Snapper Rigs
Snapper can be taken on almost any rig, but one of the most popular
in Australia and New Zealand involves a running sinker or 'snapper
boom'. This essentially allows the line to run freely through or past
the sinker, so that the snapper is unencumbered by any weight during its
first run, giving time for the bait to be swallowed and the hook set
firmly by the angler's first strike. It also allows the bait to float
naturally a short distance above the bottom, at a desired distance away
from the shore or boat.
Several such lines can be effectively fished by one or two anglers,
but they tangle more easily than the simple bottom rigs if used by many
fishermen in one boat. With a light sinker such a line is very effective
as an unattended `stray line' drifted back in the current well behind
the boat; it will often catch as much or more snapper (with an
occasional kahawai, trevally and barracouta) than three or four lines
bottom-fished below the boat. The latter will, of course, take more
bottom fish, so that two types of fishing can be carried on at the same
time. In Australian waters almost all offshore snapper fishing is done
by bottom fishing reefs.
The relative success of an unattended line, whether it is a stray line
over the stern or a temporarily slack bottom rig, is attributed by some
fishermen to the absence of vibrations normally present in a tautly held
line. The running-sinker rig is particularly effective for the plump,
medium-sized school snapper.
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