Winter Snapper in Western Port Bay - 29/08/2014

After a long time sitting idle in the driveway it was time to take the boat out and have a crack at a winter red.. We loaded up the boat and headed to Western port bay to catch the last change of tide for the night. Conditions were looking perfect with a high barometer and light winds. Arrived at Hastings ramp around 8 pm with only a few trailers in the car park we launched, it was around a hour before the low tide.

 

The night was cold and the slight southerly was giving it a chill factor but the conditions on the water were great! A slight wind against the run out tide created a minor chop on the water but a beautiful clear sky with not a cloud in the sky was to be enjoyed.. Bait being used were fresh squid and squid heads and the good old servo pilchards. Didn’t take long before the first bit of action with rods being nibbled all night long, Plagued by couta before and after the tide change kept us busy checking and changing bait and rigging lost hooks, sea lice on slack tide that night didn’t help too!

 

Local fresh bait is always best

 

 

Once the tide changed lice were gone and the action was quite, listening to the footy with the Hawks smashing the pies keeping us entertained.. After another couta reeled in I rest the rod with a pilchard and before I could put it in the rod holder I had an inquiry… Unlike the mid November peak snapper I find the winter snapper to be a lot more finicky with their taking of the bait.. with the rod still in my hand the fish took off!! Massive headshakes but after a couple of minutes and some big runs we had the fish on board.. a very healthy looking Snapper of 77 cm.. weighed it at home on the digital scales it went 5.90 kg..

 

 

77cm and 5.90kg

 
 
With not much action after that we decided to call it a night after a hour, and headed back to the ramp around 12.30 am, as the slight wind was with the tide it made for a nice and flat bay.. With lights reflecting off the mirrored water and a happy crew we had successfully accomplished our first trip for Snapper this year!