Snook
Shore / JettySnook (sea pike) are a fast, sharp-toothed predator caught year-round around Perth jetties, groynes and rock walls. A common by-catch when you're chasing tailor or herring on metals, and good eating when bled and iced. WA's snook is the temperate Sphyraena novaehollandiae — not the tropical great barracuda.
Overview
WA's snook (Sphyraena novaehollandiae) — also called short-finned sea pike — is one of Perth's most common lure by-catch species. Schools hold around jetty pylons, groynes, reef edges and rock walls, ambushing baitfish with short, explosive strikes. Most anglers don't set out for snook; they turn up while casting metals for tailor or herring and pull hard on light gear. Don't confuse them with the tropical great barracuda (a separate, far bigger fish) or the longfin pike — the snook is the toothy silver sea pike you'll actually catch off a metro jetty.
How to Catch
Pilchards, prawns, small fish fillets, squid strips
Chrome slugs, small metals, minnow lures, soft plastics with a fast retrieve
Light spinning setup with 6–10lb line and a short wire or heavy mono leader — snook have sharp teeth that will cut through light leader. A simple running sinker rig works for bait fishing.
Cast metals or small lures around jetty pylons, groynes, and rock walls with a fast retrieve. Snook like speed — a fast, erratic retrieve triggers their ambush instinct. They often hit on the drop or pause, so stay alert. When bait fishing, use a lightly weighted rig and let the bait drift near structure.
Active throughout the day but most aggressive in the morning and late afternoon. Warmer months tend to produce more fish. Incoming tide pushing bait close to structure is ideal.
Up to 5kg, commonly 1–2kg
Year-round
Yes — snook are good eating, despite the 'just by-catch' reputation. Bleed and ice them the moment they're aboard: the white flesh softens fast if it isn't kept cold. Best crumbed and fried or baked as cutlets. Fillet and skin them as soon as you can, and eat fresh rather than freezing.
Minimum size: 300 mm. Individual daily bag limit: 8, counted within the statewide nearshore/estuarine finfish total mixed bag of 16 per fisher (so eight snook leaves room for eight other nearshore fish). Striped barracuda, the close cousin snook are grouped with, has no minimum size. Always check current DPIRD rules before you keep a feed — limits change.
Perth Tips
You'll pick snook up regularly while lure fishing almost any Perth jetty or groyne — Ammo Jetty, Woodman Point and the Fremantle harbour walls are reliable. Watch the teeth when unhooking; long-nose pliers save fingers. They're often undersized, so carry a measure — 300 mm comes around faster than you'd think. Run a short wire or heavy mono leader to stop the bite-offs snook are famous for.