By Jack Mangrove
IT’S been all about the river with the stronger winds keeping a lot of anglers in small craft from heading offshore.
Bream and whiting have been caught around the river mouth and Frying Pan using frozen baits like cured worm and prawns – live yabbies have also been an excellent bait.
The humble bait pump is a great way to collect fresh bait and Noosa has some great sand banks perfect for collecting yabbies. Low tide and some young fingers to collect the nippers as you pump is an important part of the process.
Around the mouth there have been some flathead, trevally and tailor feeding on bait as it comes in on the tide. These species are responding well to soft vibes like Samaki Vibelicious as well as live baits.
Upriver the jacks are also on the chew, and with the threat of some storms this week this will fire them up even more. Brightly coloured suspending lures cast around structure should see a result.
Offshore things have been a little quiet with the wind, but those who got out have been well rewarded. Good pan-sized snapper and sweetlip have been responding well to bait around Sunshine Reef. Soft plastics fished hard to the reef have also been paying off with some nice trout taken.
The Barwon Banks are holding some big snapper, pearl perch and big tuskies and is well worth the trip when the weather allows.
North Reef again has seen some great catches with the charter operator picking up some good fish including jewies and cobia.
Off the beach there has been some nice sized tailor making their way south after spawning. Some of these fish have been over the 2kg-mark and are feeding on the small baitfish that inhabit the gutters close to the beach.
Most of the gutter on Noosa’s North Shore are holding whiting and dart and are great fun for the kids. Prawns, small pilchard baits and worms have been responsible for most captures.
Noosa Yachtie Fishing Club are running a Youth Fishing Clinic on the Noosa River bank near the river stage. The one-hour fishing lesson is $5 per child and will teach all the basics of fishing. The clinics include all gear and bait plus a show bag as well as a sausage sizzle and drink on completion.
Entries are at Davo’s Tackleworld and the clinics are being run on Saturday and Sunday mornings 22 and 23 October.
There is also a raffle at $1 a ticket with some great prizes on offer including Bunnings vouchers, meal vouchers, tackle vouchers as well as meat and seafood vouchers.
On behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures.
