Snapper of all sizes, including huge 20 or even 30-pound fish are commonly caught on
dead bait
. Squid, pogies, and cigar minnows are always reliable and readily available.
What is the best time to fish for snapper?
early morning
and evening is the best time for snapper, since many fish feed at night and rely on low light for camouflage, especially in shallow water.
How do you catch a snapper fish?
Snapper take a variety of different baits and lures ranging from
soft plastics
to jigs On a boat, flicking soft plastics has become highly popular, however you can still live bait and also use dead baits. Snapper eat a wide range of baits.
How do you fish snapper NZ?
Cast your softbaits into or along the rocks along the shoreline or near reefy areas meeting the sand. Let the bait sink to the bottom and then do a slow, twitching retrieve giving the rod tip the odd flick. Leave the bait to rest occasionally, and a snapper will often pick it up.
How do you target snapper?
They can be targeted by simply soaking a bait or you can challenge yourself with a multitude of lures and techniques from trolling deep diving hard bodies or sending a plastic down to the depths. Snapper can be caught over sand, mud, natural reefs, artificial reefs, rubble and in shallow and deep water.
How hard is it to catch a snapper?
Snapper Description Across the board they are tough fighters and will try their hardest to break your line off in the rocky places where they live In some shallow rocky areas it is virtually impossible to land fish bigger than a certain size.
How far out do you have to go to catch red snapper?
You can find them at any depth between 30 and 200 feet , usually huddled by nearby protective structures. Favorite hot spots include piers, seawalls, and old wreckage. Don’t start too far out from the shore or you’ll likely get frustrated from spending a lot of time looking for rocky floors.
What size hooks for snapper?
Suicide hook patterns ranging from size 1/0 for pinkies, through to size 5/0 for large snapper are recommended. Best times would be early morning and evening although snapper can also be caught throughout the night. Medium-sized soft plastic lures in minnow or shad patterns are also very effective on snapper.
Can you catch snapper off the beach?
The vast majority of landbased anglers rarely catch snapper, and rarely specifically target them from the shore Don’t let this rarity deter you because snapper can be caught of rocks, you just need to be quite specific in how you go about it.
How do you target a large snapper?
Exploiting these habits, the two primary methods for catching snapper from the shore are stray-lining (dead baits and soft-plastic baits) and fishing dead baits on the bottom Whilst snapper can be caught on faster moving lures and live baits, these are generally far less effective.
What size rod do you need for snapper?
Rods: For general fishing a 6-10kg 7′ setup is ideal for snapper fishing from a boat although you’ll need something in a 15kg rating if chasing the really
big ones
From the rocks an 8′ rod in the 10-15kg range is ideal. Beach fishing will usually require something in the 12′ range loaded with 10kg.
What size hooks for snapper NZ?
Fishing for both snapper and blue cod, for instance, requires relatively large hooks to avoid undersized and deep-hooked fish. Some big snapper specialists fish exclusively with 9/0 or 10/0 hooks Snapper are aggressive feeders, so they’re not too put off by such large hooks – or the large baits they’re embedded in.
What time of day is best to fish?
Fish generally prefer early morning and evening sun to the bright midday rays. In midday, the surface temperature of the water is also hotter, forcing the fish to move deeper.
How do you target snapper from the beach?
During incoming tides, the water is both moving and getting deeper, and these are the best feeding conditions of red snapper. I suggest starting your fishing trip right after low tide and be there during the whole incoming tide Things will get better as you move to the high tide.
What Colour are snapper attracted to?
Pink often works well for snapper ! Bright pink is a consistent performer, but the reason for this is not obvious. As the light changes, so should lure colours.
How much drag do you need for snapper?
Registered. My rule of thumb is pretty standard – like amaracfina – set the drag to about 1/3 the breaking strength of the line with the lever at the strike position.
How long should a
snapper leader
be?
Today, for mutton snapper in particular, leaders between 40 and 80 feet are the norm.
Can you catch snapper at night?
Snapper are nocturnal so you will not need a spot light unless you want to catch squid and flying fish in the light. It is nice however to have a few lights to light the inside of the boat so you can see what you are doing. We used to wear them slap out at night.
Where is the best place to fish red snapper?
Where is the best place to catch red snapper? While they range all over the Carribbean and up the Atlantic Coast, red snapper are most common and most abundant in the Gulf of Mexico. The most popular places to catch red snapper are in the panhandle of Florida or off the coast of central Texas.
Is red snapper good to eat?
Red snapper is an excellent choice for a whole grilled fish, a broiled fillet, or as the main ingredient in fish tacos Its lightly sweet flavor goes well with almost any seasoning.
What kind of line do you use for snapper?
The traditional monofilament line is still the most popular for regular bottom fishing and casting stray-line baits, while braid definitely reigns supreme when it comes to working lures.
How much leader do you need for snapper?
The leader should be 60 lb test 6ft long with a 7/0 Owner Mutu Light hook or similar. As for the size of lead I like the lightest possible to be able to fish straight up and down in the current. A good rule of thumb is 1oz for every 1 ft of water.
Does snapper like dirty water?
To target snapper from the shore, we’re actually looking for similar conditions to what we would when fishing inshore reefs. Dirty water, good tides, inshore structure and fishing dawn and dusk periods are all important factors when chasing snapper from the stones.
What’s the biggest snapper ever caught?
According to the International Game Fish Association, the All Tackle World Record was caught June 23, 2007 by angler Marion Rose on Garden Bank off Louisiana and weighed an incredible 124 pounds, 12 ounces Kirkhart recently guided an angler to what is a pending IGFA line class world record for cubera snapper.
How big can snapper get?
Fast Facts. It grows to 1.3 m in length and at least 20 kg in weight.
Can you eat big snapper?
They’re an infectious fish to target, especially once you taste success. That first glimpse of crimson red nearing the boat or rocks is a classic sight, and one you don’t forget in a hurry. And while the smaller 1 to 3kg models are the best eating size ….
Sources
https://www.fishing.net.nz/how-to-catch/snapper/
https://www.howtocatchanyfish.com/snappers.html#:~:text=Most%20types%20of%20Snapper%20will,very%20well%20on%20shallow%20reefs.
https://www.nzfishingworld.co.nz/posts/pete-lambs-top-tips-for-catching-snapper