| OFFSHORE: Ahhh,
what a wonderful world. Light sou'westers early, ahead of light to moderate
variable southerly winds later in the morning, with little or no swell and
clear blue skies. It doesn't get much better than that. These are typical
Noosa autumn conditions and that's what we experienced every day this week.
To top it off, the fish were well and truly on the bite and to add further
icing, the Noosa bar was as flat as a pancake. Understandably, it was standing
room only at the boat ramps as every man, his dog and his best mate headed
offshore to take advantage of the idyllic conditions. |
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Squire, Sweetlip, Snapper, Moses Perch, Pearl Perch
and Parrot Fish were common to the outer reefs. And more specifically,
the Barwon Banks produced the common species just mentioned as did 'The
Hards' but with the added bonus of Amberjack. Closer in at North Reef
the extras were Spotted Mackerel, Maori Cod, Estuary Cod and school Mackerel
while at Chardon's Reef the bonus species were Yellowtail Kingfish and,
as you see by the photo top left,  Cobia
or Black Kingfish. Tom Batty from Melbourne boated this 22kg specimen
while out there on a half day Cougar
Too charter on Thursday. Tom, who was trolling a green pusher
lure for Marlin at the time, was kitted out with a Wilson Live Fibre rod
and a Shimano TLD20 reel loaded with 25lb line. Those with smaller boats
didn't have to go far to get a feed either, with quality Spanish Mackerel
and Spotted Mackerel on the bite at Arkwright Shoal as were all the common
species mentioned earlier. And it was while he was on a half day Cougar
Too charter to Arkwright Shoal yesterday that Steve Dawes from Caboolture
(top centre) nailed the 15kg Spanish Mackerel he's pictured with. He was
armed with a Wilson Live Fibre rod and a Shimano Baitrunner 6500 reel
loaded with 8kg line. Arkwright Shoal also produced some good Snapper
this week as Melbourne visitor Chris Sperway (above right) found when
he joined a full day Cougar Too charter headed for there on Tuesday. His
top weights, pictured, tipped the scales at 3kg and 4kg. Another crowd
pleaser this week was Sunshine Reef where Cobia, Railway Perch, Mackerel
Tuna, Spotted Mackerel, Bonito, Wahoo, Coral Trout, Northern Bluefin Tuna
and (phew) Yellowfin Tuna were all on the go, especially in the latter
half of the week. And it doesn't end there. Not far from shore, Alexandria
Bay fired up sporadically with Mackerel Tuna and Northern Bluefin Tuna
responding well to trolled shallow diving lures, as local yak angler James
'Legend' Grant (top right) discovered this morning. James was trolling
a Gold Bomber behind his Swing
Angler fishing kayak when this 11.5kg Bluefin hit it hard.
His outfit was a Daiwa Interline rod and a Daiwa Certate reel loaded with
12kg braid. Last, but not least, in Laguna Bay there were Spanish Mackerel
on the prowl around Jew Shoal and Northern Bluefin Tuna, Yellowfin Tuna
and Mackerel Tuna north of Little Hall's Reef.
ONSHORE: The coastal
surf beaches really fired up this week with the North Shore in particular
proving to be well worth the trip. Dart were in excellent numbers on the
rising tide and spread all the way to Double Island Point, although the
area around the Cherry Venture proved to be quite a hot spot. Tailor were
on the bite down towards the river mouth, up around the 3rd Cutting and
at the Camp Ground while Whiting were in good numbers and quality in the
stretch above Teewah with Bream and Tarwhine proving to be a worthwhile
bonus. Over on the east side, Whiting and Bream were active at Sunrise
Beach while at Castaways Beach the catch was mostly Whiting and Dart.
In the river, Whiting and Bream were in good numbers along the Gympie
Terrace stretch, Munna Point and down towards the river mouth where Flathead
were responding well to drifted live baits and SnapBack soft plastics.
Apart from that, the Woods Bays and the back of Noosa Sound were good
options for Trevally (on chrome slugs and surface poppers) and Lake Cooroibah
produced mostly Whiting, Bream and a few Mud Crabs. There were no reports
from the freshwater scene.
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