• Home
• Contact Us
• Advertise With Us
• Fishing Charters

Red Emperor Charter Fishing, Australia

Fishing for Red Emperor in Australia is a bit like fossicking for precious gems. You have to sift through a lot of dirt before you find a big one but you will find them and when you do you will have caught the most sought after fish on the reef. Big reds are the diamond in the reef fish bag of gems and since the introduction of zoning on the reef and the minimum size going from 450mm to 550mm these beautiful fish have made a stunning comeback. Once almost impossible to catch a legal one, red emperor are now in good enough numbers to find big fish fairly regularly. A member of the lutjanid family (tropical snappers, mangrove jack, fingermark, scarlet sea perch etc.) the red emperor grows to a maximum size of 24kg but a good fish is considered 8-10kgs. Reds are a deep bodied fish with a large head and paddle shaped tail. The mouth is white on an otherwise bright red body and if you look closely there is beautiful ornate patterning on the cheeks and face. Juveniles will have 3 vivid stripes on the body in the shape of the government symbol.

Habitats for Red Emperor are varied. Typically north of 26 degrees south is where you will find them and you need to be in a minimum depth of 40 meters. In saying that I have caught them shallower than that but the biggest and best fish I have caught have all been deeper than 40m. Red emperor are fossickers. There big fleshy lips are purpose built for foraging around in the sand looking for all their favourite invertebrates, crabs and octopus that they like to eat. Reds also have small teeth set in a strong jaw for crushing shells.

Red Emperor are very active feeders compared to other demersal reef species. Most deepwater fish will hold right up against the structure but emperor will move out and away from the rock and forage on the sand. A lot of the time when you are drift fishing in the deep, it pays to let the drift go for a bit and you will often pick up a big red out in the middle of nowhere so to speak. Big numbers of reds can be caught when they school up but more often than not you pull one or two big ones off a rock and that will be it. Reds are also very active at night and even more so on the full moon. If you want the chance to locate a school of these fish your best chance is to hit the narrow, deep channels between reefs on the full moon.

When fishing for Red Emperor in Australia it is imperative that you use fresh bait. I mean the fillet you use should still be twitching. Dark or oily flesh such as tuna or mackerel is great bait as is fresh squid or cuttlefish heads or whole small occys. Drift fishing is usually your best bet as you can cover a lot more ground. The best rig is a 7/0 hook on a single dropper rig with a big sinker. A big red will bite solidly and when hooked will take a big hard run along the bottom before he starts to come up. For some reason sharks also seem to smash red emperor over anything else so once you have him turned get him up as quick as you can. Large fish have been known to have ciguatera.

Remember when fishing for red emperor in Australia limit your catch don't catch your limit.