With a peak in the swell the bar has been off limits to everyone until the weekend finally gave anglers a shot at the pelagics. With the tides low at first light it certainly paid off to wait a few hours until there was a bit more water on the bar especially if in bigger boats.
Sunshine reef has been the popular choice with it holding a mixed bag of chunky coral trout, pearl perch, snapper, tuskies, sweetlip, estuary cod and of course cobia, mackerel and tuna in the mix. Most of these fish falling to pilchard floaters on 4/0 gang hooks. Larger soft plastics up to 7 inches have been working very well on cobia and tuna with bigger jigheads up to 1oz required in deeper water. These are perfect for sight casting at tuna and mackerel as well as hopping along the bottom for the reef fish. In closer, Halls Reef and Jew Shoal are more protected from the south east winds. Reports of cobia and mackerel have come through with the bigger mackerel taking slow trolled live and dead baits on pre rigged 5/0 chin guards. Top tip when doing this is to put the boat in and out of gear to give the bait more life.
The recent swells have created some great gutters along the coastline. For anglers fishing with lighter lines then whiting, bream and dart are easily caught with fresh worm and mullet strip. For those anglers chasing bigger fish, then after dark is the better time to fish where the various headlands and points not only give you protection from wind and swell, but get you into deeper water. Gang hooks and bigger whole baits like slimy mackerel and mullet fillet will attract the bigger fish. Using a short length of bait wrap keeps baits together when casting and stops smaller fish running off with it.
In the river most anglers are fishing the lower estuary due to the recent rains. The Noosa River mouth, Dog Beach and along Gympie Terrace has solid whiting for land based anglers. These fish are mainly taking live beach worms but will take smaller poppers worked across the flats. The Frying Pan has seen some great fish up to 40cm caught on a mix of surface lures and bait. Around the current line, sandbags and the river mouth larger flathead are taking live and whole dead baits. Prawn style soft plastics are working well when worked across the bottom and combined with some scent. If chasing mangrove jacks then a fresh chunk of mullet works best with 30lb leader as a minimum. For those using lures then weedless presented plastics cast into the mangroves and pontoon’s will get the bite.
Freshwater has been on fire with some huge saratoga coming out of the Lake Mac Donald and Borumba Dam. Working the timber and weed edges has seen some solid bass. Using spinnerbaits is great for the deep drop offs and heavy timber during the daytime. Hardbodies are also working well on the bass in the shallows with the possibility of hooking a big toga.
So on behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures!
