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.
Finding and catchng fingermark in foraging mode offshore
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.
And here are a few previous posts that might also assist...
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1 Comment
John
May 7, 2018Hi Ryan,
I am have been a keen fisherman pretty much my whole life and only just recently joined your group. I have taught my two sons, and a number of friends, how to fish and had great pleasure doing so but since moving to Brisbane both Anna, my wife, and I have lost some of that passion because our catch rates have dropped off considerably to the point where we almost find it hard to catch a fish. She too is a keen fisher. This is why I have joined your group.
I have watched your first video on goldies and it makes alot of sense, its something I have never really got my head around but would like to learn. Also we have never caught goldies and they are a fish on my bucket list along with barra. Reds, both nannies and emporer, are also high on our bucket list. We have caught both of those but not consistently and not of any great size, 4-5kg would top it out.
We love fishing in the more tropical waters of Nth Qld and loved those balmy days on the reef catching trout, sweetlip and spanish mackeral. We have made a personal commitment to travel north at least once a year and get back out to the reef and headlands. We particularly like the area between the Whitsundays and Cairns but Hinchinbrook to Townsville is our favourite because it brings back so many great memories fishing that region during my 22yr military career.
We have recently retired early and keen to get back fishing. We have a 2200 Yalta fitted with a 150hp Suzuki and run two Garmins on board, a 95SV and an older 556 GPSMap combo and the current plan is to tow it north Oct/Nov each year from now on to fish the reef and surrounding areas so your wonkyy holes are also of interest to me.
Thats my story to date and looking fwd to absorbing anything you can throw at me to help us catch fish consistantly.
Regards,
John Stokje
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