Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Holidays kick off – Well, here we are with another month down as we push deeper into winter. The start of the school holidays was greeted with rain and despite the conditions, fishing has been great. Offshore has had a slight offshore wind and 1-1.2m swell running, especially over the weekend. In the rivers, the post-moon bite has seen many anglers landing a wide range of species with some trophy fish. Noosa fishing
Offshore right now is all about snapper and with the season open until July 15, reports are strong. Last week fish came in with the tides and the cool change is seeing them hang around. Sunshine, Chardons and Halls reefs and Jew Shoal will all be holding their fair share of fish and if you are south of Sunshine, take a trip down to Coolum. Anchoring and running a slow steady berley trail is working very well, particularly on 20lb gear with a tough fluorocarbon leader such as Sunline FC Rock. This light line approach has been the go-to method, especially when the sun is out and conditions are calm. Those on plastics should look no further than the curly tail grubs in pink, white and blue colours. Having these on 1/4-3/8 jig heads on 20-30lb leader works wonders. The big snapper are happy to come up the water to slightly below the surface in search of a feed, so keep your plastics in this upper area.
Surf fishing is starting to fire up, with tailor and jewfish now making an appearance all along the coastline. Bait anglers will do well with squid and mullet bait. If you can catch them, a bunch of live worms on a hook can also work very well. No matter how you fish for jewfish, your actions once a jewfish picks up your bait is all about patience and timing. If you are losing fish, be sure to come in and ask us how to best keep the hooks into these big fish. Tailor are taking surface lures and slugs around the mouths all along the coastline, with a mix of trevally swimming with them, so break out your medium weight river rods and enjoy these sport fish. Noosa fishing
With the rain, the river has seen mud crabs and fish on the move. The river mouth offers some great fishing, with baitfish holding around this area. They are also holding in Woods Bay and around the lower estuary area. As for the surf, tailor and giant trevally are feeding together and taking a wide variety of lures and bait. For young anglers, a Bassday Sugapen ripped across the surface is picking up big fish and micro jigs from MajorCraft are also picking up golden and diamond trevally. Bait anglers are finding whitebait and mullet chunks working on flathead and bream. As for offshore fishing, if you can present a single hook on a light line, you will see better results. Running graphite rods and braided line puts you in direct contact with the bites, allowing you to feel everything. For those uncertain on how to tie a braid to leader knot, come in and ask us because once you try braid, you’ll be amazed at how sensitive it is.
Freshwater fishing in the dams and lakes has been on hold lately due to poor water quality. This latest rain should see the suspended mud settle and these areas clean up significantly. With potentially clearer water, bass could be almost anywhere, however find areas where the heat from the sun – when it’s out – is hitting the bays. Work lures around weed points and edges as weed holds heat. Try slow-rolling soft plastics and using micro jigs such as a Jackson Iga Jig Spin. This little lure has worked wonders on shut-down fish because it is small and has massive vibration. Winter fish often don’t want a big meal, so fish small if struggling to get the bite and you are finding fish on side scan.
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!
