# NSW Depot beach snapper...



## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

I hope that this doesn't sound trite but I like to get out on Anzac day and celebrate the freedom we have and in so doing I remember the efforts and sacrifice of previous generations. Today the child bride and I made thew short trip to Depot beach with the A.I. on the Forrester. We departed from the norm of taking the trailer as I was expecting a lot of people to be out and possibly making it difficult to get near the launch site. As it turned out there were no crowds although some families came down during the day and launched a tinny and taking a bunch of kids out fishing - all without life jackets...










I haven't had to set up the A.I. for a long time as it is normally has the seat and all the fishing gear in-situ as the trailer is fully enclosed and there is no problem with wind etc. and the lack of practice meant that I took way too long setting up. I took three rods with me, a G.Loomis Greenwater snapper rod, a heavy boat rod with a TLD20 overhead and a small Rack raider overhead with an Abu Garcia overhead spinning reel. The plan was to fish plastics with the snapper rod, troll a deep diving hard body with the boat rod and fish baits while drifting. The small overhead was basically there as a spare.










When I got to my start point I changed the lure for a baited jig and fished the boat rod a couple of turns off the bottom while casting and retrieving with the Loomis. Almost immediately the depth finder started to go ballistic with the fish alarm and in short order I caught a very large wrasse, a huge red rock cod, a smaller cod and an enormous Sgt Baker. All fish were returned and even though I did want a fish for tucker none of these was what I was wanting. The toxic spines on the red rock cod are reason enough to not want them on board a small boat like a kayak...

Through the day I had a lot of promising hook ups which I did not get to the yak, not sure what happened but the best hit bricked me into the reef and I was eventually broken off.

After coming back in for a coffee break and a bite to eat I headed back out planning to troll lures down to Pebbly beach and then drift back fishing bait but with a strengthening sea breeze the ocean started to get very sloppy. The hard body was the first hit and I turned the AI off the wind to play the fish but once again I lost it when it got near to the yak but as I was starting to tack away from the lost fish the snapper rod buckled over and I had some difficulty getting it out of the rod holder. This fish was taking line off the drag and I could feel the powerful pulsing of its tail as it fought the line. For a while all I could do was hang on and hope that this one would stay attached until I could start winning back line. This was what I had been targeting and after a spirited fight I was finally rewarded with the sight of a silver/red body flashing through the water. I reached back for the net and was relieved to land the fish perfectly on the first attempt. Because the child bride doesn't come out onto the ocean its been too long since I have been out snapper fishing and it felt great to have a half meter fish on board.










As I started to head back I packed up the boat rod and dropped a bait with the little spinning rod and the bait never hit the bottom. The fish was doing everything it could to stay down deep and just as it was coming up to the yak the leader broke. Subsequent inspection revealed that the light leader was heavily abraded near the break so I suspect that there was something toothy in the area.










By this time there where white caps all around me so I headed back in to pack up and get ready for work tomorrow. On the brag mat the snapper was a creditable 53 cms and when I was cleaning it a giant stingray came in looking for any scraps and politely tapped my on the leg with a wing in a very gentle manner. Fortunately it kept the bitey end pointing the other way. Its one of the rays that regularly checks what is on offer where fishermen clean fish.










A truly wonderful day and once again I am made to appreciate the freedom we have in this great country.

cheers

John


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## blueyak (Jan 20, 2009)

Excellent John


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

BigGee said:


> Nice Snapper there John.
> 
> See / catch any Squid? There were a bunch there before the Storm hit.
> 
> Gee


I took some squid jigs with me but never got around to using them. Over some of the weedy reef areas should be good though...

cheers

John


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## CLJB (Jan 8, 2013)

Totally agree with your ANZAC celebration. My dad and I did the same today, but had nowhere near as much action.


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## brant78 (Jun 24, 2012)

Terrific John. Well done. Glad you got your just rewards. Lovely to eat as well snapper that size.


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

Very well done John that's a beautiful way to spend such a special day.

The red rock cod are worth risking the spines for me, I find them delicious filleted and skinned with flesh like coral trout. The bigger the red devil is the better the fillets but the worse the potential sting. A couple of tips: the best way to hold them is with a gloved thumb in the mouth. The way to skin them is to run the tip of the knife around where the fillet will come off and just cut the skin first, leaving the meat. Don't cut too deep. Then with a gloved hand (they're slippery) grab the flap of skin near the shoulder and pull the skin off from front to back, running the thumb of your other hand along between the flesh and skin to separate them. Filleting the flesh off the bone is so much easier without that skin which is really really tough and slimy, probably because they have to live in rocky nooks and crannies like wrasse (which have a beautiful fillet to them prepared this way too )


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## solatree (May 30, 2008)

Nice one John - that's a beaut looking fish. Well done.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Nice red John, and a good eating size before they grow too big.


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

So jealous! Great result John. One day ....

It's indeed a pity the weather wasn't as good as forcast. Seabreeze had it pegged at less than 10 km/h all day. I was surprised to see stiff white caps at midday and it just strengthened from there. I'm glad I got out on Wednedsay afternoon instead.

We have to figure out a way of our planets to align. I really think you'd enjoy a session of the Dalmeny ramp, especially with the psycho bait action that's happening at the moment.


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## mrwalker (Feb 23, 2009)

Well done John, that's a perfect size snapper IMO. Cheers, Dave.


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

mrwalker said:


> Well done John, that's a perfect size snapper IMO. Cheers, Dave.


hey mrwalker... haven't seen you around for ages how goes Fiji...

cheers

John


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

john316 said:


> ....On the brag mat the snapper was a creditable 53 cms and when I was cleaning it a giant stingray came in looking for any scraps and politely tapped my on the leg with a wing in a very gentle manner. Fortunately it kept the bitey end pointing the other way. Its one of the rays that regularly checks what is on offer where fishermen clean fish.
> 
> A truly wonderful day and once again I am made to appreciate the freedom we have in this great country.
> 
> ...


Good snap on a great day John. *

*Just wish you hadn't mentioned the ray.


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

kayakone said:


> Just wish you hadn't mentioned the ray


Trev, I actually thought of you as I wrote it up... but I still put it in as it was an interesting part of the day for me. It was actively feeding and obviously used to being around fish cleaning activities and being fed by the local fisher-folk. It was not being threatened and was not being threatening and I reckon if I had held some of the snapper guts in my hands I could have hand fed it.

Had another great day today but that's another story...

cheers

John


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Small children hand feed 6ft diameter black stingrays down this way. All the cleaning tables have a few residents. Gentle giants.


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Great eating size snapper John I bet it tasted a treat

Cheers Dave


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