Significant rainfall on Friday and Saturday

What a great start to the week with a public holiday! The winds were kind enough to drop out and the swell was low enough to let most with a boat get into the action. Unfortunately the winds picked up from there and we even had some significant rainfall on Friday and Saturday which is going to see a good change in the rivers and on the inshore reefs.

Offshore we saw boats travel far and wide with the distant reefs of DI and the banks providing anglers with a mixed bag of amberjack, jewfish, parrot, tuskies, snapper, longtail tuna and a few smaller cobia. The fish taking baits dropped to the bottom to paternoster rigs while on anchor. Another option is to use high speed jigs on PE3 or heavier gear. The new pop till you drop jigs proving successful on single 4/0 assist hooks. It is also a good idea to use heavier gear here as the bronze sharks that inhabit this area are hungry!

In closer North reef has been the pick of the spots with jewfish, cobia, maori wrasse, tuskies and big pearlies on the catch menu. There is still the occasional bite off happening and the mini heatwave that came through mid week has certainly warmed things up a bit. Sunshine reef is one of these spots worth sounding around and trying to find new ground as this area is consistently changing. Having sounders running structure scan and live mapping will let you see the bottom more clearly than 2D sonar. Once you find decent contours and bait this would be a great place to start fishing.

Fish on the catch list include jewfish, pearlies, small snapper, juvenile reds and good sized sweetlip and tuskies. Most anglers fishing this area will use traditional paternoster rigs with pilchard and squid baits. If the winds are light it pays to drift this expansive reef system and use soft plastics with 3/8^th 4/0 jigheads and 4-5 inch jerk shad and curly tail styles with Zman streakz and curly tail two great options. Also doing well are the Shimano colt sniper jigs in the 40-60 gram range using 30lb fluorocarbon leaders on PE 2-3 gear.

Off the beaches the light morning winds provided anglers with some great conditions to target the smaller whiting, bream and dart. Having a light surf outfit keeps things fun as these fish are often in plentiful numbers and a great way to experience surf fishing. The range of lightweight Gary Howard surf rods such as the well known Breambo and Dart rods are perfect for the coast and are available in 1 and 2 piece options for spin and Alvey reels.

As we approach the full moon, breaking out the bigger rods and reels and heading down to the water during the evening high tides puts you in the running to tangle with a bigger jewfish. Typically known to be a new moon species it is always worth a shot during this moon phase.

In the river the clearer waters of the lower estuary dominate and make the fishing a little harder. During this time it is worth dropping line weights down to 6lb or lower. Longer fluorocarbon leaders for soft plastics helps hide your braid and leader knot for line shy fish and gives you added protection should you be around structure. Still on the catch list are flathead which are taking live and dead baits of frogmouth pilchards and hardy heads. These are also a great fish to target if new to using plastics as they are often easy to find and will snap at anything passing close by. Have a hunt around the drop offs of the dog beach and the sand bags. Using 1/4oz jigheads try out the grubby plastics from Entice as these resist the abrasive mouths flathead are known for having.

Whiting are still holding up along Gympie Terrace and around the river mouth and the southern side of the rock wall when the swell is light. This is the place to use light surf combo’s as previously mentioned with live beach worm on simple running sinker rigs. If wanting to cast out further take a look at the whiting snatcher rigs from Black Magic as these simple 2 hook paternoster rigs are perfect for targeting a wide range of other species.

Further up river around the ski run and between the lakes we are seeing jewies in the smaller 60-70cm range. They are favoured by bull sharks so try to get your fish in fast and do not attempt to land one by hand as they often get taken boat side when the fish are tired. Other fish found up river are mangrove jacks which are becoming increasingly more active, especially this week with the hotter daytime temps.

Casting poppers and bigger stickbaits into the snags is a great way to get the surface strike. Weedless rigged soft plastics like the Molix RT shad rigged on owner beast weighted hooks lets your presentation fall horizontally. This lets you burn it out or slow roll it out at different depths so you can try and find the fish. Be sure to upgrade the rings and hooks on your lures as they will straighten out on big fish. BKK raptors are a great hook when fishing for heavy hard hitting fish. These should be matched with decoy EX spilt rings in an appropriate size.

Lastly the freshwater has livened up with the hot days. The surface bite is on during morning and evening and if you are lucky you could connect to a big toga or bass. Lures to use are Chasebaits bobbin frog especially after a rain and the micro pompadour from Jackall during the hot daytimes. Both of these lures create enough noise to call up the fish from far away. Spinnerbaits like the TT striker also work well once the sun is overhead and the fish are hiding deep under trees and overhanging bushes. These can be cast deep into cover and slow wound back out as these are almost weedless. Be sure to carry a lure retriever with you at all times so you don’t lose your favourite lure.

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!