By JACK MANGROVE
THE Noosa River has been a top place to wet a line with anglers enjoying balmy weather over the weekend.
Whiting have been everywhere in the lower part of the river with the frying pan one of the top spots to get a feed. Gympie Terrace has also been worth a crack, with the area around James Street also producing some nice fish.
There are still good numbers of jacks throughout the system with the odd exceptional model being landed. Fresh strip baits and live baits such as herring have been effective for those wanting to soak a bait with the better quality fish being taken on soft plastics and soft vibes.
The ski run, Woods Bay, sand bags, river mouth rock wall have all produced some nice fish. Mixed schools of trevally are right throughout the system. Small baitfish and prawn imitation soft plastics are a fun and effective way to chase them, with a few clued-in anglers trying their luck with micro jigs.
In the fresh water, the local dams have also been firing.
Lake Macdonald has had some cracking sessions of late with anglers managing good numbers of bass. Some of the fish are a bit smaller, however there are still some nice bass around the 43-45cm range. Fishing the edges with soft plastics, spinnerbaits and blades seems to be the go.
Lake Borumba has good numbers of saratoga. Most fish have been caught fishing the edges and quiet bays using spinnerbaits, and slow rolled soft plastics.
Bass have been on the chew, with soft plastics, blades and tail spinners seeing the best results.
Offshore, those who managed to get out, were well rewarded. Sunshine Reef producing some quality fish – sweetlip, pan-sized snapper and coral trout were all on the menu.
Mackerel were also firing, with the closer reefs also producing some nice spotted mackerel with the odd spanish.
North Reef produced a real mix of reefies earlier in the week with the charter customers picking up some nice table fish. Mixed schools of tuna have been throughout the bay, with small soft plastics and metal slugs working well.
On behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures.
