Fingermark have a predatory and foraging habit and their movements can be predicted.
Catching Fingermark offshore at night, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, is not as hard as it seems.
I love fingermark! (also known as Golden Snapper)
They are a top grade food fish and impressive sports fish.
In the barramundi closed season they are one of my primary targets.
A keen eye on your sounder will find these locations and with an ample supply of fresh bait, chances are you’ll be in for a fun night catching Fingermark/Golden Snapper.
On occasion you will also encounter a few by-catch.
In this case of this trip, it was Papuan Trevally.
Rubbish to eat but do give your arms a workout!
I’ve been catching fingermark both offshore and inshore for 30 years now and they have been a staple dinner for my family. They are one of the best eating fish in the sea in my opinion.
Because I mainly target big metre plus barra for catch and release, on the way home we love to stop and grab a “goldie” for my clients for dinner.
The key to being able to stop on the way home is to have a reliable way to predict Fingermark movements and know where they will be.
After 30 years on the water I’ve learnt a few tricks about fish behaviour and how to nut it out.
For a hint at catching them offshore at night, search for rubble pads in the middle of nowhere like the one in the following sounder shot. Our online fishing course Finding Fingermark contains a comprehensive step by step framework on how to find these areas.
They may not be holding fish in the daytime, but if you know what you’re looking for, they will likely move in at night.
Fingermark biology, lures to catch them, and their susceptibility to barotrauma is covered in our previous post.
If Catching Fingermark is your passion, or maybe you’d just like to catch one regularly for dinner, I explain how to work out their patterns both day and night, inshore and offshore, in my Fingermark Strategies Workshop.
It consists of two videos and I’m sure you’re going to love it.
Click the button below to sign up – it’s free and only takes about 40 minutes to watch both videos.
