OFFSHORE: Ah well, it was a reasonable week on the local reefs with light to moderate (occasionally fresh) variable southerlies the dominant force and a modest 0.5m to 1m swell prevailing. There were plenty of fishable days although those boaties who ignored the rather misleading weekend forecast also managed to squeeze in an extra day on the outside reefs before the much predicted stronger winds finally impacted late on Saturday. Unfortunately the good weather conditions weren't really mirrored by the fishing which was pretty hard work at the best of times. Still, a little bit of extra time and effort bore fruit in many cases with Squire, Parrot Fish and Pearl Perch common to most locations. In addition, for those prepared to go the distance, 'The Hards' produced (as per the photo on the right) quality Red Emperor. Local angler Jeff Colley boated the 11.7kg specimen he's posing with while out there last Tuesday. Jeff, who was armed with a Shakespeare Ugly Stik and a Penn lever drag reel loaded with 30lb braid, was using Davo's Squid baits as his main draw card. Double Island Point was another 'wide' destination worth considering with the extras being Snapper, Maori Cod, Sweetlip, Hussar and, as you can see by the photo below, plenty of Scarlet Sea Perch. Cougar Too spent the day there on Wednesday during which customers (left to right) Peter Thomson from Peregian, Mick from Brisbane, and Cam Reid from Buderim boated these 12kg, 9kg and 6kg 'Scarlets'.

Closer in, Chardon's Reef was the spot for Maori Cod, Estuary Cod and Sweetlip while across on 'The Coffees' the bonus species was Snapper. North Reef was a bit patchy at times but when it was 'hot', yielded Moses Perch, Snapper, Gold Spot Wrasse, Teraglin Jewfish, and Northern Bluefin Tuna. The only other reports of any note were of Estuary Cod and Squire at Sunshine Reef and quality Snapper sporadically on the bite around Jew Shoal in Laguna Bay.

ONSHORE: The coastal surf beaches were well worth a shot this week with Dart, Tailor and Whiting on the bite along the North Shore beach gutters from Teewah to Double Island Point. Over on the east side, the northern end of Sunshine Beach produced plenty of Bream and a number of Whiting as did Castaways Beach but with the added bonus of Dart. In the river, Flathead and Whiting were on the bite down at the river mouth, in the Frying Pan and around Munna Point. Whiting were also active around Munna Point Bridge and at the top end of Lake Cooroibah. Tailor were schooling in good numbers at the top end of the Frying Pan and in the Woods Bays at night with silver Wobblers, slow retrieved Raiders and floated Frogmouth Pilchards all working well. Trevally were on the bite down at the river mouth and were also another option in the Woods Bays towards the end of the week. Surface poppers like Storm 'Chug Bugs' got most of the action there. Apart from that, Bream were well spread throughout the system although there were no mega standouts in the schools. Young Trae Morris (above right) from Toowoomba came in with one of the top weights, an 800g specimen, which he attracted with a Squid bait on a No.4 longshank hook on Saturday night. He was armed with a Silstar threadline combo loaded 15lb Platypus line. On the freshwater scene, the Lake MacDonald Bass (up to 2.5kg) were responding to Jackals and Spinnerbaits around the lily-pads with best reports coming from Bass Bay and the area near the Gazebo.