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

OFFSHORE: It was a bit of a mixed bag this week as far as the offshore scene was concerned with light to moderate variable winds (from the north and south) interspersed with the occasional short lived blow. In a nutshell, though, every Snapper day was fishable with even the odd TGO in the mix to keep the small boat owners happy. Having said that it was pretty hard work out there to score the quality fish although average size Squire, Parrot Fish and Moses Perch were in reasonable numbers at all locations. For those prepared to go the distance, however, 'The Muds' (about 40 miles out) produced Teraglin Jewfish, Pearl Perch and, as you can see by the photo on the right, plenty of quality Snapper. Nick Browne from Peregian Beach and two fishing buddies did well out there on Tuesday morning, bagging out on Snapper (top weight 6kg) and leaving them well and truly biting. Nick was armed with a Wilson Live Fibre rod and a Shimano Baitrunner 6500 reel loaded with 20lb line. Best baits were Davo's Pilchards and live Yakkas which the boys caught at Little Hall's Reef on the way out. Closer in, 'The Hill' yielded Cobia, Sweetlip, Estuary Cod, Mackerel Tuna, Maori Cod, and Northern Bluefin Tuna while at North Reef the standouts this week were Teraglin Jewfish, Maori Cod, Pearl Perch, Sweetlip, Trevally, Shiny Mackerel and, as per the photo below, quality Northern Bluefin Tuna.

Troy Carlson from Imbil (who was part of a two boat group of marine studies students from Gympie High) boated this 11kg 'Longtail' while out there on a half day Cougar One charter on Wednesday. He was kitted out with a Wilson Live Fibre rod and a Shimano Baitrunner 6500 reel loaded with 25lb line. Apart from that, Chardon's Reef was the spot for Cobia, Teraglin Jewfish, Pearl Perch and Northern Bluefin Tuna while Sunshine Reef produced the common species listed above.

ONSHORE: The coastal surf beaches were better worked with light surf outfits this week as Dart and Whiting were the high profile species in the surf gutters. On the North Shore, the stretch north of the township of Teewah accounted for most of the action while over on the east side, the better results came from Marcus and Castaways beaches. The National Park headland was another option for shore based anglers with Yellowtail Kingfish in numbers from Dolphin Point to Hell's Gate, although there were a lot of undersize 'rats' taking baits and hitting lures. In the river, Trevally and Tailor were boiling in the Munna Point/Culgoa Point and Sun Lagoon area but were disappointing many anglers with their reluctance to pursue lures. Those who persisted with live baits, flesh baits or flies, however, got some pretty good returns, as you can see by the photo on the right. Local angler Mal Burrows used Squid baits to good effect there on Thursday afternoon and was rewarded with the 3.25kg Greenback Tailor he's pictured with,plus two Trevally and a Bream. Mal was armed with his newly purchased Davo's threadline combo; a Jarvis Walker 'Muscle' rod and an Okuma Epix EB40 reel loaded with 4kg braid to a 20lb trace. Flathead were also in good numbers with the better quality fish coming from the Munna Point area and around Goat Island, plus there were a few smaller 'Lizards' on the bite down towards the river mouth. On top of that there were plenty of good Whiting taken throughout the lower estuary system although Weyba Creek and the Munna Point stretch (again) were particularly productive. Arthur Massey (right) weighed in this 650gm elbow slapper on Friday but was guarded as to where he caught it. He did admit that he was using live Yabbies as his draw card and that his outfit was made by Okuma. On the freshwater scene the Lake MacDonald Bass (to 47cm) were responding well to beetlespins off the weed beds around Bass Bay.

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