Offshore scene heating up

By JACK MANGROVE

THE Noosa River has really fired up this week, with the cleaning water holding plenty of quality fish for the budding angler. The upper sections of the Noosa River have really been the place to be this week, with everything from jacks to threadfin salmon getting caught. It seems trolling has been the most effective way to fish so far, and the Maria MJ-Twitch in the 90mm size has been nearly the perfect lure for this application. Flathead are in good numbers right throughout the system, with the bigger models falling to soft plastics such as the Zman MinnowZ worked slowly across the bottom. There’s also been plenty of reports of GT’s (or giant trevally) taking surface lures around the back of Noosa Sound, especially if you can get there first thing in the morning.
On the offshore scene, the dirty water flowing out from the Noosa River really stirring things up. The close in reefs such as Jew Schoal, Halls Reef and even Sunshine Reef are now loaded with everything from snapper to sweetlip, and it seems prawn style soft plastics fished closely to the bottom are proving the secret weapon on the sweetlip. Tuna are also popping up around Laguna Bay at the moment, with feeding frenzies a common sight just outside the bar. There’s two species of tuna which have been getting caught lately: Mactuna and longtail tuna. Longtail tuna are the bigger of the two, and make for excellent eating – especially if you’re a sashimi lover. Small metal slugs such as the River2Sea Sea rock in the 14g size cast and retrieved through the feeding frenzy is a sure way to bag yourself a tuna or two.
On behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures!