2022 Snapper Season

[Mattblack]

There is a proverbial **** tonne of bait in the bay at present

Is this due to netting bans or just because the bay is getting healthier each year?

The bays just healthier and nothing to do with bans. First time I've been out there in near on a decade and there's at best a poofteenth more showing up on the sounder compared to then. Might mean a repeat of last year where thinking outside the box gets the best results and just sticking to the usual means it's a **** season for you

What's a good example of 'thinking outside the box'? I tried everything last year & only got 1 (my secret weapon this year is a heap of frozen tuna I caught in June)

[cobby]

There is a proverbial **** tonne of bait in the bay at present

Is this due to netting bans or just because the bay is getting healthier each year?

The bays just healthier and nothing to do with bans. First time I've been out there in near on a decade and there's at best a poofteenth more showing up on the sounder compared to then. Might mean a repeat of last year where thinking outside the box gets the best results and just sticking to the usual means it's a **** season for you

What's a good example of 'thinking outside the box'? I tried everything last year & only got 1 (my secret weapon this year is a heap of frozen tuna I caught in June)

Find a pattern as to why certain things trigger the fish to be caught somewhere specific at a given time. Water temps, rainfall, wind, barometer, air temps, moon phase, even sunrise/set times. What is attracting the fish there. Bottom structure, nearby structures, tidal flows around headlands creating ever so slight collection points, creeks/rivers/drains inflows and the directions they travel. The bait that's actually there. Sardines, anchovy, small gars, crabs etc. If one is more prevalent than the next and there's billions of them then try to match the hatch. They're hunters first and scavengers second. Don't just putt around hoping for a Christmas tree or a heap of fish. They're not a solitary species, that 1 mark could be the straggler of the school on the outside your sounder just picked up or it isn't even a Snapper, try to find out instead of dismissing it and moving on. Anchor on tightish patches of bait without sounding up anything else. There's something nearby forcing that bait into a tight ball and it could very well be a closeby school of Snapper. Run a bait, lure or even slow jig mid depth instead of focussing the whole lot on the bottom. Just slow troll around a couple of hardbodies for something different. Don't follow reports. Use them to find a similar area away from the traffic that may be just as or even more productive than the report area filled with sheep.

And ******* keep a detailed diary, catch or donut. Fish are habitual by nature, otherwise we wouldn't even be carrying on about a Snapper "season" every year at the same time of year. The more detailed you can make the diary the better your understanding will become, in 5 years time you can be 90% confident every trip you go out irrespective of where some **** who sent a picture to Worstlings report line caught some instead of relying on often incorrect information.

[Mattblack]

There is a proverbial **** tonne of bait in the bay at present

Is this due to netting bans or just because the bay is getting healthier each year?

The bays just healthier and nothing to do with bans. First time I've been out there in near on a decade and there's at best a poofteenth more showing up on the sounder compared to then. Might mean a repeat of last year where thinking outside the box gets the best results and just sticking to the usual means it's a **** season for you

What's a good example of 'thinking outside the box'? I tried everything last year & only got 1 (my secret weapon this year is a heap of frozen tuna I caught in June)

Find a pattern as to why certain things trigger the fish to be caught somewhere specific at a given time. Water temps, rainfall, wind, barometer, air temps, moon phase, even sunrise/set times. What is attracting the fish there. Bottom structure, nearby structures, tidal flows around headlands creating ever so slight collection points, creeks/rivers/drains inflows and the directions they travel. The bait that's actually there. Sardines, anchovy, small gars, crabs etc. If one is more prevalent than the next and there's billions of them then try to match the hatch. They're hunters first and scavengers second. Don't just putt around hoping for a Christmas tree or a heap of fish. They're not a solitary species, that 1 mark could be the straggler of the school on the outside your sounder just picked up or it isn't even a Snapper, try to find out instead of dismissing it and moving on. Anchor on tightish patches of bait without sounding up anything else. There's something nearby forcing that bait into a tight ball and it could very well be a closeby school of Snapper. Run a bait, lure or even slow jig mid depth instead of focussing the whole lot on the bottom. Just slow troll around a couple of hardbodies for something different. Don't follow reports. Use them to find a similar area away from the traffic that may be just as or even more productive than the report area filled with sheep.

And ******* keep a detailed diary, catch or donut. Fish are habitual by nature, otherwise we wouldn't even be carrying on about a Snapper "season" every year at the same time of year. The more detailed you can make the diary the better your understanding will become, in 5 years time you can be 90% confident every trip you go out irrespective of where some **** who sent a picture to Worstlings report line caught some instead of relying on often incorrect information.

Thanks Cobby...awesome advice. I've never stopped on a bait ball without an arch nearby (makes perfect sense there would be a predator stalking nearby) Still a bit confused as to why early season snapper are sometimes off Williamstown and sometimes not....is this something to do with rainfall and temperature and the Yarra?

[cobby]

Is this due to netting bans or just because the bay is getting healthier each year?

The bays just healthier and nothing to do with bans. First time I've been out there in near on a decade and there's at best a poofteenth more showing up on the sounder compared to then. Might mean a repeat of last year where thinking outside the box gets the best results and just sticking to the usual means it's a **** season for you

What's a good example of 'thinking outside the box'? I tried everything last year & only got 1 (my secret weapon this year is a heap of frozen tuna I caught in June)

Find a pattern as to why certain things trigger the fish to be caught somewhere specific at a given time. Water temps, rainfall, wind, barometer, air temps, moon phase, even sunrise/set times. What is attracting the fish there. Bottom structure, nearby structures, tidal flows around headlands creating ever so slight collection points, creeks/rivers/drains inflows and the directions they travel. The bait that's actually there. Sardines, anchovy, small gars, crabs etc. If one is more prevalent than the next and there's billions of them then try to match the hatch. They're hunters first and scavengers second. Don't just putt around hoping for a Christmas tree or a heap of fish. They're not a solitary species, that 1 mark could be the straggler of the school on the outside your sounder just picked up or it isn't even a Snapper, try to find out instead of dismissing it and moving on. Anchor on tightish patches of bait without sounding up anything else. There's something nearby forcing that bait into a tight ball and it could very well be a closeby school of Snapper. Run a bait, lure or even slow jig mid depth instead of focussing the whole lot on the bottom. Just slow troll around a couple of hardbodies for something different. Don't follow reports. Use them to find a similar area away from the traffic that may be just as or even more productive than the report area filled with sheep.

And ******* keep a detailed diary, catch or donut. Fish are habitual by nature, otherwise we wouldn't even be carrying on about a Snapper "season" every year at the same time of year. The more detailed you can make the diary the better your understanding will become, in 5 years time you can be 90% confident every trip you go out irrespective of where some **** who sent a picture to Worstlings report line caught some instead of relying on often incorrect information.

Thanks Cobby...awesome advice. I've never stopped on a bait ball without an arch nearby (makes perfect sense there would be a predator stalking nearby) Still a bit confused as to why early season snapper are sometimes off Williamstown and sometimes not....is this something to do with rainfall and temperature and the Yarra?

Nailed it. Rainfall and temps play a huge role for all fish species. Specific salinity levels combined with nutrient levels from inflows attract and congregate phytoplankton, which in turn attracts things that eat them, which snowballs down the food chain to the predators I.e Snapper. Same deal as why some targeting Tuna rely on SST graphs to find breaks and pockets then concentrate on whale/dolphin activity around them. That's where the detailed trip dairy comes into it, you can eventually nut out why you've failed and why you've caught in the same spot at the same time of year every year, and what factors have changed that might be a good indicator as to why the difference.

[Mattblack]

Anyone had a crack at the reds yet?

[Lightningx]

I had a crack yesterday.
First time.
Ended up with a bag of nice size pinkies but no big ones yet.

[Mattblack]

I had a crack yesterday.
First time.
Ended up with a bag of nice size pinkies but no big ones yet.

Nice day for it.....did you fish at the top of the bay?

[cheaterparts]

Anyone had a crack at the reds yet?

Did no good in Bouchiers channel Thursday but was a nice day for a paddle. Did better yesterday of Tenby with a 64 cm red and a couple of keeper gumbos So first red for me for the season. If it any help the water temp was mid 14s most of the time and up around 16 in the top end channels with the last of the run off Thursday. So I he shallow water and banks are warming atm

It won’t be long for the top of Westernport to fire

[Mattblack]

Anyone had a crack at the reds yet?

Did no good in Bouchiers channel Thursday but was a nice day for a paddle. Did better yesterday of Tenby with a 64 cm red and a couple of keeper gumbos So first red for me for the season. If it any help the water temp was mid 14s most of the time and up around 16 in the top end channels with the last of the run off Thursday. So I he shallow water and banks are warming atm

It won’t be long for the top of Westernport to fire

Awesome stuff!
I consider Grand Final Day as the start to the beloved Snapper Season!!!

Did you get the big fella on the run in to the flood tide?

[cheaterparts]

Did you get the big fella on the run in to the flood tide?

tide was still on the rise at the time - there may have been others around but there were a lot of small gummies to beat them to a bait

it's always a nice surprise to get that first red for the season though