Where and when to catch Snapper in New South Wales: the NSW season, the spots in our guide that hold them, and where to find NSW's current size and bag limits.
Called Pink Snapper on our Western Australian guide.
Snapper are New South Wales' blue-ribbon reef fish, and a good one off the rocks is a career highlight. Most of the state's snapper are taken from boats over the inshore reefs, but the ocean rock platforms and headlands of the Illawarra, the Northern Beaches, the Royal National Park and Port Stephens give land-based anglers a genuine shot, best through the cooler months and on a fresh wash after a blow. Small fish turn up in the harbours, estuaries and channels too, and should mostly go back. The rest is berley, patience and very light lead.
NSW Size & Bag Limits
NSW limits for Snapper are set by NSW DPIRD and change from time to time, so we link them rather than copy them.
Check NSW DPIRD's limits before you fish.
Western Australian limits don't apply in New South Wales.
Where to Catch Snapper in NSW
Snapper are listed at 10 NSW spots, all ocean rock platforms, headlands, breakwalls or deep channel edges with reef or rubble in casting range.
Fresh squid (whole, heads or strips), pilchards and pilchard halves, fresh fish fillet such as mullet, salmon, tuna or bonito, octopus, prawns, cuttlefish
Lures
Soft plastics (paddle-tails and jerkshads) on a lightly weighted jig head, micro jigs and slow-pitch jigs, vibes, blades
Rigs
A running sinker or paternoster rig with two snelled 4/0–6/0 hooks, or a lightly weighted single bait drifted down a berley trail, which is how the big fish are usually taken. Use a 10–20 kg fluorocarbon leader near reef. For plastics, the lightest jig head that reaches the bottom in the current.
Technique
Fish structure and berley. Snapper respond to a steady trail of chopped pilchard or fish frames, and a bait floated down that trail with as little lead as possible is deadly. From the shore, fish the deeper ledges, reef edges and channel margins, especially in low light or when a wash has stirred the water. On plastics, cast up-current and let the lure sink naturally with pauses; most hits come on the drop. Give a bait a moment before setting the hook, then keep the pressure on, because a good snapper heads straight for the reef.
Best Time
Dawn and dusk on a moving tide are prime, and the hours after dark can be good. Dirty water and a bit of swell after a blow often bring fish close in, and calm, clear days are usually slower. The best months and the rules both vary a lot between coasts, so check the local season and the current closures.
NSW sets a snapper size and bag limit. Check NSW DPIRD's saltwater table before you keep any.
Identification
Also known asRed bream and cockney (small fish), squire, reds, old man or knobby (big old fish)
Pink to coppery-pink above, silvery below, scattered with small, bright blue spots that are most obvious on smaller fish. Strong jaws with peg-like front teeth and rows of rounded crushing molars further back. Big old fish develop a pronounced hump on the forehead and a bulge on the snout, the "knobby" look. Small fish are brighter pink with more blue spotting and go by a string of size-class names, from red bream and squire to pinkie and ruggers depending on where you are. The common mix-up is with bream (bronze to silver, no blue spots) when small, and with other "red" reef fish that are uniformly red and lack the blue spots.
Size & Growth
Most shore-caught snapper are 30–55 cm and up to about 3 kg. A 5 kg fish is a good one, a knobby of 10 kg-plus is the fish of a season, and the species reaches about 15 kg. They grow steadily for the first decade and then slowly, and Australian fish have been aged at over 40 years, so a big-headed old snapper is decades old and worth a thought before it's kept. Juveniles use sheltered bays, harbours and estuaries as nursery water before moving out to reef.
Diet & Habitat
Snapper crush crabs, prawns, squid, octopus, shellfish, urchins, worms and small fish with those molars; they're built to eat hard things. Adults hold over reef, rubble, gravel, drop- offs and the edges of sandy channels, from inshore shallows to well past 100 m, and many stick to the same patch of ground for long periods. They move shallower in low light, in dirty water after a storm, and when spawning aggregations form. Juveniles live in sheltered bays and estuaries, and mid-sized fish range over the sand and seagrass between reefs.
Eating Quality
One of the great table fish. The flesh is sweet, moist and white, holds together beautifully and suits almost any treatment. Bleed and ice straight away. Fish of 1–3 kg are the pick for cooking whole; bigger fish give thick fillets. Pan-fry fillets skin-on, bake whole, or steam Cantonese-style with ginger and shallots. The head, wings and cheeks make excellent stock or curry, so keep the frame. It freezes well for a couple of months if skinned, portioned and vac-sealed.