Thread: Lure fishing over sand

90% of my fishing is over sand in 35 - 50 metres. My go to is a standard softbait outfit. The one I use is on the light side, 3-6kg rod with a 2500 reel, 15lb braid. The beauty of fishing over sand is that there is no drama getting snagged up when you hook a big fish. Bigger fish just take more time to land. Several 20lb snapper and many legal kingfish have fallen to this outfit. My standard rig is a Gulp Squid Vicious on a 2oz 5/0 jig head. Softbaits are fished vertically in deep water and not cast. Not much action is required to catch fish, even the rod holder is good enough on some days! It's lethal, makes fishing too easy. I'll often bin up after an hour's fishing and then have a 3 hour boat cleanup plus fish filleting to do!

Otherwise, slow pitch jigs in the same depth water work great, microjigs to around 20 metres. No issue fishing jigs up to 100g on softbait gear, but remember, you are not casting them, they are just dropped and worked vertically. If there is too much wind/drift, you need a sea anchor. If you don't have one, get one, it is an essential item. Get one size higher than recommended for your boat.

This style of fishing has been so successful for me, that I've pretty much given up on wash fishing. Can't be bothered with fishing over rocks or kelp now and snagging up every third cast. Remember though, you can't catch fish if they are not there. Spend time looking for birds or fish in the sounder. I will rarely put a line in the water if there isn't good sign.

Lastly, because this style of fishing is so devastating and because big snapper don't do well when pulled out of water deeper than 20 metres. Regulate yourself. Catch what you need, then stop fishing or target something else like kingfish. It is entirely your choice, but I see no glory in catching and releasing 30 snapper with variable survival.