Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Cooler times ahead – As the first proper cool change hit the coast, the winds suddenly arrived in time for another three-day weekend. In the lead up, many of us could only watch the glass out conditions and hope the weekend held out. Reports were coming in with good fish, not only in the estuaries but the offshore scene too. Noosa – Weekend fishing report
Offshore the boats that made it out were rewarded mid-week with a great range of fish. Sunshine Reef was popular and rightly so, with single paternoster rigs sent down with live bait and pilchard for chunky sweetlip and coral trout. The trout were in good numbers with many more fish than usual boated against the sharks. Always make sure you have a live bait rig in your boat because many premium fish love a live bait. Other fish included both spotted and spanish mackerel, which have both been quiet. If you can find the bait and the clean water, it is always worth sounding around and try dropping big 70g plus jigs and chrome slugs down for a super-fast retrieval. The extra-large Halco twisty is one of the best jigs for this style of fishing for mackerel. You may find a small length of single-strand wire will prevent bite offs, so ask us how to make the right trace for better success. Noosa – Weekend fishing report
Out wide reports were varied, with the occasional mackerel and longtail tuna. Everyone’s favourite, snapper are starting to make more of an appearance both wide and close. Out wide, the bigger fish will be holding around the banks and the Hards. Snapper will hit almost anything, from bait to jigs and plastics. If you haven’t tried, slow-pitch jigging a big snapper will make you glad you did. Using medium PE3 overhead setups matched to the new Shimano Genpu jig reels make the perfect all-round combination. Grab some Shimano Grappler braid and a handful of jigs and you are on your way to experiencing some of the best most productive fishing styles going.
Off the rocks and beaches, smaller 40cm snapper are becoming more prolific. These fish have been caught from gutters and off the headlands of Noosa and Arkwright Shoal. Using gang-hooked pilchard, strip bait rigged mullet have been the better bait. Try to fish around the turn in the tide, as we move toward the new moon next week.
The river remains stable following the lack of rain. We are seeing good numbers of flathead and trevally both on bait and lures. These are still holding in the lower part of the system around Munna Point Bridge, the sandbags and the dog beach. Bait anglers would do best with whitebait and hardyhead as bait. These can be fished whole and drifted along with the current. Lure anglers have a huge number of options to pick from but keeping it simple with 3” curl tail grubs and paddle tails will appeal to lots of other fish. If you haven’t used them then Keitech should be on everyone’s must-have list. These premium Japanese plastics are some of the best available and we carry a wide range of sizes and styles.
Mangrove jack will start to fade away but in their place we should start to see some tailor moving into the estuary after next week’s new moon, and the big tides that come with it. Tailor are a great lure target and when winding in, should you feel a small bump and find all your gear missing, that is a classic sign you have just been ‘tailored’. Small Halco Roosta Poppers and Zip Baits Skinny Pop Jr are a couple of must-have lures for tailor. As things start to cool down, queenfish will also be around – these are just as aggressive and will take to the skies once hooked.
Fishing around the tides should produce the best bite windows and, as the weather subsides into next week, now is a great time to start planning your next trip.
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 Tackle World Noosa, Noosa Boating and Outdoors and 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!
