The search for Australia's Greatest Fish: Snapper

Snapper will hit the bait hard and after a couple of big, powerful runs, they dog it out with violent headshakes all the way to the net.

The most popular way to catch a big snapper is using bait.

Fresh is best, with squid or a juicy fillet of fish the go. Anchoring up near rubble or a reef will give you your best chance, and all you need to do is cast out big baits and wait for the snapper to find them.

Fish in deeper water, anything from 15 metres, during the day. At night, snapper move into the shallows and will feed in water as shallow as a couple of meters deep.

The key with snapper is to work the tides, as they will bite better approaching a tide change.

Moon phase is also important, so every time you catch one take note of the tide and moon for the next time.

If a tide change coincides with dawn or dusk, it’s always worth a fish!

Rigs used for snapper fishing vary from a paternoster, which works well in deeper water with lots of drift or current, to a more traditional running sinker rig.

Even a floating rig with no sinker is a good idea if conditions allow.  

Snapper will also eat a lure, with soft plastic lures often the best.

The key here is to fish as light as possible. More often than not the fish will eat the lure on the drop, so you want to use a jig head that’s just heavy enough to get it sink into the strike zone, but not too heavy that the lure sinks to the bottom too quickly.

Snapper will also eat a jig fished nice and slowly. If you can see fish on the sounder in deeper water, a jig is a good option.

Whether you are bait fishing or lure fishing, keep the amount of weight to a minimum and even use no sinker at all if conditions allow, as often a floated bait cast way out the back will pick up the bigger, fussy fish.

Now let’s rate the mighty big red.

Snapper are pretty easy to catch and are found around the entire bottom half of Australia, ranging as far north as Fraser Island in the east and Karratha in the west.

A boat is best, but it doesn’t have to be flash – a tinny will do. Snapper habitat ranges from the open ocean right into the upper reaches of estuary systems.

Use a decent-size rod and reel and at least 15kg line. Mustad circle hooks are great on snapper, and won’t fall out once the fish is on.  

You’ll need to up the size of your outfit if fishing deeper outer reefs.

Overall, snapper are accessible for most, although catching really big ones requires lots and lots of patience and skill.

Score: 6 out of 10

You sure do know when you’ve got a big red. They fight really well, with a big power run when first hooked.

From there, it’s a dogged head-shaking fight all the way to the boat.

Score: 8 out of 10

Snapper can grow big, which is always good for a photo.

They also have a funny, knobby-looking head and are either a pretty pink or red colour with nice blue dots. Overall, they don’t look too bad.

Score: 7 out of 10

Snapper taste pretty good. Their flesh is white and bright, and a feed of fresh snapper isn’t something you’ll complain about, although the bigger ones can be a bit dry.

Snapper has a firm texture, with the meat white, delicate and not overbearingly fishy.

It's a good fish to either bake, grill or barbecue in either fillets or whole.

Score: 7 out of 10

Okay, so you're going to need a boat if you're going to chase anything other than pinkies – the name given to smaller snapper. But it doesn't need to be a big boat, as larger snapper will venture into protected estuaries and waterways.

Get one on the hook, though, and you're in for a fun fight all the way back to the boat.

Browse the online fishing forums, and you'll notice they're full of photos of grinning fishers holding decent-size snappers. Even in poor light, their imposing size combined with their rich colour look imposing.

They taste good, too. Their firm flesh makes them suitable for cooking in a number of ways.

Overall, snapper scores a creditable 28 out of 40, putting them on an equal footing with barramundi on the scorecard of Australia's Greatest Fish.

The latest season of Hook, Line and Sinker is on 7Plus.