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​Winter tips and tricks for fishing the big freeze
Words and photos by Scott Cushman 

Fish may slow down over winter - but that doesn’t mean fishermen have to as well. For one thing, the fact that you can have a usually busy boat ramp all to yourself in winter is quite a plus. I do find that the tactics change a little and certainly some extra effort is required; however fish still have to eat in winter and there are populations of snapper that inhabit lots of inshore reef systems and structures to make it worthwhile braving the dauntingly cold temperatures.
Last year, a deep-in-the-middle-of-winter foray on the Hibiscus Coast ended in a nice bag of snapper of up to 5kg – although if I’m brutally honest the zero-degree dawn that met me at the car park almost persuaded me to hop back in my car for a few hours and wait for the sun to appear and heat up my bones – I’m only glad I didn’t!

You may need surgery afterwards to unclamp your frostbitten fingers from your rod, but fresh-caught snapper in winter time seems that much tastier when you’ve done your homework and persevered to the point of success.

Fish may slow down over winter - but that doesn’t mean fishermen have to as well. For one thing, the fact that you can have a usually busy boat ramp all to yourself in winter is quite a plus. I do find that the tactics change a little and certainly some extra effort is required; however fish still have to eat in winter and there are populations of snapper that inhabit lots of inshore reef systems and structures to make it worthwhile braving the dauntingly cold temperatures.
Last year, a deep-in-the-middle-of-winter foray on the Hibiscus Coast ended in a nice bag of snapper of up to 5kg – although if I’m brutally honest the zero-degree dawn that met me at the car park almost persuaded me to hop back in my car for a few hours and wait for the sun to appear and heat up my bones – I’m only glad I didn’t!

Perseverance is key
Perseverance seems to be a key ingredient for success when you’re out during the colder months. I prefer finding a location that has good snapper habitat and then just persevering to find which combination of factors will turn the fish on.
Google Earth is great for identifying shallow water reef systems where the dark patches of kelp give away the location of kelp beds. I find it worth sitting in a particular spot through both tides, rather than moving from place to place; if I’ve picked a good location based on the structure I know to be there, I’ll generally score at some stage.
I also like doing reconnaissance with the sounder. By driving over the reef and looking at the bottom, I get to see what part of the reef is most likely to hold fish. Drop-offs can be good, but I prefer to target gutters and obvious humps. When I see these features I set up to fish back into these structures and keep the berley and bait flowing until the fish can’t handle it anymore and just have to start biting.
If you’ve found a location that has all your fish senses telling you ‘Twenty-pound-snapper’, try the change of light if the daylight hours don’t fire. You may need surgery afterwards to unclamp your frostbitten fingers from your rod, but fresh-caught snapper in winter time seems that much tastier when you’ve done your homework and persevered to the point of success.
Another time to hit a location you would bet your inheritance on would be when there’s been a good easterly blow (if you’re fishing on the East Coast, that is). Milky unattractive water from heavy wave action after a storm is actually prime snapper conditions. 

Soft bites instead of softbaits
In winter I tend to swap the lures for the smelly stuff and pay more attention to the best berley practices – in other words, stray lining lightweight or un-weighted baits down a berley trail. The flavour of food wafting past the snapper’s nostrils helps entice fish to get in the mood and open their mouths. I’ve noticed though that even large fish may just mouth the bait. The 5kg slab of snapper I hooked on a 4/0 hook bit like a trevally sucking on the bait in a lollipop fashion; it was only a firm lift of the rod that revealed its true size.
So don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just small reef fish trying to pull the bait off - it could be a good-sized fish in a mood to nibble rather than gorge itself on a tasty morsel.
Berley is even more important in wintertime. In fact if you’re fishing in water less than 20m deep it’s is worth using two berley bombs – one on the bottom and one on the surface
And don’t forget that water current is faster on the surface than further down. Lifting the berley bomb a metre off the bottom will help broadcast the goodies further afield.
Check the berley bomb regularly to make sure it has enough holes to help release a steady flow of fish material. An uninterrupted flow is ideal as this means the fish can follow the scent back to your location. If fish have further to travel to find your offerings, they will need a good map to get there.
Try several types of berley during your mission; don’t just stick to one type if you are probing an area to locate the best fish. A recent berley product that is effective is the Berley Mate - it doesn’t have to be refrigerated and is handy to have on hand if you run out at an inconvenient time. If you have shellfish-based as well as fish-based berley, you’re more likely to turn the fish on.
 
Making the effort to ensure you have optimised your berley release methods can make all the difference. Adding chunks of your bait to the trail also helps prepare the fish for your actual bait when it comes floating down the trail.
When baiting up, try to expose lots of flesh. This may mean threading fish strips onto the hook so the outside is exposed, or cutting baits on angles so that more of the flesh is visible. Ripping the heads off pilchards to expose the gills helps spread the word around that you have some tasty food on offer. Better still, cut the head portions of pilchards in half down the centre to expose gills and brains. Gory stuff - but tasty for the fish.

Increase your chances with more lines in the water
Winter means fewer small fish, so I like to fish two or three rods at a time. In summer time this isn’t usually possible for a number of reasons.
In summer, if you can’t get to a rod in time because hordes of small snapper are attacking your baits, they’ll tend to be get gut- or gill-hooked.
I really like having multiple rods out because I can experiment with different baits and different set ups. I will often hold a 3kg rig while the heavier rods are in a holder, as the lighter set-ups often get hit before anything else. I will also set some rods directly below the boat (beside the berley) and some further out the back (or W-A-Y out the back). Because the action is frozen and not furious, it’s possible to fish several rigs and increase your chances of picking up something good. You rarely run the risk of having to handle three rampaging fish at once. Of course, if it does become a handful, simply fish with one rod.
This is also the time you may want to consider a small live bait on the bottom for a john dory. Small baitfish will usually hang around the berley pot and john dory will often turn up and try to catch its own lunch. Over shallow reefy country where I’ve been able to see the bottom I’ve spied them stalking the mackerel and small reef fish.  John dory make a delicious addition to the table, so use a rod and ledger rig with the bait sitting in close proximity to the berley pot. In the case of live bait, you don’t want it swimming around the berley line, so use a suitably heavy sinker.
 
Winter fishing can surprise! It can mean hours without much to show for your efforts ... however you can also discover new hotspots and learn a lot about perseverance and the subsequent success it can deliver.
And of course it still beats mowing the lawn, too!