Summertime is the busiest time of year on the water, as people flock to popular coastal regions. It is a great time for getting some sun, but often the inshore fishing can be challenging.
With the significant increase in water activity from beach goers over the summer, it is often blamed by anglers on the poor snapper fishing. It does make sense snapper are quite shy, and the noise from swimmers, jet skis and boats will put them off the bite.
However, there are a few tactics you can adopt to put more snapper and other popular table fish in your bin for the family barbie back at the bach or campsite. Let us look at several methods that can help with your inshore fishing over summer.
Early Angler Catches
It is a good idea to get up early, hit the shallows before the masses are up, and head out on the water. I plan to be up and launching the boat at the crack of dawn and be on the spot just as the sun is coming up. The change of light is always a good time to have the hook in the water, and you are looking for quiet stretches of coastline with nobody else around that have been in the area.
These likely looking spots will have snapper feeding undisturbed and I love to be at my spot casting softbaits into the wash or around shallow rocks that provide shelter and food for scavenging snapper. Keep an eye out for nervous baitfish jumping from the water, as this indicates that predators are present, so that you can cast and work the softbait back to the boat.
When casting and prospecting in shallow water (under 10m), it is best to use lighter jig heads, from 1/2oz and under, to avoid getting snagged on kelp or rocks and busting off. The lighter jig heads also drop less quickly in the water and help give your lure more “hang time” and therefore look more natural to predators.
Squirt Secret Sauce over the softbait to help give scent and attract more interest. It is also a promising idea to try assorted colours and sizes amongst the crew to see which is the flavour of the day. Take a selection of darker and brighter colours to determine what the fish show more interest in striking and then all switch to fish the same colour/size.
Changing softbait sizes can be key when the fishing is hardI. if you have been casting large 7” softbaits in the hope of landing a big fish but aren’t getting any strikes, dropping down to a 4” paddler-style lure that has great action can suddenly work.
Baitfish on Sounder
Over summer the baitfish schools are more frequent and larger, so finding these to fish around and where the predators are lurking is a good approach. Hunting with your sounder you are looking for baitfish to either drop lures such as jigs or ledger rigs with bait.
To save money on bait, you can use small jigs or sabikis to help catch the baitfish to turn into fresh baits, a much better option and with juices flowing, it can really bring on the snapper and other species to bite.
If you have an overhead combo with braid for jigging, make sure it is spooled with PE3-5 (30-50lb) because in summer and around the baitfish schools, the chance of hooking a kingfish is a lot higher. Kingfish will school up over summer and be found around the baitfish, so you want to ensure that when jigging, you have suitable gear to take on a powerful kingfish if hooked.
It is best to go up in leader weight also, I would look to use 40lb – 60lb leader when jigging around baitfish, so I have enough firepower to handle a kingie and land it. However, if the fishing is slow try going down in leader weight to 25-30lb to help get more strikes.
Go Deep When Hot
When the sun is higher in the sky in summer, you will notice the bites taper off in the shallows, and it is time to head out to deeper water (25m+) and try your luck. We look to drift and use skirted jigs such as slow jigs or sliders as on slow days these lures work best when left in the rod holder. The gentle movement of the boat rising and dropping allows the skirts to look natural and get interest hard on the bottom as they move along, lifting sand and helping create interest. Again, add some Secret Sauce to the rubber skirts or jig head to help entice bites.
Softbaiting in deeper water (20m+) will require you going up to heavier jig heads and I often use 1oz – 1.5oz jig heads. The softbait must be on the bottom as you drift, and if the current or wind picks up your drift, you can add a small ball sinker above your jig head to help keep it hard on the seabed.
When the snapper fishing is challenging, you will often find other species like gurnard can be caught fishing over sandy bottoms on skirted lures or ledger rigs with baits. I would rather eat gurnard over snapper any day! Trevally will often also turn up and is a great fish to eat as fresh sashimi or smoked. There is always game fishing over summer that you can take up, but that is another entire article.
