Fisho's guide to deep drop fishing
by Fisho's Tackle World Hervey Bay 19 Jun 05:22 UTC
19 June 2025
Deep drop fishing © Fisho's Tackle World Hervey Bay
Are you increasingly frustrated by the shark depredation whilst out on the wide blue yonder these days? Would you like to improve your return for effort and feed your family with some of the best fish our waters can provide?
Well, there is a way to beat the sharks, and bring home a feed like never before. It happens to involve mechanical advantages a human-powered reef fishing combo simply cannot match, and enables you to access waters you never would've dreamt of previously. If you own a vessel capable of venturing offshore, or have mates that do, then the following information might be of interest to you.
Deep sea fishing changed forever some years ago, with the advent of more affordable electric fishing reels. Since then, an ever-growing population of offshore fishos have geared up to probe the deeper waters along the slope of the continental shelf and never looked back. Coupled with dedicated bent-butt rods designed to load up on hefty strings of fish, today's deep dropping reels are absolute machines capable of hauling multiple delicious deepwater delights from depths rarely fished years ago.
Ask anyone who has enjoyed the deep dropping craze in recent years and they will tell you how much it has changed their tactics on offshore adventures. Some might head wide and deep for the sole purpose of dedicated deep dropping missions. Others rely on this tactic as an alternative when the shallower waters fail to produce or to supplement their catch with a few tasty critters from the deep. All the while, these fishos are minimising the depredation issue elsewhere and helping to maintain stocks of fish so depleted by the noahs arks.
Off our coastline, the East Australian Current (EAC) drops out dramatically in the cooler months, so not only is there less current in the shallower waters, but also along and over the cusp of the continental shelf. It is a long haul to shelf waters for Hervey Bay fishos, yet it's a run that is most certainly worth it for the sheer mass of fish that can be caught.
You can cross Breaksea Spit north of Fraser Island or head even further north. The shelf is a relatively short drive eastwards once over the spit, so in mere minutes you can change tactics and hit the deep water from the shoal country. The shelf is much further beyond the Wide Bay bar for those preferring to fish south of Fraser, yet it remains a great option. In reality, travelling fishos can drive to the continental shelf from any port you wish if you have a suitable vessel and deep dropping tackle, and catch fish many others can only dream about.
Much mystery surrounds plumbing the depths, when even an experienced skipper looking at the clearest of sounder images can only identify select species with any confidence. The thrill that comes with sending baited multi-hook rigs hundreds of metres down is rather unique as only considerable time on the water can have you accurately guessing the next fish to climb on.
The fish you can catch deep dropping our shelf waters includes some of the tastier morsels around, and many of them are quite large too. Many of the same species that used to be caught along the now shark-infested 100m line can be caught from waters a mere 50-150m deeper without any issues from the sharks whatsoever.
Fish such as snapper, pearl perch and rosy jobfish that were commonly caught by charter boats and other fishos in 100m of water are now passed over for hassle-free fishing in 200m or more. In those depths, the jobfish clan is heavily represented, with photogenic species such as flame 'snapper' and ruby 'snapper' joining other tasty jobbies such as iron jaw, goldbands and others. The incredibly vividly-coloured alfonsino might grace some lucky crews' decks, delighting not only the photographers on board but also the chefs at home.
Various cod can be found lurking in the depths and typically make up a portion of a deep dropper's catch. The bar cod is by far the most commonly caught, and quite often of considerable size too. Comet cod are much smaller, yet highly-coveted for their incredible flavour. Select smaller deep water ooglies also happen to be primo on the plate, though quite often they can be hard to identify.
If you head out armed with the larger, more depth-capable deep dropping arsenal, then you can probe depths beyond the commonly-fished depth range, possibly even to 700m or more. Extra-large deep-water dwelling fish can be found out there, including huge bass groper, blue-eye trevalla and (rarely) hapuka. These creatures are certainly not common captures in Fraser Coast waters, yet still possible.
Individual size and bag limits apply to most continental shelf dwellers. Given that your catch often consists of various jobfish and cod, the combined Coral Reef Fin Fish bag limit of 20 is also applicable. Snapper and pearl perch are not governed within the CRFF limit, so their standard limits apply, including the boat limit for snapper.
Barotrauma is a given for most bottom-dwelling species caught along the shelf. Blown swim bladders and popped eyes deny release of any fish hauled from the depths, so this fishery will never be considered catch and release. The only exception being the seriola genus (amberjack and kingfish) which evolved to swim throughout the entire water column, meaning they can be released unharmed if you wish.
Given that snapper and pearl perch both suffer from barotrauma (even if they don't display obvious symptoms every time), this issue alone is sufficient to suggest thinking fishos should do their best to avoid them whilst deep dropping during their now-closed primary spawning season. Both species are no-take between the dates of 15th July and 15th August inclusive in Qld each winter.
You will be surprised just how much less bait you will actually use on your deep dropping missions. Large baits are standard-issue for reef fishos plying the shallower shoal country, as they need volume to withstand the constant attention of pickers like hussar etc. Quite the opposite is the case along the shelf slope, as all fish are generally larger and much smaller baits are all that is needed to entice a bite. Diminished water drag and less tangling from spinning baits is the aim, whilst this leaves circle hooks uncluttered too, which means better hook-ups.
Looking at appropriate fishing tackle for deep dropping, you should firstly consider how deep you plan to fish, how often and how heavy. Here at Fisho's we stock a comprehensive range of the best electric reels from the major stables, as well as a range of bent-butt rods with varying actions, lengths and load-bearing capacities. If planning to head extra-deep, then heavier rods and larger reels are required. Fishing the usual depths to 250m means the rods need not be as heavy, or the reels oversized.
We typically offer advice for those new to this fishery, and can put together a combination most suitable for your plans and your budget. We offer insight into the capabilities of select reels and their limitations. Our advice might suggest you steer towards slightly more costly, yet vastly more powerful and reliable reels (some sporting 2-speed options) if your intention is to get serious about deep dropping. Many have come before you that have scrimped on their initial purchase only to come back to upgrade when the budget outfit was found wanting.
Dual speed electric reels are most certainly our most popular for serious fishos, offering deep droppers' faster recovery when retrieving empty rigs or smaller fish. These incredibly powerful reels will handle the larger deep water ooglies with ease and enable you to probe deeper waters with extra hooks to catch your fish quicker and without capacity issues.
When you buy an electric reel from us here at Fisho's we will spool your reel for you in-store, with appropriate braided line. Such a line is typically metered for depth judgement etc, even though the reel's counter will do that. Once spooled, we will spend some time explaining and pre-setting your reel's parameters so that you can walk away ready to fish (saving you hours pondering manuals or YouTube).
Being electric, your reel will need a power source. In days gone by, that was a simple enough matter of connecting the supplied power cable to your boat's house battery. Today however, nifty little lithium batteries are available, that can be attached to your rod, enabling you to reposition freely around the boat without cables restricting your mobility. These batteries have revolutionised deep dropping and are a must-have for nearly all players today.
When considering terminal tackle for your deep dropping exploits, you can go with either pre-rigged traces that are fully equipped with crimped-on swivels and hooks, or opt to go DIY and custom-rig your own traces. Again, we stock a range of pre-rigged traces, ready to fish, and we also supply all the accessories, hooks, three-way swivels, heavy sinkers and heavy-duty leader materials, as well as crimping pliers and water-activated lights.
Light as we know it doesn't penetrate into the gloomy depths along the slope of the shelf. Enhancing your rigs with beads, sleeves and/or squid skirts that glow will greatly improve your catch rate as your target fish can find your baits in a world of darkness. Flashing strobe lights further enhance the attractiveness of your rigs and are deemed an essential component these days.
Heading for the shelf can be a daunting task for inexperienced skippers, or for those new to the offshore fishery. The cusp of the shelf line itself is easily found. It basically follows the 100m contour and is clearly visible on even the most rudimentary of chart plotters.
Luckily for you modern fishos today, advancements in technology offer features such as Relief Shading that will assist you to find canyons, rises and all major bottom features in various depths. Map cards can be purchased that will turn your chart plotter into a hotspot-finding machine. We stock all the cards you might need for the chart plotters we sell, which include Garmin, Lowrance and Simrad.
Finding where you might wish to fish is just one part of the puzzle though, and the next is finding the actual fish when you get to your potential hotspot. Standard sounder transducers are generally found wanting when used in depths beyond 100m. 1 kilo-watt transducers are deemed the minimum for clear and distinctive reading at reasonable depth over the shelf. 2 kilo-watt units offer the power to return clearer imagery for extreme depths and are favoured by those plunging baits half a kilometre or more down. Once again, we stock select models for sounders we sell, and can always offer advice on what is or isn't compatible with your existing sounder.
Many serious offshore fishos are happy to watch their eskies fill quickly whilst their deep dropping outfits do all the hard work. Yet they also carry quality deep jigging outfits so they can probe the depths with slow-pitch jigs and see if they can extract a trophy reefie, a big kingfish or massive amberjack.
This technique might be for the energetic and the somewhat fit in such depths, but there is no denying its effectiveness. The jigging part of this technique won't be the exhausting bit; hauling thumping big fish from such depths will be! So, if you have saved plenty of energy whilst watching your deep drop combos go to work on the reefies, why not drop a jig over the other side and enjoy the workout from the resultant battle.
Those unaccustomed to deep water fishing and just how productive it can be might find their current boat ice boxes a little lacking in the volume department. A flash new esky is always a worthwhile consideration, particularly with the likes of Icey Tek with such incredible ice retention and dual lid opening options in some models. For those uninclined to replace existing ice boxes, the easily stowed Insulated Fish Bags are a great alternative. Stow them away rolled up, and just get them out if and when required.
Just as deep dropping has opened up a whole new fishery well offshore, the advent of smaller electric overhead reels has provided reef fishos chasing your standard reefies in depths of 30-80 metres a significant advantage. Not only can these reels assist certain fishos with physical limitations that leave them struggling with hand-wound reels, but the powerful nature of these reels means other fishos can pit them against large reef fish such as red emperor, nannygai, snapper, cod and coral trout with a vastly greater chance of beating the sharks.
Pumping and winding on conventional outfits will see a large fish stall your retrieve as it gets head-down in its attempt to return to the bottom. Established norms in drag settings will result in slippage from the largest quarry, which is another bite trigger for the tax man. The best of the smaller electric reels offer such power that they can resist this head turn and keep the fish tracking towards the surface. This confuses the sharks quite often and large trophies that would've otherwise been taxed are landed safely.
These smaller electric reels are typically matched to a straight-butt overhead rod of appropriate strength and proportions. Bent-butt alternatives also exist, and are now available in light enough configurations to suit this fishery. Once again, buying such a reel or outfit from Fishos will see you walk away with your reel spooled with braided line and everything set up ready for your next reef fishing adventure.
Stocking all the popular brands of fishing tackle means we can offer you tackle from any of your favourite suppliers. This aside, one brand has a major offer available right now that could benefit you substantially. Daiwa has their Daiwa Dollars Cash Back promotion running until the end of this month (30th June, 2025). Check out the flyer reproduced hereabouts to see how you can gain cash back on an electric reel purchase.
If you are keen to commit, not only will we match the best prices on the electric reel (and all components of your combo/s), but you can also get bonus dollars back from Daiwa for your reel purchase. So, if you have been considering a new electric reel and are impressed by the fantastic features Daiwa's electric reels offer, then don't delay and get in while the cash back is on!
There is no better time of year than now for deep dropping exploits offshore and reef fishing as a whole. Light winds and a diminished EAC open up a whole new world out there in the deeper waters. If you are a fan of hauling in large brightly-coloured reef fish that taste fantastic, and have had enough of the sharks everywhere else, then perhaps it's time you got into deep dropping.
Give yourself the mechanical advantage so many other fishos are relishing these days. You will be impressed!