Late winter weather perfect for reef

The last of the winter weather is a great time to head for the reefs; with light winds and low swells this makes for perfect offshore fishing conditions. Water temperatures at the moment are perfect for reef fishing, and with this we are seeing some good quality snapper. Anglers making the trip to the Barwon Banks have been well rewarded with snapper to 5kg, some cracker pearlies and some sensational cobia. Sunshine Reef is a favourite for the anglers with smaller craft, and there have been some great snapper and trout taken from this reef with soft plastics being a favourite among anglers. North Reef is also producing some great catches, with snapper and jewies really giving anglers a workout. Soft plastics fishing has been working a treat. Some great colours that have been getting the runs on the board have been Nuclear Chicken, Coconut Ice, and Motor Oil. Micro jiggers have also been making their presence felt with plenty of great fish taken on the flat fall style jigs.
On the beach, it is all about the tailor, with good quality fish a fairly common thing. The hot spot has been north of Teewah, Sunshine and Marcus Beaches with some good fish taken on the late tide. Good quality bait is the key, so those old pilchards that have been in the freezer since last year will not do, make sure you head to your favourite tackle store and get some good quality baits to increase your chances of a good feed.
Taking plenty of mates with you is also key, as the more baits in the water the better as the schools will hang around and feed. Look for those gutter and deeper holes and fish the morning and late afternoons tide should see you with some quality fish.
In the rivers, we have had an outstanding bream season. This time of year they school up in big numbers as they spawn and are willing to take a wide variety of lures and baits. Throughout Woods Bay small soft plastic curly tail lures have been nailing some quality fish. When targeting bream on soft plastics, jig head selection is quite important, as you want the lure to sink fairly slowly and stay in their face. Dropping your leader size too will see better numbers, with most anglers opting for a 3 to 6lb leader when targeting these wary fish. If you want to soak a bait for a bream, fresh strips of mullet are pretty hard to go past. Elsewhere in the river, the Noosa sound has been providing some spectacular surface sessions lately, with good schools of tailor and trevally schooling up and smashing bait fish. Surface lures in the low light periods have been perfect with both popper and surface walkers getting the job done. Once the sun gets a little higher in the sky, soft plastic and micro jigs are the way to go with another plus of throwing soft plastics and jigs is they also bring some other species into the equation such as large flathead bream and queenfish.
So, on behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures!