For those of you that have put the time into shallow water snapper in the winter months, you know.....! To those of you that haven’t, you’ve been missing out on some of the most highly accessible, heart in mouth fishing that can be achieved less than a kilometre off the beach along the east coast.

My shallow water snapper pursuit actually started from a $300 kayak I bought from a camping disposal store, rod holders not included. I actually remember my very first attempt.... I was paddling out at first light with a beefed up $150 bream combo, a packet of 4 inch curl tail grubs and some 1/4 ounce jig heads that were way past their use-by date. Got to a zone I had spotted on google earth that looked reefy and started casting, no expectations and completely oblivious to what I was about to discover. Third cast in and I hooked an absolute freight train, kayak in full tow mode, legs over the side and slightly concerned about what I had just hooked. Some screaming runs later, vicious head shakes and the silhouette of a 70cm plus snapper next to the yak, I was hooked and the addiction continues to grow every winter. The thing is, just when you think you have it dialled you crack another code and it opens up a whole new level of education and determination to continue to learn and appreciate just how epic this species really are.

This YouTube clip shows off some tips/pointers and how effective this method is if you want to give it a crack..

GEAR

In terms of gear to start yourself off; grab yourselves a 4-6kg 7ft spin rod matched with a 3000-4000 size spin reel, 15-20 lb braid and anything from 14-20 lb leader depending on the terrain you’re fishing in.

Plastics and jig head weights - For this style of fishing you want nothing over a 1/4 ounce jig head, just make sure you beef up the hook size on the jig head, 4O is great size to start! We like using the Z-Man plastics due to the floatation of the plastic which allows a slower sink but you can use any brand of plastics just ensure you are in that 3-4 inch range.

Where possible, buy the best gear you can afford as this fish will really test your equipment in shallow water!!

APPROACH

When approaching your target area you want to be sure to approach slowly and quietly. Try to avoid sounding over the area first, and avoid buzzing over your zone to get to your drift point as this will spook the fish. The aim of the game here is to put in big long slow drifts. You can achieve a slower drift by using a sea anchor.

TECHNIQUE

As mentioned in the video the most successful technique for this style of fishing is producing big long casts, ahead of your drift. This allows the plastic to be fished slowly through the water column as the snapper will hit the plastic on the drop, 98% of the time!! Once you make your initial cast you want to be consistently winding in the slack line, looking for that tick or that ping in the line to indicate a bite. When the plastic hits the bottom, put in a couple of erratic twitches of the plastic in an upwards motion and then allow it to drop again. Continue this until the plastic is about 10 metres away from the boat and then cast again.

These are just some little techniques to get your shallow water snapper fishing started. I hope this gives you guys some inspiration to get out on the water and give it a crack yourselves!! Just remember there is a closed season on snapper at the moment so please practice catch & release.

Big thanks to Sunshine Coast Yamaha for the boat &

Kieran Tunbridge for the film/edit!

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Benny Galss

Shallow Water Snapper Secrets