HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Pier Fishing, Rock Fishing and general land based fishing around Melbourne
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Shoddy_Fisherman
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HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by Shoddy_Fisherman » Fri Jan 25, 2019 4:25 pm

Hey guys,

So school holidays are coming to an end and i wanna get in a few more sessions before its back to school for another 10 weeks. I've heard that snapper's hot this time of year so i thought i'd try to target them. As the title says I can fish the area from Brighton to Docklands. As I've never spun for snapper any tips (bait, rigs, tides, time of day, secret spots ;-) ) would be greatly appreciated. At the moment I've got two rods, one for spinning lures (hard-bodies, slugs, soft plastics) and the other for bait fishing. Reel wise I've got a nice and beefy Shimano Aernos XT 4000 size with 20lb braid and a cheapo 3000 size reel with 10lb mono.

Cheers.

Lightningx
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Re: HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by Lightningx » Fri Jan 25, 2019 4:58 pm

So your only wanting to target snapper mate?
Plenty of undersize ones around at the moment :)
Caught them from most of the piers in the mentioned area using a simple paternoster rig with a variety of different baits.
Had best luck after dark or early morning. Good luck.

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Sebb
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Re: HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by Sebb » Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:33 pm

Yeah, are a lot of undersized pinkie snapper this time of year.
Fish incoming tide sunrise/sunset. Paternoster with 1/0 hook.
They take chicken, half pilchard, squid strips, etc. They lil ones are always hungry.
Any piers/rockwalls produce pinkies this time of year.
If you're lucky, you'll get flathead too.

Shoddy_Fisherman
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Re: HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by Shoddy_Fisherman » Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:35 pm

awesome, planning to head out tonight as well so wish me luck!
On a seperate note, what other species are available? I've got a boatload of lures i want to try out but haven't gotten the opportunity to.

Lightningx
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Re: HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by Lightningx » Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:41 pm

Shoddy_Fisherman wrote:awesome, planning to head out tonight as well so wish me luck!
On a seperate note, what other species are available? I've got a boatload of lures i want to try out but haven't gotten the opportunity to.
This time of the year if you’re willing to use bait I do well catching kgw, flatties and recently did alright with squid as well.

Shoddy_Fisherman
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Re: HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by Shoddy_Fisherman » Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:45 pm

Lightningx wrote:
Shoddy_Fisherman wrote:awesome, planning to head out tonight as well so wish me luck!
On a seperate note, what other species are available? I've got a boatload of lures i want to try out but haven't gotten the opportunity to.
This time of the year if you’re willing to use bait I do well catching kgw, flatties and recently did alright with squid as well.
Cool, what kind of rigs/bait would you use for kgw?

Bugatti

Re: HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by Bugatti » Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:56 pm

Lightningx wrote:So your only wanting to target snapper mate?
Plenty of undersize ones around at the moment :)
Caught them from most of the piers in the mentioned area using a simple paternoster rig with a variety of different baits.
Had best luck after dark or early morning. Good luck.
Seb85 wrote:Yeah, are a lot of undersized pinkie snapper this time of year.
Fish incoming tide sunrise/sunset. Paternoster with 1/0 hook.
They take chicken, half pilchard, squid strips, etc. They lil ones are always hungry.
Any piers/rockwalls produce pinkies this time of year.
If you're lucky, you'll get flathead too.
Ditto. Good advice there.

Best thing you can do is watch what others are doing. Chances are, those already there have been there before. If it seems to be working for them, learn and copy by watching , , , , but have decorum, , , , being a tool gets you nowhere.

If you target only snapper, keep it simple to start with. Paternoster is the best for that, but have a sinker that is ample and not overkill. 1/0 for pinkies and maybe step it up for larger fish (5/0-6/0 is really the largest you'd ever go). Cast both rods in different spots/distances to cover more options, then go with what works. If it is a putdown rod, don't free spool, have some drag but not alot to lose the rod.

Bait, as lads said , , , , here's a bit of a tip. With squid, put a small cutlet/cube of pilly ontop , , , , it combines the two baits and if the pilly doesn't hook them and comes off, the staying power of squid is enough for the reds to have another crack at your hook.

Good luck
Cheers, Bugatti

Shoddy_Fisherman
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Re: HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by Shoddy_Fisherman » Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:01 pm

Sweet, in that case I'll probably be baitfishing both rods then.

Lightningx
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Re: HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by Lightningx » Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:44 pm

Shoddy_Fisherman wrote:
Lightningx wrote:
Shoddy_Fisherman wrote:awesome, planning to head out tonight as well so wish me luck!
On a seperate note, what other species are available? I've got a boatload of lures i want to try out but haven't gotten the opportunity to.
This time of the year if you’re willing to use bait I do well catching kgw, flatties and recently did alright with squid as well.
Cool, what kind of rigs/bait would you use for kgw?
Rigs I have caught them both with a running sinker rig or a paternoster. Hook size a 1/0 kl circle or size 6 long shank have done the damage for me. Best baits have always been pippies and fresh squid :thumbsup:

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Re: HELP! Fishing Newbie: Brighton to Docklands

Post by longcaster98 » Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:10 pm

Hey m8,

yeah my personal favourite for fishing in the Brighton to Docklands area is either the lagoon pier casting out Williamstown-ish direction with a paternoster rig (this rig is probably the best rig to use for snapper) or middle Brighton pier, snapper tend to hang around there because of the squid so that is probs the best bait. Do NOT go to the servos for bait, go to woolies or coles because “the fresher the better”. I’ve been fishing St Kilda pier for 5 years and it trust me it certainly has its moments but more often than not it’s a barren wasteland, I only go there bc it’s close haha.

Anyways good luck!

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