Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
What a change in the week’s weather we have had. From steady rainfall which soaked into the scorched ground to glass out mornings offshore, to head high swell on the bar and rain falls up to 140mm on Friday night. With that the daytime temps dropped down to 24C which gave us a break from the heat which was welcomed by most.
Before the rain and swell arrived the pelagics were still ever present inshore, especially around Sunshine Reef. These fish definitely taking a liking for dead and live trolled baits on stinger rigs or gang hooked rigs with a sinker upfront to help it swim upright. For those who don’t use bait, be sure to grab some 140mm Halco double deep laser pro lures in red head and pilchard colours. The smaller lures are definitely getting crunched so try with no wire for the best presentation and move onto wire if the fish are in solid numbers. With the rain you may find these fish will now be sitting deeper if you are fishing around Mooloolaba and Maroochydore. Try and find the dirty water line on the tide turn and have sounders running. You may even find a thermocline which bait fish will often feed along. With that, the pelagic fish will often feed on these baitfish so check water temps while moving about.
One fish that responds well after some flooding rain are sweetlip. Try the local inshore reefs and use simple paternoster rigs with squid and pilchard baits. With the high tides coming toward early mornings you may also find the pelagics are in close with the clean, clear water. If you are in Noosa focus around Jew Shoal, Halls reef and Sunshine reef. These fish may well move back out to deeper waters with the turn in the tide so keep eyes peeled. Lastly with the cloud cover the birds will struggle to see any bait so always be looking out for small bust ups as the birds may not be able to lead the way for you.
Off the beaches reports of decent dart and whiting have been reported. These fish taking both live and cured beach worm and pipis as well. With the new moon next week the surf fishing should improve for those anglers chasing a jewie. This sudden rain event often stirs up bigger fish and bait after a few days. What a change that will be. Come and grab some bait wrap and some mullet fillet or bonito fillet for the best results.
The Noosa River, especially the river mouth has seen some sizable grunter bream and flathead sitting in the various eddies or deeper drop off around the wall. These fish will take live and dead bait as well as a deep diving hard body lure like a deep diving Zerek tango shad or Rapala jack deep. If after live bait then you are best to pick up a ¾ inch mesh size cast net so you can easily get herring that otherwise get stuck in 1 inch mesh nets. Don’t forget a decent bucket and aerator to keep them alive and pumping! Away from the mouth there have been some big flathead sitting around the dog beach and the current line. Mangove jacks have been caught around the river mouth, dog beach sand bags and the mangrove edges toward the ski run on the north shore side. With a bit of rain that has fallen in the system this can often bring prawns down so break out prawn profile lures like the new Zerek Absolute prawn. This lure has a strong Kevlar tail and big gape weedless hook for a solid hook up. If you want to throw weedless then take a look at the smaller shrimps like the Chasebaits flick prawn.
The fresh water has been a little quiet as the fish adjust to decreasing water levels. There has been a recent growth of new lilies in patches throughout the waterways so you can expect to find fish holding around these areas, especially during the cooler times. The current trend for wind in the mornings are light followed by increasing winds mid-morning. If you fish lures try fishing surface early and then move toward a diving of soft vibe lure. Smaller vibes like the Berkley Shimma fork do well as do the Jackson Iga jig tail spinner jigs. These are dynamite on shut down fish or those fish locked into small bait fish. Borumba is almost at 60% so as always proceed with care and enjoy a great days fishing.
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!
