It’s July! The water’s cold, the trout are spawning and snotties are running! It’s the last month before the trout season opens up, so why not give something else a go?

Snotty trevally (blue warehou) are thick this month with major reports coming from Stanley! There are a few reports around Burnie Breakwater and I managed a couple on my kayak but that was closer to the port side of the harbour. Remember, snotties cruise mid-water, so anchoring your baits on the bottom will most likely result in missed opportunities and poor by-catch.

The best rig is simply a one or two hook rig with a small split-shot sinker to make casting easier and to allow the bait to sink slowly through the water column. Snotties usually prey on jellyfish and other soft invertebrates so the best bait is renowned to be chicken breast, and they are picky, so don’t try and tempt them with cheap thighs or drumsticks! As for tides, it doesn’t seem to matter! They can ‘come on’ at any time, throughout the day.

If you are fishing land-based then the Stanley Warf will by far put you in with the best chance to fight these little freight trains. Be prepared to fish in crowds though as the word of snotties spreads quickly across the state! I wouldn’t bother too much about berley here as the schools of snotties cruise along the wharf religiously. You might want to use heavier gear though as these little guys really go for the pylons.

Unfortunately, snotties don’t come down to the boat ramp so you will need a boat or a kayak if you want to target them. The best method is to anchor up along the breakwater and use the same method as mentioned before. Berley can be extremely effective here unlike Stanley as it usually creates a feeding frenzy of barber perch that attracts the snotties attention.

There has also been some good flathead caught in the table cape region with a surprising amount of large tiger flathead. What’s surprising about this is the fact that in some cases, tigers are outnumbering the sand flathead and are considerably larger. Whether you prefer tigers, sandies or believe that flathead’s flathead, one thing’s for sure; it’s nice to catch something different – especially when they are big!

Without a doubt a stand-out rig for flathead and gummy shark is the Jig-em variety, especially in bright pink. The soft plastic squid baited with an oily pilchard will out fish plain baited hooks any day of the week in my experiences!