Spearfishing Snapper in New Zealand

Probably one of the most prized trophy fish in New Zealand.

And Why
Although several species in New Zealand are easy to spearfish, Snapper are not one of them. Especially when they get older and wiser. Although Snapper are good eating, for the most of us it’s the challenge of landing the big one.

Nature of the Snapper
By default a snapper is paranoid by nature unless it has been raised in a reserve where it’s fed on a regular basis and does not have to worry about getting shot by a speargun or hooked on a fishing rod. Which in some ways is comparable to a marine park, where sea life is conditioned to behave different than their natural environment.

Where?
Although Snapper can be spotted just about anywhere, I would first like to cover the scenario where the spear fisherman is snooping for this species.
In many cases Snapper prefer rocks that have a steep drop with no other rocks in front. Front being the side facing into the current. Almost what you would call a rock with a view. Sometimes a single fish and other times in a group. It can be very frustrating when snooping over a rock to see small Snapper out wide, which are agitated by your presence and soon scare away the big hump head that's closer to the rock.
Other times they are right out in the open without a sceric of shelter or reef. This will always be more challenging if not impossible.

Stealth
Although we can all use a bit of luck from time to time, shooting good sized Snapper takes skill in the form of being quiet invisible & very patient. Along with large humped headed Trevally, to land larger Snapper requires hunting by stealth. The
Snapper are easily spooked by the sound of bubbles, shadows even by other fish. With some other species, baitfish can relevant indicator of what fish life might be around. With Snapper there can be a complete absence of any other fish, but still be in good Snapper area.

It is very easy to become relaxed & careless especially when we are not seeing much fish life. But remember patients. Like many forms of hunting, there can be a long time spent in the water with no reward, but it's the ones who Perceiver that get rewarded.

Sometimes I feel that we as divers look for Snapper in places that are convenient for ourselves instead of where is the most likely location of the fish. In some ways that's not a bad thing because diving 50 metres down a rock face to find our prey is just not really on the cards. But it is good to keep that in mind when diving a stretch of coastline.

Quite often divers who spend a lot of their time hunting Snapper also do well finding large Trevally, as they rest in similar areas.

Ideally when targeting this species we want to be working into the current, a bit like being down wind when hunting deer. For two reasons 1 so the fish cannot smell us but also the placing of Snapper are often parked up in front of a rock sitting very still. Making it easier to get closer. It is an easy thing to dive over a rock & not see any fish until we have descended to far over the rock only to discover the big one was so close to the rock face, then the fish spots you an is out of there like a rocket.

Why Snapper
In some cases when we cannot find an opportunity we might have to make one. Kina's are a great asset when it comes to bait ups. When baiting Snapper it is important where the bait is placed. Snapper become very paranoid within an instance of something not being quite right. We want to give ourselves as much advantage as possible. Remembering that we want to work into the current, we need to find a rock that we can hide behind. Then placing the bait on the current prevailing side. In past experiences watching Snapper feed on bait up I have seen them pick up a half Kina & swim away to safer grounds before eating. For this reason in some cases where I have had to bring in Kinas from another area, I let them settle first so that they reattach to the rock. Once this has happened I go back & crack the Kinas, which although cracked in half they stay attached to the rock which can help to keep the Snapper from taking of with the goodies. Keeping the bait close together will keep the action more concentrated & also makes it easier for the diver to focus on a smaller area.

In some cases where Kina's are not available we might have to target the likes of Mackerel to use as bait. Which does work well but in some cases fish bait tends to move more in the current, which can make it hard to centralize the bait to one spot.

Snapper in the open
Now & then Snapper will be spotted in the open water, which can be impossible to approach. But sometimes in deeper water we can move over the top of the fish at the surface very slowly. When we are right above the fish & it hasn't spooked then form a line in your mind running from the pectoral fins up vertical & that's your diving line to follow. It is important that the dive is very slow smooth & following down this line very straight. As this is a small blind spot of the fish.
Placing the shot
In a lot of situations when we have spotted a good Snapper, we are right above the fish. Which is not the easiest shooting angle. In some cases we can actually exploit the split second the fish has spotted us, they will quite often turn enough to take a profile shot.

Bringing them in
Not all Snapper hunts are ideal situations. For example in some cases we could be swimming over a reef then in the distance we spot a Snapper out wide, too far away to take a shot. How can we bring the fish closer? It doesn't always work but we can throw broken kina above water so that it lands in front of the fish. In most cases the fish are not spooked by a Kina slowly descending, which brings them in.

Shooting the small one letting the big one get away
I have found in a lot of situations where I am looking for Snapper that when I snoop over a rock that I might see small fish out wide but tucked right down by the face of the rock will be the big one. Sometimes it pays not to be in a hurry.