By Jack Mangrove
With the recent weather it is quite obvious that offshore anglers have been a little challenged when it comes to getting outside. Most anglers have been getting out early to try and beat the breezes that has been springing up mid-morning. Sunshine Reef has still been producing the odd Spanish mackerel. It has also been a great spot for Coral Trout, venus tusk fish, Maori cod, pearl perch and northern Bluefin tuna. Micro jigs have accounted for Moses perch, Grass Sweetlip and Squire. The odd school of keeper size Cobia have also been cursing around. Long tail tuna are in great numbers and have been caught in Laguna Bay area. The dead giveaway is the bird activity which can you easily see from Noosa Main beach. The key to getting onto tuna is to cast your lure to the edges of the schools rather than right into the middle. The fish are taking a range of metal slugs, weighted and floating stick baits and soft plastics on a fast retrieve. For the larger boats that have headed a little further afield, Double Island has still been fishing well for Long tail tuna, Mahi Mahi, gold spot cod, moses perch, sweetlip, pearl perch and good sized Venus tusk fish. The Barwon Banks have also fished well for snapper, Venus tusk fish, squire, hussar, Maori cod, red throat emperor, gold band snapper and the odd red emperor.
In the river; with the water being the colour it is, the run in tide has been the most productive. Whiting have been in particularly good numbers with the amount of bait in the river. As whiting are predominantly bottom feeders and with the amount of water moving through the system at the moment there is a good amount of food for them to feed on. Trevally are also on the chew, and Woods Bays have been full of them! Schools of baitfish are regularly chased around by hungry trevally and are easily spotted by looking for splashes on the surface. Small surface popper have been doing most of the damage. Soft plastics imitating a prawn seem to be a very popular option at the moment as there are plenty of prawns starting to run. For the night angler creeping quietly around structures like the Tewantin Harbor and the structures around the Sound should see you tangling with mangrove jack. Fishing a slow rolled paddle around the deep holes in the river will also give you a really good chance of tangling with one of these prized fish. If you love your bait, then give free floating baits like frog mouth pillies, live poddy mullet/herring, whitebait and fresh mullet strips a go. For the crabbers there have been an abundance of crabs around with the fresh water in the system. Mud crabbers should try the deeper sections near mangroves while for the sand crabs set your pots a little closer to the mouth. Of course the best bait is fresh mullet.
Plenty of anglers are planning a trip to the Noosa North Shore over the upcoming Easter break where good numbers of whiting, bream and smaller dart are present in the deeper beach gutters. Using fresh baits like strip mullet and worms is working very well. The area north of Teewah is traditionally where most of the Jew and tailor hunters head and this year is no different. Live or fresh mullet is always a good starting point when it comes to tangling with one of these great predators.
On behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures!
