Thread: Slow Jigging snapper

Gidday folks so I'll be back in Auckland for the festive season and am keen to remember what it feels like to catch a snapper. Slow jigging was the method I've been told is a good way to go.

For the likes of the inner gulf what sorta weight slow jigs and patterns are ya using without giving away all the secrets?

Using 80.. 150 gram kaburas .atm.
Dependant on depth.
Sometimes a little squid tail on it of the bite is slow.

Slow jigging and vertical soft baiting is how I catch most of my fish. Honestly, I don't think the lure design matters that much. Colour maybe important, but I'm not totally convinced. That said, I do like an element of lumo if fishing deep water. Kabura/slider-style slow jigs still seem to be in favour, but I'd carry a few flutter jigs as well. Flutter jigs can be fished slow or fast. Cranking them back up is often when you'll get kingfish bycatch. As a rough estimate, 20g weight per 10 metres is about right, but it is highly dependent on boat drift speed and current. A tiny piece of bait on the hooks will up the snapper catch rate significantly, although the average size of the fish will go down. You need a tough bait, either squid or slithers of salted mackerel.

An alternative approach for deep water is using soft baits on a 2-3oz jig head. There are all sorts of soft baits out there, but if I'm struggling, Gulp is my first choice. It's basically bait. It will be destroyed by small snapper and non-target species, but it'll catch you some big snapper as well. If the fish are really biting, then I'll switch to a synthetic plastic like ZMan to save money.

Cheers for the replies. Goes without saying I can offer advice down my neck of the woods for furry or finned creatures in return for saltwater advice.

All good. One from the archives. At this point in time, I was ONLY using inchikus, so they work!

Slow jigs and soft bait techniques work well in Marlborough sounds too snapper blue cod gurnard kahawai. Snapper especially where birds are or have been working. Quite deep too pulled one up from 65m last xmas. Only time i use bait now is for stray lining. Only one more week and we down there for a month�� getting down there makes living up here tolerable.

the slow jigs work, just remember they're called slow for a reason. Caught a donkey of a blue mackerel on the retrieve of a slow jig.

Two hook ledger rig, with big chucks of mullet off the Auckland west coast. Job done.

Originally Posted by Got-ya

Two hook ledger rig, with big chucks of mullet off the Auckland west coast. Job done.

Yeah, I've done that at the Graveyard. Pulled up two 5 to 10lb fish every drop apart from when the sharks took them. Two of us limited out in about 30 minutes.

West Coast - Wellington region. Nothing beats squid with a bit of burley. Easy fishing in as little as 5m.

Found the Jigs 40-60m really good especially if you want to catch the big fish. If fish are off the bite try some fast retrieves once touch bottom. Or vice versa slow it down just before hits bottom. Prefer Pinks and Oranges, but sometimes yellow(bruised banana) so just see what flavour of the day is, and something else might work. Softies will also work well out deep if you can get them to the bottom ok, depending on weather and your patience.

In shallower softies, kaburas, ijikis etc. Or can just go traditional flasher rig or quite often just have a lazy running sinker with a long-trace with plenty of line out of a rod from the top rocket launcher while doing the other stuff. Good luck, should go ok!

Slow jig rod works very well by itself in rod holder just on motion of boat , 1 - 2m above bottom, then jig 2nd rod.

Went out yesterday morning after last fish Jan, Went really well with some big fish back by 11 after wind picked up. Fish seemed in really good nick with nice deep Orange colours. Bit sporadic getting on the drop or winding up, or as Sharki says one while just sitting in holder. Dropped a few, couple of big ones, seems the way with jigs sometimes not holding on by much.

Originally Posted by Pop Shot

West Coast - Wellington region. Nothing beats squid with a bit of burley. Easy fishing in as little as 5m.

Interesting. Most up here don't use burly off the west coast as too many sharks.

Got my snapper limit (only 3) in 5 drifts on this lure in the Sounds the other day. Cod really like them too.