Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
With the miserable conditions we experienced last week, we saw only the larger boats or experienced skippers crossing the bar and fishing the local reefs. The swell and wind combined with a fading ground swell and run-out tides, slow and steady was the best approach. Noosa Fishing
North Reef was popular for charters and they came home with a mixed bag of cobia, sweetlip emperor and some sizable jewfish. Mixed bait dropped down on paternoster rigs proved the popular choice with squid, mullet and pilchard the popular bait choice. Live bait works very well here when dropped down on a snelled rig, so be sure to stop off, drop a sabiki jig and load up on livies before going wide.
In closer, Sunshine Reef has sizable coral trout, lippers, tuskfish and a few longtail tuna still swimming around. This is a great place to drop a pilchard floater because the cobia and tuna are happy to swim about mid-water. Be sure to use a long length of 30-40lb mono leader if running braid, so you have a better presentation. Anyone who has a baitrunner style of reel would do well to use it here, as these reels are perfect for floating bait in a berley trail. With berley in mind, be sure to start a steady trail when on anchor. With the full moon due this coming week, expect currents and tides to become stronger, which means you will have to work your efforts around the tide changes. A great berley is to mash up some pellets, oil, old fish frames and a few handfuls of sand to help bind it all together. Alternatively, try using a small berley pot and freezing your mix to make it last longer. Don’t forget the snapper and pearl perch closure is still in place until August 15.
Surf fishing will be on in the lead up to the full moon and as conditions begin to improve, with some good reports of tailor having been landed around the mouth of the Noosa River and a few gutters along Teewah Beach. These fish are taking whole and cut pilchard bait and mullet on strip bait rigs that have a length of wire attached to prevent the inevitable bite off. During the day, bream, whiting, dart and flathead are around, with a few big flathead landed and released as we approach their breeding season. It’s always a great thing to do your bit to help preserve fish stocks, so don’t forget to take a snap for memories sake.
The Noosa River is going through a quiet phase but trevally and queenfish seem to be on the move throughout the lower reaches. Flathead continue to be the standout species, though you will have to sort your way through the smaller fish to find the legal ones. Weyba Creek has seen better quality fish and these are best targeted on a 3” paddle tail plastic or a shrimp pattern, such as the new Berkley Powerbait Fan Tail Shrimp in 2-3”. The water still has a bit of colour from the last drop of rain, so bait and lures have to be presented in the best possible way. The MMD Splash Prawns are working well for whiting and bigeye trevally. Lower down in the water column small micro jigs work well for getting the bite when the fish are sitting on the bottom. The Majorcraft JigParas prove to be the most consistent producers. Don’t forget, if you are missing out on fish hitting your lures, try the small Shinto Pro assist hooks running off the back of your lure instead of the stock treble hook. This helps greatly when fish are just missing the hook up.
If headed upriver, the ski run is worth sounding around as trevally and jewfish are often found schooling up here. Live bait work well as do soft vibes and 4” paddle tail soft plastics. Adding scent helps too, as does tying a loop knot to help free up the lures action. Be sure to find out or ask how to tie one, as picky fish will spot a poorly presented lure.
Further upstream the mouth of Cooroibah and the channel that is the start of the stretch – known simply as between the lakes – hold good flathead this time of year. The sand flats on either side can also hold good whiting too, so flick small surface lures onto the flats and work them off into deeper water.
Freshwater continues to be inconsistent in the local dams because the constant rainfall hasn’t allowed the impoundments time to settle. Recently, we saw major fish loses at Lake MacDonald, as fish were seen tumbling over the flooded wall. Borumba has seen major fish kills as well as it seems to have rolled. The only upside of these loses is that the downstream tributaries will now have bass in their systems, and their natural response is to want to get downstream and breed, which is only halted by these walls. Tight lines.
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!
