The August Fishing Report, Week Two 2006, Noosa, Queensland, Australia, brought to you by Shimano Australia.

OFFSHORE: With 25 to 30 knot southerlies and a 3m+ swell dominating earlier in the week there wasn't a lot for the offshore brigade to do but clean their kit and dream of big catches when conditions improved (as forecasted) in time for the weekend. And improve they did, although someone forgot to tell the fish that they should be out in numbers and to bring their appetite with them. So... it was essentially hard yakka time for the bluewater boys with plenty of time invested for fairly modest returns. Having said that, there's always a feed to be had for those who're prepared to make the effort and those hardy types who crossed the bar found that Squire, Moses Perch, Parrot Fish and Pearl Perch were pretty much common to most locations. In addition, North Reef produced Snapper, Cobia, Sweetlip and Teraglin Jewfish, Massoud's Reef yielded Estuary Cod and Cobia while over on Chardon's Reef the standout species were Teraglin Jewfish and, as you can see by the photo on the right, Maori Cod. Matthew Reiss from Gympie boated this 3.5kg 'Bro' while out there on a half day Cougar One charter yesterday morning. He was kitted out with a Wilson Live Fibre rod and an Alvey 825C reel loaded with 35lb line. Closer to home, Sunshine Reef was pretty quiet with Parrot Fish and Squire the only species taken. Laguna Bay was a bit of a dead loss, even for the yak anglers. ONSHORE: The activity on the coastal surf beaches improved a bit as the week progressed (and as the swell abated) although most of the action came from around the National Park and further south. Granite Bay, in fact, was well worth a shot for Bream and Garfish while down the coast, North Sunshine Beach produced Bream and Whiting. The only other area of real interest was Peregian Beach which yielded Dart, Whiting and, more towards the south end, Chopper Tailor.

Although the river was rather quiet, Bream were well spread and in good enough numbers to keep most anglers happy. Best results for these bread and butter fish were down around the Frying Pan (where Tailor, Flathead and Whiting were also on the bite), Weyba Creek and the Tewantin area (along with Flathead on drifted Whitebait) and the Gympie Terrace stretch which also produced a few Whiting. But it was the Noosa Harbour Marine Village at Tewantin that came up trumps for local lad Taelor Russell (above left) on Saturday afternoon. Taelor tempted these 450gm 'Yellowfins' with a well cast Mini Micro-Mullet lure. He was armed with a Shimano threadline combo loaded with 6lb line. Apart from that there were good quality Whiting on the bite around the top of Lake Cooroibah and, as you can see by the photo above right, the odd Greenback Tailor on the prowl in the Woods Bays. Ashley Shaw from Noosaville had a ball in 'The Bays' yesterday afternoon, boating half a dozen Tailor (top weight 2.5kg) and one Trevally. He was using a Silstar threadline combo loaded with 8lb line and 12lb leader. His bait? Davo's Pilchards on 3x2/0 ganged hooks. There were also a few Tailor chasing 'Wonder Wobblers' but that's another story. On the freshwater scene, the Lake MacDonald Bass were quite active with some quality specimens chasing gold Jackals in the morning around the botanical gardens and in the afternoon over the tops of the weed in Bass Bay. There were also a few smaller fish on the bite around Three Ways in the middle of the day.