How to Catch Offshore Snapper on Lures

How to Catch Offshore Snapper on Lures

By Justin Willmer from Tackle Tactics

When & Where

Snapper are available from north Queensland, right around the southern coastline and into northern WA, with concentrations more around the central to southern coastlines. They are available year round, with peak bite times around seasonal periods and it's important to do your research in terms of closed seasons and bag and possession limits for the region being fished.

As with most species structure and bait will attract snapper, with schools often encountered around reef, rock, wire weed, wrecks and other structure that provides breaks from the current and attracts bait to the area. Snapper can also be drawn away from structure by schools of bait, so keep an eye out for bait on your sounder. As you move into deeper water a sounder is your eyes and will play an important role in locating structure, bait and fish. A sounder with a GPS component is extremely useful when offshore fishing as it will allow you to mark structure, bait and fish that is often difficult to find again, especially when you may not have any land marks. A GPS can also allow you to monitor your drift and in turn anchor to fish structure or set a drift line that will carry you over the structure, bait and fish that you're targeting. When you're sinking plastics into deep water, the last thing you want is to be continually missing the strike zone.

Gearing Up

When targeting offshore snapper it's a balance between power and sensitivity in a combo. Some tip action is required in the rod if casting and working plastics, while plenty of power is needed in the bottom end to turn the fish and get them away from reefy structure and at times sharks. When fishing 40-80m of water you can often fish lighter, running 20-40lb rods and 5000-6000 size reels, loaded with 30lb braid, however when moving into deeper water, 80-140m+, you may need to upsize the rod to 30-50lb and the reel to 8000-9000 size to handle an increase in braid diameter to 50lb+. The larger reel will often offer heavier drag, retrieve line quicker and handle the variety of other species that may also be encountered, especially when you already have a stack of line off the reel just getting down to the fish. When it comes to leader, 60-80lb is a popular starting point, with the fish not being as shy in deeper water and the thicker diameter leaders making it easier to handle a variety of species using the leader.