Snapper in Port Phillip Bay

At some period during late August or early September vast shoals of snapper congregate outside the Heads, waiting for suitable tides and weather for their run into Port Phillip Bay. These big spawners are heavy with milt or roe and while they may take an odd bait, they are mainly concerned with the process of ensuring immortality for their species.

Having entered the bay, these big snapper mysteriously "disappear" for a few weeks and not a single specimen is sighted. Then suddenly an angler at Beaumaris, or a similar snapper area, will get a sizzling run, and before we know it, the snapper are on!

The first snapper usually begin biting just as the tea-tree along the shores of Port Phillip Bay bursts into bloom. The words ''tea-tree blossom" and "big snapper" have become synonymous in angling language.

In some years the run of big snapper is late and anglers wait anxiously until October or later before the first fish are caught. A few big snapper, as well as a number of smaller ones, remain behind in the bay and these "winter snapper" are occasionally caught along the shores of the upper section of the bay. The St. Kilda pier is one such productive spot. The condition of these winter snapper is nowhere comparable to the condition of the big spawners which arrive each spring or summer, and most winter snapper I've caught have been soft and unpalatable.

The second run of snapper which usually begins in December is comprised of specimens of from a 10 cm in length to 1-2kg. These smaller snapper do not remain in the deeper waters but come close inshore where they give good sport to rock and pier fishermen during the summer and autumn. The Christmas holidays are usually associated with good catches of snapper from the piers.

There is one important difference in fishing for these small snapper as compared with the technique used in catching the big ones. When fishing for big snapper, the angler always lets the fish run some distance before he attempts to set the hook; when he is deliberately fishing for the smaller ones he sets the hook the moment the bite is felt.

The beginner may well ask how can he tell whether the snapper he is going to catch is big or small? Well one way, unless we are fishing in any area where we know from past experience what to expect, is to try the two techniques of hooking the snapper until we find which one is successful.

Sometimes the small snapper will only grab at the bait and make no attempt to take it a heavy sinker could make them drop it quickly and you can tell what is happening by the sudden downward lunge of the rod tip. If the rod tip comes back as fast as it went down, you are getting bites from small snapper, whiting, or flathead. If the rod tip stays down, irrespective of whether the line is running out or not, watch out! A big fish, probably a snapper, has the bait in its mouth.

On most occasions in Port Phillip Bay a big snapper will run with the bait the moment he takes it, and there's no mistaking that first surging run.

Most snapper caught in Port Phillip Bay are taken by anglers fishing from boats, although a few good ones can be caught at times from the rocks and piers. The best catches, both in size and number, are taken by anglers fishing from a boat anchored over or close to a known snapper reef. Nothing spoils snapper fishing so fast as the thump of an anchor, and the angler who is continually shifting his boat will usually get few bigish.

If you have to shift position because the fish are not biting in that spot, or because the sharks or leatherjackets are spoiling the sport, do so with the least amount of noise. When you arrive at your new position, lower the anchor quitely, don't heave it overboard.