By Jack Mangrove
With a bit of weather headed our way and some significant falls in the Noosa River catchment areas we will see a real change in the river. Weyba Creek and the Frying Pan have been fishing well with some great whiting taken, worms and yabbies are the baits of choice but if you are looking for better fish, give surface poppers and walkers a go, one quick tip is to use a long leader and also use mono leader as fluorocarbon sinks and can upset the balance of the lure. The tailor and trevally are also in the river with good fish coming from the mouth and in Woods Bays, Larger surface lures have been getting smashed first thing in the mornings, smaller slugs at a medium passed retrieve have also been getting smashed and are a great option if you are land based. For the bait anglers; whole small pillies on gangs free floating in the current has worked well. Free floating baits have also worked well on the mangrove jack at night, these fish tend to come out of the snags and feed on the flats under the cover of darkness. Large flathead are still on the chew in the river with plenty of fish over the 75cm mark being returned to the water, large brightly coloured paddle tail soft plastic have worked well but the prawn profile is by far the best on the flatties. Crabs are in good numbers with plenty of legal bucks taken, the deeper more saline area will be where most of the big bucks will be holding, fresh mullet is still the prime bait. Soaking it in tuna oil will also bring them running. Don’t forget to leave those pots in for at least one tide cycle.
On the offshore, weather has been a big factor. Swell made crossing the bar a bit challenging with most smaller vessels staying on the trailer, mackerel are a little hard to find as most fish would have run to the clearer waters well offshore. Most reports this week came from the more local reefs, there have been some tuna belting bait in Laguna Bay, Sunshine reef was good for Maori cod, grass sweetlip, squire, trout and Venus tusk fish, the sharks have been a pain with angler report plenty of quality fish taken by the tax man. North Reef has also proven successful for moses perch, tuskies, hussar, pearl perch, coral bream, and the odd spotted mackerel. Micro jigs and 6” soft plastics have claimed quality fish, while the bait anglers have been using pilchard’s local squid and live baits.
On the beaches; Whiting numbers along Sunshine beach have been really improving over the last week, with some 30cm+ fishing being caught on baits fished in the deeper gutters. A few tailor and the odd jewfish have been caught off the rocks in deep water using whole pilchards, squid and slabs of mullet fillet. Noosa North Shore has also fished well for whiting and dart with the bigger tides fishing well. Large tailor have also been taken on the night tide.
On behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures!
