The annual Port Phillip snapper migration is arguably the most keenly anticipated fishing event Australia wide. Whether you’re a soft plastic enthusiast, a more traditional bait angler, or perhaps someone who dabbles in both, according to Brent Hodges, Hobson’s Bay in Melbourne’s west is a key target area for springtime reds.
Over the coming months, the top end of Port Phillip will be bombarded with boats, each filled with eager anglers furiously searching for snapper. The season generally gets underway in early spring when huge schools assemble outside the heads before gradually making their way north towards Melbourne. Following deeper contours along the eastern seaboard, significant numbers eventually reach Hobson’s Bay where they spread across the shallow reef systems and adjacent deeper lines, to feed up in preparation for spawning.
One of the key target areas for anglers based west of the Yarra River is the stretch from Williamstown around to Altona. The backdrop of fuel refineries, shipping yards, city sky scrapers and residential housing is hardly reminiscent of a dream fishing destination. But the ease of access to highly fertile ground is appealing to all anglers, especially those with smaller craft, including tinnies and kayaks.
Season Overview
The snapper run is at its best from October through to December, peaking in November when water temperatures reaches and then passes the 16 degree mark. As the season progresses into late December and January, the action tends to slow up, until a late surge at Easter produces some surprising results.
While a large proportion of migrating snapper exit Port Phillip not long after spawning, significant numbers remain in the bay year round. During the cooler months, schools of mostly juvenile pinkies, along with the odd larger specimen, occupy the shallow inshore reefs and even the lower reaches of the both the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers.
These resident fish provide reasonably consistent sport through winter until the cycle repeats in early spring, which brings us back to where we are now.
The snapper season generally gets underway in early spring when huge schools assemble outside the heads before gradually making their way north towards Melbourne.
Inner Reefs
The seabed across the inner western reefs primarily consists of sand, weed and rubble. Some of the more notable marks also comprise scallop beds and heavier reef matted in cunjevoi. Commencing at Newport, the entrance to the Yarra River and Williamstown Harbour produces the occasional snapper for those fishing at anchor just outside the channel.
More often than not, however, smaller school sized pinkies are what’s on offer in this area. Despite comparatively modest proportions, extracting these fish from barnacle encrusted jetty pylons, yacht hulls and mooring chains can be a real challenge.
Upon exiting the Yarra River and hugging the western shoreline, snapper can be found pressing bait right up against the breakwall which borders and protects the shipping yard. Nearby patches of rock and rubble also hold snapper at times, particularly during an onshore southerly blow. As indicated by a cardinal mark, these isolated bommies gradually come together to form a shallow jagged reef to less than half a metre of water in parts, anglers should not be tempted to cut across the shoal, especially at low tide.
A more productive reef directly in line with Williamstown Football Ground gradually descends into about 6 m of water, before dropping further into 8 to 9 m where a featureless sandy bottom gently slopes away toward the shipping channel. Smaller sections of suitable ground can be found within just a few hundred metres of the shoreline through to Williamstown Beach.
Further west, there’s a series of rubble patches at the entrance to Kororoit Creek, but be sure to avoid the nearby marine sanctuary, delineated by a string of yellow buoys.
Closer to the launching ramp at Altona, a shallow water marker indicates the presence of another prominent reef. Some amazing shallow water snapper were encountered in this area last year, especially during rough conditions of an evening.
When prospecting inshore, it is well worth having a good look around, rather than simply flocking to a congregation of boats where the fish are likely to be on high alert. Nothing shuts down a shallow snapper bite faster than several boats zipping around overhead and a procession of carelessly deployed anchors crashing to the bottom. If at all possible, try to make a stealthy approach and avoid driving directly over the area you intend to fish.
Coupled with a tide change, first and last light is most definitely the prime time to snare a few reds.
Wider Marks
Port Phillip Bay is a huge expanse of water and theoretically snapper could show up anywhere, though history tells us they tend to return to certain zones. In general, depths ranging from 8 to 14 m produce early in the morning or late in the evening, whereas the fish tend to push out wider during the middle part of the day.
Learning how to operate and read your sounder is the key to finding snapper in deeper water. Some of the new models allow you to scan at fairly high speed, which means you can quickly cover ground and still mark snapper, baitfish and likely looking structure. Shadowing large concentrations of bait, early season reds can be sounded up offshore from Williamstown anywhere between the reef and the inner anchorage adjacent to the shipping lane.
Sounding along the edge of the main channel towards Fawkner Beacon and back across to the yellow P2 marker buoy is common practice for many. Located about 6 km offshore from Altona, P2 and the surrounding area would have to be one of the most frequented haunts for snapper anglers across the entire top section of Port Phillip. The actual buoy marks the course of an underwater gas pipeline and anchoring within 150 m is prohibited. The ground here is fairly nondescript, but seemingly ideal for grazing snapper. Some early season reds to 8 kg can be expected in this area, though the usual run of school fish more commonly average 2 to 3 kg or thereabouts.
Chasing snapper on the drift with lightweight spin tackle and soft plastics continues to increase in popularity.
Traditional Techniques
Fishing at anchor with various baits presented unweighted or via a light running sinker rig is a tried and trusted technique. The humble pilchard is by far the most successful bait, followed by silver whiting and freshly caught squid.
Last year some very large snapper were also taken on small, but legal size, Australian salmon which were schooling at the mouth of the Yarra River. Regardless of your choice of bait, a steady stream of berley is essential to keep the fish interested and schooled up behind the boat. In fact, it’s not unusual for some crews to go through a couple of kilograms of cubed pilchards during a sustained hot bite.
Modern Methods
Chasing snapper on the drift with lightweight spin tackle and soft plastics continues to increase in popularity. The modern school of thought requires the use of a bow mounted electric motor, or at least a drogue and sometimes both, in place of an anchor, rod rack and berley pot.
Basically, the technique involves using a tailing breeze to make a full length cast into undisturbed water ahead of the boat to avoid spooking fish in the shallows. Admittedly, a far greater percentage of the larger 4 kg plus reds are still taken on bait, particularly out wide, and perhaps this will always be the case.
Closer to shore, however, soft plastic specialists definitely hold the advantage when working inshore areas for small to medium size pinkie snapper.
Hedging Your Bets
Interestingly, some anglers opt to cast and retrieve a soft plastic while soaking a few baits at the same time. Indeed it is possible to combine both methods, and quite a few locals do well by berleying up at anchor, setting the bait rods and then flicking a plastic to pass the time.
One of the many benefits to having a softie rigged up while bait fishing is that you can often trigger a reaction bite from snapper that are not necessarily dialled into feeding mode.
Peak Feeding Periods
Irrespective of your preferred method, it is important to consider the weather, and more specifically, wind direction and barometric pressure.
Northerly winds generally coincide with a fast falling barometer and an impending low pressure system, which tends to put snapper off the bite. Conversely, once the wind swings around to the south, signalling an approaching high pressure system and stirring up the bay at the same time, some sizzling action can be expected.
Moving into a period of stable high pressure, the bite should continue, but the intensity and duration gradually tapers off as the days pass. In terms of the tides, high water is preferable when fishing the shallows, but out wider, the low tide change can be equally productive. First and last light is most definitely the prime time to snare a few reds. Overcast or cloudy skies, combined with a steady surface chop, also help prolong this short bite window.
Of course, snapper can still be caught outside of these periods. For those with time constraints, my final word of advice is to simply get out there whenever opportunities arise!
