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A brace of very big snapper taken in the outer Marlborough Sounds. |
Snapper are by far New Zealand 's most popular fish. Snapper are the fish all New Zealand sea anglers want to catch the most! They are good fighters and excellent to eat.
Snapper are mostly a north Island species. Although they are caught in the Marlborough Sounds and down the West Coast of the South Island this is really the southerly limit of their range. Numbers caught in the South Island are very small. Most South Island anglers would probably have never seen a snapper.
Snapper are the only sea bream found in New Zealand waters. A really big snapper can measure as much as one metre in length and weigh as much as 15 kg. Snapper are common to the North Island of New Zealand. They can be found on the West Coast of the South Island as far south as Fiordland. They are also found in reasonable numbers in Tasman Bay and the Marlborough Sounds.
Certain parts of the North Island are known to have smaller snapper in particular smaller juvenile fish are found in large numbers in the Hauraki Gulf. Fish on the west coast of the North Island are generally bigger. Forty years ago snapper were caught in good numbers by surfcasters off the beach behind the old railway station at Kaikoura whereas this is unheard of today. Snapper were are unknown on the east coast of the South Island south of Marlborough.
Indeed the fish North Island anglers want to catch the most would surely be a big snapper exceeding the magical old 20 pound mark. These big fish were once quite common in the upper South Island particularly around D'Urville Island and French Pass. It would however be rare to catch a big one like that today. Snapper were also quite a common catch in the inner Marlborough Sounds as well. Good numbers used to be caught in Kenepuru Sound in particular. They are still there but their much smaller numbers make them difficult to catch.
Snapper are caught all around the North Island and are targeted by numerous methods including surfcasting, light tackle boat fishing, long-lining and in recent years are a popular target for anglers using soft baits. Big snapper will take quite large baits including whole live and dead baits.
Snapper caught by beach long-line off the beach near Hokitika, Westland, and a snapper caught in Fiordland. These snapper caught
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