Snapper Fishing

Snapper
One of New Zealand's most popular species for recreational fishing is the snapper. Many of our clients succeed in catching snapper on our charter trips and enjoy their catches back on shore, cooked to perfection.

Snapper belong to the sea bream family and the average fish measures between 30 - 60cm in length. However, snapper fishing in the spawning season (November to January) off the Bay of Islands has resulted in catches each weighing up to 14kg.

The maori name for snapper 'tamure' is still in use along Northland coasts and smaller snapper are commonly called bream. Snapper is the most commercially caught species in New Zealand and are easily identified by their steep head profile, large grasping, crushing teeth and their golden-red colour, and blue spotted upper sides.

Snapper Feeding & Breeding
Snapper survive on shellfish and rock-bound chitinous creatures, sea eggs (kina), crabs such as estuarine mud crabs, worms, molluscs, crustaceans and plankton, jellyfish, and small fish species such as anchovies, pilchards and sprats.

They are a fast breeding species; fertilized eggs float near the surface and hatch three to four days later. After hatching, snapper try to hide where they can. They feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton, marine worms and small crustaceans and grow to about four inches in their first six months. Snapper are believed to reach maturity after three years, at which point they average 12 to 14 inches long. In their first winter, the young snapper migrate to deeper water, although tagging studies indicate that migration tendencies are individually variable.

Snapper fishing or 'bottom fishing'
The term 'bottom fishing' derives from species such as snapper as they remain just above the seabed, between depths of 10 - 100 metres in New Zealand's warmer coastal waters.

They are our nation's most popular recreational and table fish, and can be caught using bait or by jigging small lures. The key reason for snapper fishing's popularity is that snapper are strong swimmers and hence a challenging sport fish to catch-they are also one of the best tasting fish in the world (well, probably!)

Fishing for Snapper
There are certain theories regarding the impact of seasons and tides on New Zealand snapper fishing:

* Snapper move to shallower water in spring and summer
* Snapper move to deeper water in winter
* Snapper seem to prefer the 'edges' of underwater tidal streams
* For offshore areas, fishing the turn of the tide may be best; among other reasons, the turning tide may reduce current speed and aid sinking a bait. For inshore areas, the incoming tide is preferred, because it provides snapper with better access to surf-edge shellfish beds on beaches

Snapper Bait
Shellfish are the obvious bait choice for surf fishing. If shellfish can't be collected, packaged frozen bait, such as trevally, squid, or pilchards are fine. These baits are usable for boat fishing, too, but bonito, with its potent, oily smell, is the preferred bait for many New Zealand snapper fishermen. Hook size, hook type, line strength, sinker weight, and sinker style are best adjusted for the bait used and for the region being fished.

Snapper Quotas
New Zealand's snapper fishing is managed by strict quotas, which allow only a set amount of snapper to be taken commercially each year. This Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) was set at 6,495 metric tonnes for the 2000/2001 fishing year. The minimum legal size (MLS) for snapper caught by recreational fishers in the North Island is 27cm, while it is only 25cm for commercial fishers.

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