With the coast certainly feeling the cold this week the continued bout of westerly winds has been felt by all.
During the week we had some rain, strong winds and a jump in the swell. As if by magic, all that dropped out for the weekend.
Many anglers loaded up on the Saturday to go chase the reef fish out wide. The popular reefs of Sunshine and North had a wide range of fish on offer with some standouts including sweetlip, tuskies, cobia, tuna and even a few mackerel. Last week there were spotty mackerel swimming about so who knows what may turn up? It is always worth a try with trolling and the new Nomad 110mm deep si sure to get the attention of any passing fish. This lure gets down to 4 metres and is the perfect late season mackerel bait size.
In close there has been a great run on the trevally and some tailor around the headlands. These fish can be targeted on light estuary setups and are a heap of fun once hooked. ,
From the beaches the swell certainly created some new gutters which is seeing the continued run of dart keeping most anglers busy.
Evening fishing or as the sun sets is one of the best times to get a line out. Many fish including trevally and tailor will feed in the last 30 minutes of light and if you can time it those last few minutes can be some furious fishing. Small soft plastics and light rigged baits of pilchard and herring will certainly get picked up in the wash or current.
The river remains stable with an abundance of species getting caught and released.
Every winter diamond trevally turn up with the occasional horse-sized fish. One reaching 95cm was caught in only a few metres of water on a soft plastic, which goes to show you need not fish in deep water for big fish. Besides diamonds, the GT and tailor have been causing mayhem, in and around Woods Bay. This part of Noosa is popular for these fish as the bay acts as a natural barrier allowing predatory fish to push the baitfish against. During the high tides in low light you should try throwing surface lures like the Bassday sugapen and crystal pop and retrieve these at speed for the strike. For non-lure anglers a well rigged hardy head, whitebait or herring will gain the interest from bream and flathead. Try to fish the run out tides and try your chances anywhere in the main channel around the mouth. Lure angler will do well with small soft vibes as Noosa continues to run quite dirty. Vibes emit huge vibration that predatory fish will hone in on, so always try these if you are struggling for the bite.
Away from the river the dams are starting to see signs of bass schooling up. The dams are still dirty but the winter fishing can be some of the greatest times to experience bulk numbers of bass on lures. Keep in mind that these fish are schooling up so use 3/8th jig heads on 3 inch minnows and slow wind these through schooled up fish. If this doesn’t work you can try jigging blades and vibes over the schooled up fish. Check out the storm Ultra blade for a lure that won’t get fouled on the bottom but drives the bass nuts.
Now, for all the latest information log onto 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!
