By JACK MANGROVE
The Noosa River has been fishing extremely well over the past week and with trevally, tailor, bream and flathead to just name a few.
With the recent rains again dirtying up the river, the bait will again make its way towards the saltier water.
One location that has been fishing extremely well of late is the lower reaches of the Noosa River.
At the mouth, the Frying Pan and the Dog Beach, baitfish gather in schools to feed on all the food flowing down stream and where’s there’s baitfish, there’s big fish!
The trick to fishing this area properly is to get down there nice and early or hang around after dark to give yourself the best chance of tangling with some of the bigger fish this river has to offer.
Tide is also important so fishing a couple of hours either side of the tide at the same time should see a reward.
Jacks, trevally, large bream, and school jew are all on the menu around the mouth of the river.
Large flatties and elbow slapper whiting are also on the chew with the dog beach and the Frying Pan some of their favourite haunts.
When it comes to bait, live bait is one of the favourite, herring or poddy mullet off the rocks at the mouth and yabbies and live worms off the dog beach and the Frying Pan.
For the lure, angler slugs have been going well around the mouth with the Halco Twisty one of the all-time favourites.
Surface lures work well around the calmer area like Dog Beach and Frying Pan.
Those who were lucky enough to get offshore fishing last weekend found the fish were going off.
Sunshine Reef is probably at its best right now with some sensational coral trout fishing.
Sweetlip have also been up there as well as parrot and cod.
The outer edges have been the go for pelagics with both tuna and mackerel being accounted for.
For those who are lucky enough to own a bigger vessel, the trip to North Reef is well worth it, with snapper, sweetlip and cobia all being reported in that area.
While out there it pays to keep an eye on the sounder as schools of ‘yakkas’ (yellow tail scad) are often schooling up around that area.
A bait jig ready to go over the side can result in some great baits. These are sensational bait and can be used as a floater or sent straight to the bottom.
On the beach front, Noosa’s North Shore is where it’s all been happening.
The stretch between the first cutting and the mouth of the Noosa River is holding some nice gutters at the moment and with tailor dart and bream on the chew, this is a great spot to soak a few pilchards.
