

Hi Shane,
The reef we fish is on the eastern side. It is shown in the beacon to beacon or marine charts. It runs between 2 cardinal bouys, 1 at the northern end and 1 at the southern. There is no 1 spot, we have over 20 waypoints where we have caught fish at some stage of tide and time. A GOOD quality sounder will show any fish activity, we typically spend a hour prospecting for fish before the lure even touch the water.
Hope this points you in the right direction
Rgds Brad

[ShaneJ]

Thanks for that Brad, a qucik inspection of the beacon to beacon does clearly show the reef your talking about.
Thanks again

[reefraider_II]

Thanks for this thread Brad ,you sure have put some time in and it is good to hear that your sharing your hard earned tactics.I have tried to fish mud a few times and still havnt caught a snapper .But I can sure tell you how to catch a grinner!!
Thanks for the report -Marty

[Poodroo]

I was out with my brother on the weekend just off mud and it seemed the sharks loved the snapper as much as we did. Some great fighting fish suddenly reached maximum velocity whilst being pulled in. But we still caught a few nice ones. There's always next time I guess.

[Touchy - R.I.P.]

Nice fish there Brad, Good info as well, I have just purchased a packet of the new 3'' Zoom watermelon gulps & they have an extended tail which you might find would suit your worm type slider preference when fish activity on the sounder is low,perhaps worth a try anyway,I have also managed to purchase, (thanks to the help of Kevin Ford of Lureworld who went out of his way to chase them up & btw is also starting to get a top line of frangers together), a range of Wobblehead jigs & I'm keen to see if the added "wobble" these jigs should produce "on the drop" will put a few better fish on. Cheers Touchy><>

[Brad_H]

Hey there Touchy,
Thanks for your suggestions, as described in my original post, the Slider works well as the tail gives that amazing wiggle all on its own with no input from me and that I believe is what makes the difference when the fish have lockjaw. Each to his own, use what works for you mate

The 3" Berkley Gulp or 3" Zoom Fluke both have to be "worked" to be effective and dont suit the "do very little" retrieve that works for me. The Wobblehead Jig from TT is the same as the MadShad heads that have been around for years and will probably work on mid water fish quite well as they do impart a flutter when on the drop.

I have access to a huge range of soft plastics and have been involved with the testing of many before the are released here, so I have seen what works and what doesn't. For mine the 4-5" fluke tailed body works the best for mid water fish and seem to catch more larger fish The Salt Assassins and Gamblers seem to produce the goods for the guys I know on a consistant basis.When the fish are not playing you need a tail that makes it's own action, and that is where the Slider shines, as does the original 3" & 4" Slider paddle tail worm, Some other brands of T-Tail grubs should also work as well.

I tend to use different jighead styles depending on the presentaion. When working the bottom I generally use Nitro bullet heads as they slide so well over the bottom in rubble and rock with only the occassional snag up. If we are fishing sandy bottoms I will go back to the ball shape head as the rolling action emulates a Whiting feeding, and Snapper just love Whiting . For mid water fish, I will use Nitro bullets agin or lately the Salt Assassin shad shaped head which seems to balance the 5" bodies better. I am also starting to play with the new AusSpin Swingin Jig heads as the swinging hook give the body an action you wouldn't believe until you really saw it. Looking forward to some good drifts so I can test them out

Cheers Brad

[Billo]

Top first report Brad !

Mud has really produced over the last year ....and damn good to see .
That is a hell of a nice snapp , even if it came after hours of quiet ...atleast you got onto one , and a decent one at that .

look forward to seeing more

[Brad_H]

Hi Billo,
Thanks for the wrap
I've fished around Mud Isl for about 12 years albeit with baut and the past 18 months I have been making regular visits to fish with artificials and the action has been fantastic to say the least. Apart from the Snapper, I have targeted Bream, Est. Cod, Tailor and Sweetlip. So far I have acheived PB"S on Snapper (3kg) and Bream (1.2kg) caught heaps of smallish Tailor and Cod and so far haven't been able to get a sweetlip to the boat (I must fish heavier when casting to that hole in the wall ). I talk to heaps of guys who still persist with bait there and they never seem to get the same results we have on artificials, but they never seem to get the hint . I also have Jew on the radar as a regular fishin buddy scored a 21kg specimen a couple of months ago in the same area we fish for snapper, so that is a quest for this year Heres apic of it to drool over, BTW thats my 4 yo along side to give an idea of size

Cheers Brad