Nannygai in WA: Catching Saddletail Snapper Up North

Nannygai in WA’s north is the saddletail snapper (Lutjanus malabaricus), a tropical Lutjanid. It’s a deep red fish, more slender than a red emperor, named for the dark saddle-shaped blotch above the base of the tail — hence “large-mouth nannygai”. They hold over deep reef, rubble and broken bottom from the Gascoyne up through the Pilbara and Kimberley, often in big aggregations.

The name is a minefield. On WA’s South Coast, “nannygai” means Bight redfish (Centroberyx gerrardi) — a totally different species with its own 350mm minimum and separate rules. Elsewhere it gets stuck on crimson snapper and red bass. This guide is strictly the northern saddletail; if someone in Esperance is talking nannygai, they mean something else entirely.

This is a northern fishery, full stop. The recreational catch runs through the Gascoyne (Shark Bay and Ningaloo) and the North Coast (Pilbara and Kimberley). South of Shark Bay a nannygai is a genuine surprise, and the West Coast demersal closure makes the metro question academic anyway.

They share ground with the marquee reds — find a nannygai school and you’ll often be pulling red emperor, goldband and crimson snapper off the same patch of rubble. That mixed bag is the whole appeal of northern bottom fishing.

The north fishes year-round, but the weather runs the calendar. The cooler, calmer April–September window gives the most workable offshore days in the Gascoyne and Pilbara — chasing demersals in 70m with a 25-knot sea breeze on is a quick way to donate your lunch to the ocean.

Nannygai are a demersal scalefish, and WA’s demersal rules were overhauled statewide from 1 June 2026. For saddletail snapper specifically:

• No minimum size limit. Saddletail aren’t on the named size list — but the red emperor you’ll catch alongside them now carries a 450mm minimum, so know your fish at the boat.
• Individual species daily bag: 4 outside the West Coast region — saddletail are a tropical demersal snapper, not the “all other species” finfish group.
• Total mixed demersal scalefish bag: 4 per fisher outside the West Coast region — nannygai count toward the same combined limit as red emperor, dhufish and every other demersal in the esky.
• West Coast region: boat-based demersal fishing remains closed, land-based capped at 2 demersal fish. Inside the West Coast region and at the Houtman Abrolhos, individual nannygai limits are tighter — confirm before fishing those zones.

Don’t take those numbers off a ramp mate or a Facebook screenshot. The reforms are recent and regional rules differ — read the current bag, size and closure rules at DPIRD before you leave the driveway.

You catch nannygai from a boat, over deep rubble bottom, off the right northern town:

• Exmouth — the easiest base for a first northern demersal trip. Boats work the grounds off the Ningaloo shelf, and nannygai are a staple of the mixed bag.
• Coral Bay — small, but the reef drops away close in, putting demersal ground within a short run.
• Onslow — gateway to the Mackerel Islands, where the reefs hold good aggregations of nannygai and reds.
• Dampier — Pilbara reef country, with sheltered launching at Hampton Harbour and plenty of bottom in reach.
• Point Samson — a practical Pilbara launch with productive reef grounds close enough for a day run.
• Broome — the Kimberley end of the range: big tides, big fish, and timing that punishes the unprepared.

Check the wind and swell for your launch on BiteCompass before committing to a long offshore run — up north it’s the forecast, not the fish, that cancels the trip.

Nannygai live deep and the reef they hold on doesn’t forgive a slow lift. This is heavy bottom-fishing tackle, not jetty gear.

• Rod and reel: a 15–24kg overhead or heavy deep-drop spin outfit, cranking weight up from 40–100m against current.
• Line: 50–80lb braid with an 80–100lb mono or fluorocarbon leader.
• Rig: a two-hook paternoster with 7/0–9/0 circle hooks on heavy droppers — the bread-and-butter nannygai rig, ideal for schooling fish where a double hook-up is common.
• Sinker: 12–32oz depending on depth and current. Underweighting is the classic mistake — bait stealers strip a slow-sinking bait before it reaches the reef.
• Baits: squid strips, whole pilchards, slimy mackerel or mullet fillet, and octopus. Nannygai aren’t shy biters.
• Lures: slow-pitch jigs in 100–250g over an aggressive school once you’ve marked one.
• Non-negotiable: a release weight or descender on board. Barotrauma is real from these depths — you’ll need one for anything undersize or over your bag.

Nannygai aggregate, so the fishing is about finding the school, not grinding a single bait. Sound around the deeper reef edges and rubble until you mark a stack of fish, drop on it, and then stay on it — a good patch fishes for hours, and a drift off the mark turns a hot bite cold in seconds. Re-drop with the sounder, not from memory.

Tide change triggers the bite, and neap tides make bottom-fishing far easier than the big spring runs. Dawn and dusk are the best light. Drop fast, keep contact with the bottom, and when a fish loads up, lift it clear of the reef before it buries you.