Fishing Monthly Magazine | January 2023

Page 88

VIC

Memorable snapper sessions amazing fish. Recently I’ve fished many various types and styles, from land-based on local piers and jetties,

PPB WEST

Alan Bonnici alan@fishingmad.com.au

Happy New Year to all Fishing Monthly readers. What a crazy season 2022 was! The last couple of months have been the most challenging and yet the most rewarding fishing I can recall. Winter and spring were quite challenging for most anglers in Port Phillip Bay, as we battled inconsistent weather patterns and consecutive La Niña conditions. However, since then the bay has awoken, and rewarded local anglers with some amazing fishing. I’ve caught more snapper this past month than any other month I can recall. I’ve travelled far and wide and put in some serious hours in my relentless pursuit of catching these

out on the kayak, out on the boat and even out on the jet ski. I have been mixing up ways of targeting these fish

with soft plastics, lures and baits, and feeling a sense of pride every time I catch one at a new location or

This snapper couldn’t resist a strip bait presented on a Snapper Snatcher.

A tasty trio destined for the pan.

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new technique. I never tire of catching these amazing fish, and neither do the hundreds of people that flock to the boat ramps of Port Phillip Bay at crazy hours to get into the action. I’ve caught countless snapper between 2-4kg and had some very memorable sessions on the water catching bags of snapper over 6kg. In my last session, I launched at Altona and ventured up to P2, a popular snapper fishing spot. I stayed away from the crowds and spent some time staring at the sounder looking for arches holding in the bottom third of the water column. After 15 minutes I

saw something that looked worth a shot. I carefully anchored, ensuring I was within close proximity of the waypoint I created. I quickly threw out some berley and a spread of rods, and that was when things went crazy. Three rods bucked at the same time, and we were juggling rods and tangled lines. As I pulled in the first snapper, the 4th rod also bucked over. It was 10 minutes of pure adrenaline and chaos. As I pulled in the last rod I looked at the deck to see four magnificent snapper ranging from 4-7kg, with the smallest going 54cm and the biggest 78cm. These are those moments that reward you for the countless hours on the water and super early starts. On this day we headed out

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JANUARY 2023

Snapper are biting on both baits and soft plastics.

at 10:30 and were back at the boat ramp by 11:45, stopping on the way back to catch a few salmon that was busting up near the cardinal. The following day we launched again from Altona and ventured across the bay, heading straight to Black Rock and Ricketts Point – aging notorious snapper grounds that are very popular with local anglers. This time we didn’t bring any bait and decided to fish in shallower waters using only using soft plastics. This included 7” Turtleback Worms in nuclear chicken colour and Munroe’s 3.75” paddle-tails in filthy pilchard colour. We reached our grounds and dedicated time to staring at the sounder to ensure we were fishing where the fish are. This time it took a good 35 minutes but eventually, we found something worthy. Carefully anchoring close to our waypoint, we launched our soft plastics in the water and the action was frantic. Our first casts were annihilated by angry snapper. Me and a good mate landed six snapper in as many casts, with the snapper ranging between 3-6kg. Catching big fish on soft plastics with light spinning gear is my favourite form of fishing – particularly when the target is snapper. Not forcing battles but letting snapper go on runs and just controlling them with light gear is the heart-pumping stuff that I live for. If you haven’t caught snapper on soft plastics I’d encourage you to give it a go, it’s such a different form of fishing that is so rewarding. The bay will fish exceptionally well over the To page 89


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Boat Test: Edencraft 6m Offshore

10min
pages 122-128

Freshwater

7min
pages 118-119

Exmouth

5min
page 117

Karratha

4min
page 116

Mandurah

6min
page 113

Lancelin

3min
page 114

Kalbarri

5min
page 115

Metro

4min
page 112

Augusta

5min
page 111

Tournaments

21min
pages 105-109

Victorian Angler Diaries

7min
page 104

Hobart

5min
page 103

Offshore

7min
page 102

Eildon

3min
page 100

Crater Lakes

6min
page 99

Ballarat

3min
page 98

Bendigo

7min
page 96

Wangaratta

4min
page 95

Gippsland Lakes

5min
page 90

Phillip Island

7min
page 89

Port Phillip East

5min
pages 86-87

Port Phillip West

4min
page 88

New England Rivers

5min
page 79

Canberra

4min
page 80

Hunter Valley

5min
page 78

Batlow

5min
page 77

Albany/Wodonga

3min
page 76

Batemans Bay

6min
page 73

Illawarra

8min
page 72

Central Coast

4min
page 70

Port Stephens

5min
page 69

Swansea

6min
page 71

Coffs Coast

5min
pages 66-67

Forster

4min
page 68

Sydney South

5min
pages 62-63

Testing Booth: Tackle Tactics

10min
pages 56-57

Freshwater

14min
pages 48-49

Cape York

6min
pages 44-47

Mackay

5min
pages 34-35

Cooktown

4min
pages 42-43

Kayak: Budds Beach

11min
pages 50-52

Sheik of the Creek

3min
pages 53-55

Bundaberg

6min
pages 32-33

Noosa

5min
pages 30-31

Southern Bay

3min
pages 24-25

REGULAR FEATURES What’s luck got to do with it?

13min
pages 8-11

Jumpinpin

3min
pages 22-23

Starlo: snapper on plastics

4min
pages 12-15

QUEENSLAND The Tweed

6min
pages 16-17

Brisbane

12min
pages 26-27

Northern Bay

6min
pages 28-29
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