By JACK MANGROVE
WITH the stormy and humid weather we have been experiencing over the last week the appearance of our river has certainly changed and for the inexperienced angler this may tend to put them off, the thing is, that a bit of fresh water flow in the river is a good thing.
With the salinity levels changing in the river, the bait will tend to make its way to towards the mouth or even head out to the closer reefs.
So with this in mind you should be concentrating your efforts toward the river mouth or the area where the clean water from the ocean pushes up on the tide.
The river mouth rock walls are a great place to start with mangrove jack, trevally and queenfish all on the chew, bread-and-butter species like whiting and bream are also down toward the mouth.
The Frying Pan and the Dog Beach have seen some quality whiting on worm and yabbies with the bream and other predators taking a liking to live baits and fresh mullet.
Woods Bay and the Noosa Sound has also been firing with jack ambushing passing bait as it moves down river. Flathead are also in the deeper parts of the river and are happy to take a well presented soft plastic, brighter colours have been the most successful.
Crabs are the other primary objective for a lot of anglers with them out of their muddy holes and walking a well-placed crab pot should see some quality bucks. There are a multitude of different baits being placed in the bottom of pots these days but I have found that fresh mullet has been the most successful.
On the offshore scene, thing have been a little quiet with the large swells and the threating weather. Those who did find a window in the weather were well rewarded, with the closer reefs like Jew Sholes and sunshine Reef both producing. Trout, mori cod and sweetlip where all taken with pilchard and squid doing the job.
Pelagics were also on site before the rain with a couple of quality spanish mackerel also landed. With the run off from the creeks and rivers the closer reefs will be a little quieter for pelagics as they prefer the cleaner water. So if the swell and wind drop, a trip out to the Barwon Banks or the Hards will be well worth it.
On the beaches, the bigger swells have been great for creating some great gutters and holes. Tailor and jew will be chasing all that bait that has been flushed out of the rivers so a night fish on the new moon is well worth a go, fresh mullet, salted bonito, pilchards and squid are all perfect baits.
For the anglers who like more civilised hours, whiting, bream and good sized dart are all on the menu.
So on behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures.
