It’s time to get ready for snapper season

Over the years, boatsales has accumulated a rather handy collection of information and advice for anyone thinking about heading out to chase the doyen of southern sportsfishes.

Here’s the boatsales summary of the best of it.

In 2001, Steve Cooper wrote a comprehensive guide to searching for snapper. In it, he describes the habitat in which you’re likely to find the fish, as well as their feeding habits.
“My first experience boat fishing for snapper was from a 2.3-metre pram dinghy,” Cooper writes.

“The flimsy plywood craft was ideal for the sheltered waters I fished. In that dinghy, I would troll up small Australian salmon for bait then remove the middle seat and use it as a bed during all-night snapper sessions. Sometimes the sleeping bag got wet, but at least it kept me warm.

“Snapper were then, and still are, worth the extra effort. 'Big red' is the doyen of southern sportsfish. Places such as Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Spencer Gulf in South Australia and Shark Bay in Western Australia annually host thousands of anglers who venture in search of this magnificent fish.”

Read his story here.

John Ashley weighed in to give his advice on snapper in 2003, crafting a column on how to chase the fish.

“Catching a big snapper is an obsession shared by most saltwater anglers. I often recall just how long it took me to finally catch one over the 10lb mark – and that was back when there were a hell of a lot more around than today,” he says.

“As a kid I started fishing for snapper from the ocean rocks, and eventually caught one going 14lb off a ledge inside the aptly-named Snapper Point, between Merry Beach and Pretty Beach on the NSW south coast.

"Even when I started fishing from trailer boats, the good old snapper was right up there on my list of favourite species. And guess what – it still is today!”

Read more here.

Just like night leads to day, snapper season leads to a much greater chance that you’re going to have your catch checked by fisheries officers.

That means releasing all the snapper that fall outside size and catch limits set in individual states.

Use the following tips to return fish to the water:

The boatsales website has a good, informative piece here on how to quickly release snapper.

Note, though, that it is illegal to high-grade your catch, swapping out a caught snapper for a better one that finds the hook after you’ve reached your bag limit.

We’ve also seen the Victorian Government issue a warning after boats chasing snapper anchored up in Port Phillip Bay’s high-traffic shipping lanes, sparking a number of near-misses.

"If you are going out fishing, steer clear of big ships and do not anchor in shipping channels or fairways. In particular, you must not anchor, drift or fish in Transit Only Zone in the north of Port Phillip Bay,” Transport Safety Victoria warns.

"We also strongly advise boaters not to anchor or drift in the high shipping hazard zone in Port Phillip Bay (from Hovell Pile in the south of the bay to the Transit Only Zone in the north of the bay) or any other port waters."

Meanwhile, it’s long faces in South Australia where anglers are facing a three-year ban on snapper fishing after alarms were raised that stocks were so low that they were likely to become unsustainable.

The government is looking at two options that weigh up whether commercial and recreational fishing bans need to be rolled out over certain zones and timeframes, or whether it should slam the door shut on all snapper takes.

A report on fishing in the state showed 277,000 recreational fishers were now taking significantly more fish, up from 384,000 in 2007-08 to 437,300 in 2013-14.

But what is really hurting fish numbers is the retention rate; the number of fish released rather than being kept has fallen from 74 per cent to just 53 per cent over the same time.

It’s a shame, because the state provides some stonking fishing.

Okay, so your boat’s been in a long winter layover, social media starts to fill with prize catches, and there’s pressure to get out on the water.

However, before you do, it’s wise to give your boat a once-over to check it is okay for the water.

That includes a number of things such as life jacket maintenance or even checking to see if your battery can handle the colder conditions. Don’t forget a once-over of the trailer, too.

One way to make sure you’ve covered everything is to prepare a trailer boat maintenance checklist and work your way through it item by item. Here’s one we’ve prepared earlier.

That's it. The next step is to go out there and have a cracker snapper season.