It’s all on for early risers

The Lawrence family are happy with their haul.

By Jack Mangrove

If you’re anything like me you are finding it harder and harder to get out of bed early but believe me it is worth it.
The Noosa River has been bursting with flathead, trevally, tailor, bream, queenfish and if you’re good enough maybe a nice jew. The flathead have been thick over the last month with Weyba creek, the sand bars near the mouth and of course the lakes all producing trophy fish.
Trevally have been the big news with some thumper golden and giant trevally caught on lures in the early mornings and late afternoons in Woods Bay, the back of the Noosa Sound and the top of the Tewantin ski run. Most of the bigger trevally have been taken on prawn profile lures and soft plastics.
Big tailor are on the prowl inside the river mouth and around to Woods Bays at night with pillies on a ganged hook rig fished unweighted working best when fishing around the river mouth.
Some bigger queenfish made short visits into Woods Bay crashing the schools of unsuspecting mullet with some of the Noosa regulars having their lures destroyed. Plenty of whiting have also been on offer with some good fish landed around the frying pan and along the dog beach – as usual peeled prawns, worms and those freshly pumped yabbies have been the best baits for these amazing table fish.
With some very special offshore conditions over the last week anglers have made their way out in pursuit of some big knobby snapper. North Reef has been worth a look with nice snapper, sweetlip tuskies and some thumper cobia.
Chardon’s Reef has also produced snapper and sweetlip while close in on Sunshine Reef you can expect mostly squire sized snapper, sweet lip, Moses perch and maybe a coral trout.
There have been plenty of good jewies taken from most of the reefs along the coast with fish up to 14kg being caught. For those that have been doing the run out to the Barwon banks there have been plenty of quality fish on offer, large pearl perch, snapper, cobia, mori cod, kingies and amberjack have all hit the decks.
On the pelagic side of things there are still some good tuna, spotted mackeral and school mackeral to be had with plenty on offer around Jew Sholes and Sunshine Reef.
On the beaches, Sunshine and Sunrise beaches have been doing well in the early evening with big bream, tarwhine and tailor all on the chew. Tailor are doing better than last season with some good captures coming from Teewah camping grounds north.
The bigger tailor are still just south of Double island with the morning and afternoon tides the prime bite.
Good bream are also in the mix with plenty of larger breeding fish just about to spawn.
Whiting have also been in numbers with plenty of fish on offer on the run out tide.
So on behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures.