With winds strong enough to keep everyone but one charter trip from heading offshore the popular spot this week has been the estuary and river mouth area. We are fortunate enough to have relative shelter from the prevailing SE winds and anglers have not been let down.
Although dirty the water of the river is clearer at depth and the fishing has been consistent with solid oversize flatties and trevally on the catch list. We have seen the odd tailor and the usual whiting, bream and other species of trevally including tealeaf and a few small diamonds. There have also been some chunky winter jacks getting caught and released on a mix of fresh mullet chunk and live bait.
Noosa river mouth has had some action for land based anglers with whiting, bream and flatties showing up along the drop offs and new gutters which have been formed from the rains and spring tides early in the week. If after whiting then live beach worm and a top shot of red whiting tube will make your bait look bigger and stand out in the dirty water. In the deeper waters around the sand bags and along the fallen tree line of the dog beach golden trevally and sizable bream have been caught. Both of these bigger fish are very line shy and 6lb lines and leaders are the go. Be prepared to give chase if in a boat or tighten your drag if land based as they know how to brick you in the blink of an eye. These fish love smaller grubs loaded with scent and slowed rolled on heavier jigs heads across the front of the snags. If land based be sure to rig soft plastics weedless to try and tempt a big fish from deep inside the cover. Big flatties have been caught along these areas as well as toward Woods Bay and the Tewantin Marina. For anglers using baits a light gauge gang hook and a whole fish bait like a pilchard allowed to drift along in the current is the best approach. Trevally and tailor are around, but in the lower estuary. These fish will respond very well to soft vibes as they have a lot of vibration so be sure to grab a few different colours and weights and work these through any eddies like the woods bay/current line. With all the rain staying in the lower part of the estuary is a better option as it will become very fresh upriver. If you own a few crab pots now is a great time to put these out as they love a good downpour. Load these up with mullet frames and heads and tie these off along the mangrove lines toward the first lake and around any creeks of the ski run.
Lake MacDonald is now spilling over so working the edges, drop offs and deeper sections will be the best option. Having sounders running in down scan is important so you can separate your fish from the trees which is hard to see in traditional 2D mode. This also applies to Borumba, however it is not at 100%. The temp at Borumba is down to 14C but the fish are still very active will take a suspending lure or slow retrieved spoon. Be sure to keep hooks razor sharp at all times and swap any rusting or old hooks out to avoid poor or missed hook-ups. Lastly pay attention to any free standing timber as you will often find big fish hanging out just below the surface.
So on behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures!
