Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Those who did go offshore stayed in close as the sea state was not too calm. It seems that the birds and surface tuna have now passed but are not yet gone. These fish will still be feeding but will be deeper so keep eyes peeled for nervous bait and of course have sounders running.
For now the focus has started to shift towards reef fishing and Sunshine Reef is providing anglers with smaller snapper, tuskies, pearlies and solid sweetlip. There are some smaller 6kg cobia swimming about and these love a floated pilchard on a gang hook. Keep leaders to 30lb and run longer 4-6 meter leaders if running braid. This ensures a more natural presentation and softer mono leaders like Shimano Ocea will help with this. Out wider North Reef has a few bigger snapper and a few small schools of longtail tuna. This is the time of year you can expect to see jewfish turning up, so having the best baits and correctly weighted lures is a must to entice a bite. Be sure to pick up some fresh mullet when in store as they love this! Keep baits wrapped in bait thread to avoid the little pickers!
If after pelagics you can’t go beyond Halls Reef, headed north toward Double Island point. This stretch is a consistent producer of big fish and big solo Spanish frequent this area. Slow trolled dead baits set out 40-60 meters helps get them down and having 2 different baits can help weed out those fussy fish. Bonito, slimy mackerel are two favourites as are sauri. To rig these ensure your hook size suits the bait size and don’t think 8/0 Shogun gangs are too big as they aren’t. Make sure you add a keel weight to gang hooks like a cast net lead and check to see how baits swim before sending them out the back. Ask us how to rig up if you need help.
Off the beaches there has been a definite change of season with some decent school sized jewfish landed along the coast. These fish can be hard to find but paying attention to any creek run off, new gutters and rocky sections all help provide a jewfish the chance to feed and take shelter. Baits should be fresh and nothing beats a clump of live beach worm on a Tru Turn worm hook. Slab baits are best snelled as are live baits. Be sure to give a jewie time to take your bait before setting hooks. Keep lines as light as you can so you reduce drag especially as we move toward the new moon next week.
The Noosa River is starting to settle down after the cool change, with small flathead a plenty around the shallow flats and drop offs around Lake Cooroibah, Makepeace Island and of course around Woods Bay and the coastguard. Drifting whole whitebait and small frogmouth pilchards on snelled octopus hooks keep baits looking more natural. Let the current take your baits and slowly feed the line out as necessary so you can detect the bite. This helps you locate the fish. As the Noosa River settles into a cooler pattern, golden trevally are starting to show up, as are smaller diamond trevally. These fish love to take small soft plastics the Keitech easy shiner 2 inch fished close to the bottom. Keep leaders around 4-6lb as the clearer water lets heavier leaders stand out. Around the flats of the dog beach, frying pan and Weyba there have been some chunky whiting getting caught on live beach worm and even taking small surface lures including the smaller Sugapen and splash prawns. Noosa River settle
Lastly with the freshwater dams and lakes now open, the break is seeing the bass really fired up with single sessions exceeding 30-40 fish landed. These fish are smashing slow wound hardbodies like the Bassday Sugadeep and the Atomic jerk minnow. If fishing Borumba then head into the sticks and keep leaders around 12lb as these fish are feisty and will try and run you into cover. The surface bite has been slower since the cooldown but bug like presentations like the D-style reserve and Jackall micro pompadour are getting the hits. Lake MacDonald is also on fire with fish sitting deeper in the warmer water. Small soft vibes and heavy weighted 2-3 inch soft plastics will help get the bite. You can drop leaders down to 8lb if required as the fish are a bit smaller and the timber isn’t as dense. Be sure to have an up to date SIPS permit when fishing any of these areas and keep trailers clean from any weed when leaving the lake to avoid the spread.
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 Outdoors in Noosa and Davo’s Northshore Bait & Tackle in Marcoola for all the right equipment, bait and advice to get you catching. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and remember Tight Lines and Bent Spines!
