Page 16 - Demo

George and his quality snapper. John Weston with a shallow water snapper.
IShallow water snapper in Moreton Bay
SPEND many Z-Man 4” StreakZ ing deeper reef sys- hours exploring and Curly TailZ, Z-Man tems – any angler who pursuing shallow 3” Scented ShrimpZ, has caught a decent
Moreton Bay
by BRIAN WEBB
water snapper in More- Z-Man 3” MinnowZ – snapper knows how
ton Bay, and nothing comes close to match- ing the aggression and brute power these fish have.
water requires a lot of stealth and keeping boat noise to a mini- mum is vital.
and artificial wrecks. My approach to snap- per angling is to fish as
these lures rigged on a 1/8 or 1/6oz HeadlockZ are a deadly combina- tion in the shallows, and on numerous oc- casions have been eaten on the drop.
strong and powerful they can get.
I use the term shallow water to describe the water I fish, as it’s not often I find myself cast- ing a lure for snapper any deeper than 1.5-5m.
Snapper are forage feeders and also ag- gressive hunters.
light as possible. Generally, reels in the
Generally, when snap- per are hooked, they tend to swim deep and head for the bottom.
A huge variety of these areas are situated throughout Moreton Bay and can be eas- ily accessed by small boats.
You are actively tar- geting the fish when using lures, so the first place to start is to find structure.
2500 and 3000 size matched to 7’ graphite rods and spooled with 12lb braid will cover this, though occasion- ally a 6-8lb fluorocar- bon leader is needed to entice wary fish in clear water.
When selecting col- ours, I prefer to match the hatch with any bait- fish present, with Baby Bass and Motor Oil UV working extremely well in the areas I fish.
Obviously, the risk with hooking snapper in shallow water is the fish snagging or cut- ting your line off a lot easier, as the swim to the bottom can be done in much less time.
Fishing in shallow
Structure can consist of anything from reef, ledges, drop-offs and gravel beds to man- made rock walls, pylons
However, a 10-12lb leader will be a general go-to and give you a little more confidence when hooked up to that large snapper.
I have a strong be- lief that adding scent can help increase the chance of catching fish.
The best tip to over- come this issue is the obvious one – fish a little heavier – try in- creasing the length of your leader and use thicker gauge hooks.
Craig Stewart’s shallow bay snapper.
Page 16 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, January 2021
Their 10X tough ElaZtech material also means I can catch fish after fish on them.
Fishing the shallows for snapper means you may need to change your strategy from those used when fish-
From my experience, when fishing the shal- * continued P17 www.bnbfishing.com.au
The main focus of lure fishing for snapper is soft plastics, and the Z- Man range suits every application I need when chasing this species.
The Pro-Cure range has a huge line up and I’ve tried many, though by adding only a small amount, the Shrimp and Mullet Super Gel scents have achieved good results.
If you hook a fish in shallows that contain a lot of snags, your job is to get that fish off the bottom as quick as you can and guide it to safer waters.