By Jack Mangrove
There are still some great reports of flathead in the Noosa River, good fish have been coming from both Lake Cooroibah and Lake Cootharaba and the area in between.
Fish the run-out tide with soft plastics and deep diving lures worked close to the bottom.
There have also been reports of good-sized jew coming from the deeper areas of the Tewantin Ski Run.
Winter time is the time for big bream and as the water continues to cool, larger fish will head into the river to breed.
There are plenty of reports of good whiting around at the moment. If you are into bait fishing, fish live or cured worms, yabbies or peeled prawns around places like the Frying Pan or the sand flats next to the Dog Beach.
If using lures takes your fancy, fishing the shallow sand flats with surface lures can be very effective and yield some great results.
The river has also given up some of the great predatory fish like trevally, tailor and queenies, these fish are more active in the low light periods but can also be taken through the day in the deeper sections of the river. Fishing areas like Woods Bay, Munna Point, and the deeper sections of the Ski Run should yield results.
Windy weather hampered the offshore brigade last week, but with the weather set to improve things should be looking up.
Winter time is also a great time of the year to chase snapper on the closer-in reefs. Sunshine Reef, Jew Shoal, Little Halls and Big Halls will all be fishing well.
To improve your catch, try fishing your chosen spot at first light with a constant berley trail floating out the back. There are still some great long tail tuna about. These tuna can grow to 20kg-plus and are a great fight on mid-sized spin tackle.
One of the pick of the destinations for chasing these tuna is around Laguna Bay as well as following the coastline up the Noosa North Shore.
As we see an improvement in the weather, a trip to the banks should be on the cards, big snapper, pearl perch, jew sweetlip and big cobia should be on offer, remember that the whales are starting their migration so take your time and keep your eyes peeled.
On the beaches, there’s been some promising reports from Double Island Point and Fraser Island with plenty of “chopper” sized tailor getting caught on both chrome lures and gang hook rigged pilchards.
Slide baiting is an effective way to fish the beaches as it gets your bait out further than possible with conventional beach tackle as it allows you to fish large whole baits that are too heavy to cast.
Whiting, dart and bream have been in good number in most gutters along Noosa’s eastern beaches along with flathead and school jew. Fresh bait is always best so fresh mullet, live worms pippies and yabbies will certainly help your cause.
In the fresh water, schooled bass will be hanging around the dam walls as they try to make their way to the brackish water trying to spawn.
These fish are often tightly packed in a big school and respond well to things like tail spinners and vibe lures worked through them.
There is still the odd Saratoga being caught in the sheltered bays, smaller diving lures seem to be the most productive.
So on behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures!
