Geoff Thomas: Handy hints to snag a good one

Sharks like this juvenile hammerhead can be a problem when snapper fishing. Photo / Geoff Thomas

We all search for an edge when going fishing; something that we hope will turn into a magic bullet that gives us an advantage over other fishermen. The best way to find such advantages is to talk to others while having a drink after a day on the water, at the boat ramp or in a tackle shop. For we are always learning, and the successful anglers will always be those who are prepared to learn, to adapt and to try new techniques.

Some thoughts gleaned by doing just that are offered in the hope they might add to the catch. When fishing around an island try and fish on the shady side of the island when the sun is low. You are more likely to hook larger fish in the shadow than in bright sunlight.

If you are a diver, you can check out potential fishing spots by looking for channels in reefs and rocks with food. Or, visit at low tide when such features may be exposed.

When hoping for big snapper of 5kg or more, some people will use a whole yellowtail as bait. They can be hooked with a single hook inserted under the pectoral fin on one side, hook facing forward, and rolled back so the shank rests against the flank and the point sticks out with the eye of the hook facing the tail. The trace can then be looped around the tail with a couple of half-hitches to secure it for casting. If a weight is needed to pull the bait down through waves or a strong current, a small ball sinker can be first pushed down against the hook so it doesn't slide up the trace during casting and create a pendulum effect. This is a top bait when stray-lining down a berley trail. But it also works well when dropped into 40m, it just needs a bigger sinker. Or the little fish can be butterflied with the backbone removed, leaving two flaps of flesh hanging from the head.

They can also be filleted and used as regular bait in chunks or strips, and such baits will resist the picking of juveniles and usually result in bigger snapper being hooked although the action will be slower than with the more common baits such as pilchard or squid. Firing a big fillet of yellowtail well off the back of the boat and leaving the rod in a holder up high with the clicker on the reel to signal action is always a good way to pick up the occasional large fish. Sharks and rays love these baits, too, so some excitement is always on the cards.

Blue mackerel or slimy mackerel are even better baits as they have more blood and oil, and they can be rigged the same ways.

When sharks are a problem attacking the baits, try using mussels. They can be salted down which toughens them or wrapped in bait cotton to keep them on the hook. In fact this can be done in advance and the cotton-wrapped mussels are like little sausages which can be cut in half for small baits.

Change baits at least every 15 minutes. Fresh is best and baits lose their smell after awhile in the water.

Flounder make good snapper bait. Small ones can be used whole to target big fish, but larger specimens are cut into chunks or strips. One angler fishing off Muriwai Beach found the snapper he caught were packed with 1cm-thick chunks of flounder.

Try adding a trout fly in orange or yellow on a loop above the bait, high enough so they won't tangle. One bloke was fishing off Shag Island, at the bottom end of Waiheke Island, and the fishing was slow so he tried drifting with a yellow size 2 fly (like a Parsons Glory) above his bait and caught four snapper up to 6kg, all on the fly. Their stomachs were full of scallops so maybe the fly appeared similar to the scallop roe.

Another successful angler uses only large lime green flasher rigs with 8/0 hooks when fishing the mussel farms off Coromandel. Maybe the colour imitates mussels, for he fishes where there are small mussels on the ropes, which snapper feed on.

When baiting hooks for long-lines operated off a beach with a torpedo, fresh bait is best and fish like mullet or kahawai should be scaled, and chunks hooked through the flesh with the barb exposed on the skin side. This helps prolong the life of the bait as it gets dragged through the sand and then out for 1000m. Other good snapper bait for long-lines set from the beach, or a boat, are fresh gurnard, pakete (spotties) or eagle ray flaps.

Berley is commonly used when fishing for snapper, but it is not usually regarded as necessary when fishing for tarakihi. A technique some Wellington anglers use when targeting tarakihi makes a lot of sense. Steve Reed reports a lot of success with berley, but he adds his own mix to commercial product. "We thaw a couple of berley bombs and add about five kilos of cooked rice. This turns two bombs into five or six berleys, which can be refrozen. Then we drop a berley bomb to about five metres above the bottom and it works really well in attracting the tarakihi," he said. Tarakihi are soft-mouthed feeders and they like rice, but small cubes of bonito or pilchard tied to the hook with bait elastic will also trigger bites.