Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
With the Davos social competition finishing last Sunday, anglers from all over the coast submitted photos of some cracking fish. With the comp running over 2 days the species must have list included Flathead, Tailor, Trevally and Bream.
With the biggest flathead measuring 75cm it shows there are bigger fish about, especially around Munna Point and the sandbags. To tempt these fish on a lure try trolling smaller divers from Lively lures and 50mm Balista trance. For the bait fisherman then live and whole fish/flesh baits including whitebait, mullet and pillies work best on running sinker rigs.
Tailor are responding to smaller metal slugs like Arma Metalik and Halco twisties in 15g size. Surface walkers including the Strada Zieda and Jackson risk bait are great options which also appeal to trevally in the estuary. The surface take from a Tailor is nothing short of explosive and will often take the lure right at your feet! Good numbers throughout the river especially around the frying pan and river mouth areas.
If you are after bream then a well rigged flesh bait on light lines will tempt the bigger fish as do smaller soft plastics in the 2-3 inch range from Zman including slim swimz and Chasebaits curly tail. Rig these plastics on smaller size 1 & 2 finesse TT jig head hook sizes. Be sure to use scent as these fish will often take a paused soft plastic.
Further upstream the ski run and the mouth of Lake Cooroibah there are some smaller Jewfish and mixed trevally to be caught. These love soft plastics in the 3-5 inch size range including paddle tails and curly tails which work very well especially in darker waters. Check out Zman motor oil and Entice Bungy baits 3.5 inch grubby on 1/4oz jig heads. Megabass dog-X and Storm Chug bug are 2 classic top water lures for trevally.
Surf fishing has been better during low light periods due to the clear water and lack of swell. If fishing during the daytime then finding a deep gutter is best. It is vital that you fish with light lines, small hooks and fresh baits including mullet strip, worms and half pilchard baits to tempt these fish to bite. Be sure to always carry a few metal slugs in your kit as you never know if the tailor show up and start feeding aggressively.
Whiting are still on the prowl around the river mouth and gutters to the North and South of the river mouth. These fish love fresh worms and will take small surface lures and divers which will often catch other fish lurking in the shallows. Expect to find flathead, trevally, bream and dart especially around the middle rock bar. Options include Atomic hardz divers and Ecogear SX40 LC divers.
If fishing around the headlands be sure to take a garfish rig with you as these are schooling up. Catch a few and keep them as live or fresh strip baits for a chance at a passing pelagic or bigger reef fish. For lure fisherman smaller slugs up to 30g are a must have as are smaller curly tail and paddle tail soft plastics up to 4 inches in size. Hop these along the bottom for the chance of catching a mixed bag of bream, trevally and tailor and smaller snapper. If you haven’t tried jigging then smaller jigs like Sea Ride blue blue in 20g and Storm Koika are great bait fish profiles.
Offshore the reef fishing has been going well as most days start with light offshore winds during the mornings but tend to blow during the afternoon with lighter evening winds. Out wide the bigger boats have been going to DI and the banks and coming home with a mixed bag of reef fish including, snapper. Also in the esky are parrot, venus tusk, pearl perch, cobia, jewfish.
With the clearer water try dropping leaders down by 10lb and if on anchor burly up to get the fish in the mood to feed. Be sure to keep the burly trail consistent and ensure to use ground up bait and not big chunks of fish.
In closer North reef and Sunshine reef are producing snapper, tusk fish, pearl perch, cobia, sweetlip and the occasional longtail tuna. In closer be sure to take a live bait with you. These are great for coral trout and bigger reef fish. Be sure to run 50lb+ fluorocarbon leaders like YGK Gallis and bigger 6/0 Octopus circle hooks along with a #8 ball sinker and hold on!!
Now for all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports, don’t forget to drop into Davo’s Tackle World, Davo’s Boating and Outdoor in Noosa and Davo’s Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola to find out where the fish are biting, and remember Tight Lines and Bent Spines!
