Snapper Off the Rocks on Soft Plastics

By Alex Bellisimo

In this article I would like to talk about soft plastics and snapper off the ocean rocks. Most anglers that fish for snapper off the ocean rocks do it with bait. When fishing off the ocean rocks the main methods are fishing the sudsy white water (washes) casting off a deep-water ledge with a variation of light sinkers. Depending on wash, current or casting distance sinker weights ranging from three to five oz to are often the go-to weights.

In this blog I will look at the fishing and casting range from 3m to about 25m out from the ledge you’re standing on. You may think why so close in? I, and a lot of anglers have caught great snapper right in close mostly bait fishing. This article is about catching snapper on soft plastics. 

I live in the northern suburbs of Sydney NSW, and fishing the rocks for snapper can be from great to very average. This variance in fishing results can be influenced by a heap of factors including water temperature, angling pressure, water clarity and an abundance of bait anglers fishing where you’re fishing.

Bait v Lures

Understanding that a burley trail with chopped up prawns, pilchards, and even some squid in your burley and of course matching the burley fishing with the same bait are hard to beat when fishing off the rocks for snapper. There are times getting through the small bait fish can be daunting.  One of the best ways to get through them is using soft plastics for snapper. 

This trend has gone in and out of fashion over the last couple of decades. I have some great success on soft plastics. One of my best outings was eight snapper and had a lot of outings with two to five fish caught, so soft plastics are worth using.  In the Daiwa Bait Junkie range I’m going to focus on two models, the 5” Jerk Shad and 3” Prawn.

There are many more varieties and sizes that work very well. Snapper, like bream are considered scavenger. This is only partly true. I view them more as a scavenger/predator, and that means they will eat shrimps, crabs, octopus, small bait fish and whatever small thing that happened to get too close they will smash. I have seen all sorts of small fish, crustaceans inside the stomach of a snapper ranging from small slimy mackerel, yellowtail, sweep, mado’s, and even leatherjackets, small wrasse, all of the cephalopods species and more. I caught a snapper last year that had a mutton bird leg in its stomach.  

Which Plastics and Sizes to Use

I have caught snapper off the rocks on several different size and types of plastics. And my favourite brand is the Bait Junkie range. The two I like to use more frequently are the 5” Jerk Shad and 3” Prawn. 

With the Bait Junkie 3” Prawn they work well for snapper ranging from just legal to 40cm fish. I have also caught larger snapper on them but that’s the general size or this smaller plastic. There is a range of colours that work but some of my favourites are as follows. Note that these two colours are opposite colours, some light focused coloured and some dark focused.  The motor oil and prawn skin shrimp colours work quite well in the dark and as well in the light period, while the prawn nipper colour worked better in the light. Note that this is not a general rule so don’t be rigid in thinking this is the only place and time to use the colour. Other colours like oil flash or smoke fire UV work well too. I have caught them on a lot of colours. I recommend having a variety.  

The 5” Jerk Shad works well for snapper ranging from just legal to snapper well in to the 50s cm size. Again, the colours are from the dark to the lighter colours. The toxic turkey or the pilchard glow are a couple of my favourites. A few of my other favourite colours include the smashed kina, pinky snapper glow and strawberry ripple. Once again, the darker period work well for the toxic turkey and the lighter coloured pilchard glow works during the light period. Discoloured water from rain or after a rough sea, a combination of both the darker lures work well. 

Jighead Size and Weight

The 3” Prawn I prefer to use a 2/0 size hook and that can be in the fine or the heavy wire. The gear you are using is generally not heavy enough to risk straightening the smaller hook on a good size snapper. Having just one weight that covers all is ok to an extent. if you were to have only one size go for a half oz. I recommend several sizes ranging from 1/8, 1/6,1/4 and 1/2oz, which covers from flat to moderate swell conditions. 

For the 5” Jerk Shad I like to use a larger hook. A 3/0 is a good size for most smaller but a 4/0 is not too big for a slightly larger than a plate size snapper but will secure well in a larger 70+ cm fish. The fine jighead or heavy wire is optional. It also depends on how heavy gear/line class you intend on fishing with.  You can even go as large as a 5/0 so you can avoid the smaller snapper. Jighead weights are similar to the Prawn but are available in heavier weights. Starting from 1/8, 1/6, 1/4, 1/2 and the 3/8oz will cover pretty much most conditions that you may fish off the rocks. As mentioned earlier if you were to use just one weight 1/2oz ‘sort’ of covers it. Going back to size of hooks I would avoid using a 1/0 or a 2/0 for the 5” Jerk Shad but if your desperate and you don't have any larger hooks the 2/0 will suffice. 

Where to Look

Snapper are frequently caught in deep water gravel/sand patches, steep ledges, and pinnacles. You can find this underwater topography around ocean rocks. On the east coast they can be caught for most of the year. October to the end of July are the best months.. Typical spots to fish are off ledges with a water depth of 6+ metres but preferably deeper ledges 8+ metres. Ideally the ledge that you’re standing on has a steep vertical drop into deep water. Also, If there is a bombora (submerged rock) within casting distance work this make the spot more likely to hold fish.  to your advantage especially if there is deep water between the bombora and the deep ledge.  

A wash and white water trailing out from the ledge is a great feature to have as well. The white water will help block out the sunlight and the snapper lay will sit underneath it. Snapper prey such as bait fish, cephalopods and crustaceans will also hang underneath it, and adds greater appeal for the snapper to be there. 

Techniques

Fishing the wash is way to go. Cast out into a white water run off which flows into deep water off the ledge you are fishing is a good start. It doesn’t have to be a big cast but that can vary. Let out slack after your cast and count for 5-10-15 or even 20-30 seconds depending on the weight of your jighead and get your soft plastic down deep as the snapper are generally deep in the water column. 

You then lift upwards at medium speed, lower the rod to allow some slack then take up excess slack. You can do this in intervals every 10-15 seconds. Fan the area. Means casting to the left nearly parallel to the ledge you’re standing on and working it say from right to left. Vary your jighead weight to suit the amount of current and white water. You can also burley up. That helps brings fish to the area you are fishing. That is a plus as you are concentrating snapper, trevally, bream, and assorted species into the area you are fishing. The negative outcome is that the fish you bring in with the burley may only want to eat bait not a lure so have some bait as a backup as well. 

Outfit Setup

There is so many amazing Daiwa outfits to choose from. Below are a couple that I am currently using. Please note ask the pros at your local shop what other Daiwa outfits they recommend. When rock fishing avoid using rods less than 9 foot. Preferred length is between 9’ ½” and 11’. The reason being is that the shorter the rod the closer you will have to stand on the edge of the ledge, and being super close to the edge can be a dangerous thing.

Here are a couple of outfits: 

Rods: Daiwa Dagger X 100M 305cm PE- 1.5-2.5. Daiwa Seabass 1102MH 335cm two piece. 

Reels: Daiwa Saltist MQ 5000, Daiwa BG MQ 5000D H. Daiwa 4000 BG. 

Line: J-Braid Grand 20lb to 30lb. J-Thread Mono 20-25lb. (your choice if you prefer braid or mono)  

Leader: J-Thread FC or J-Thread X Link FC or Saltiga Nylon Leader. All between 16lb to 30lb.  

This is just a brief roundup to get you started for snapper on plastics off the rocks. There is a lot more that I could add.  Maybe consider a trip with me in the future. My job is a full-time rock, beach and estuary fishing guide all land based. Hope I have got you revved up. Get into the snapper!