Most anglers stayed fairly close to home this week with North Reef being the furthest and most popular 'wide' destination. The 15 kilometre trip was made worthwhile by the presence of Squire, Sweetlip, Moses Perch, Parrot Fish and Pearl Perch. Even more popular, however, was the closer option of Sunshine Reef which really fired well this week, producing good catches of Cobia, Maori Cod, Moses Perch, Parrot Fish, Sweetlip, school Mackerel, Mackerel Tuna, Pearl Perch, Scarlet Sea Perch (phew!) and, as you can see by the above photos, quality Snapper. Local angler Lauchlan Leishman (above left) boated the 4.9 Snapper he's pictured with while out there on a full day Cougar Too charter on Wednesday. He was kitted out with an 8-15kg Wilson Live Fibre rod and a Shimano 6500B Baitrunner reel loaded with 8kg line. And on the same charter, Garry Fitzgerald (above right), visiting Noosa from Thailand, nailed a 4.5kg 'Knobby'. He was armed with a custom rod and an Okuma overhead reel loaded with 30lb braid. Earlier in the week (before the run-out murk from the heavy rain) Laguna Bay was still a good option for Bluefin Tuna, Spotted Mackerel and school Mackerel around Little and Big Hall's reefs and the mid bay area plus the odd Spanish Mackerel at Jew Shoal. Over the weekend, however, the catch was mostly Bonito, Mackerel Tuna, Bluefin and Yellowfin Tuna, with the boils well spread and moving fast.

ONSHORE: Most of the action on the coastal surf beaches came from the east side with North Sunshine Beach being the spot for Whiting and Bream, as was Marcus Beach but with the added bonus of Dart and Tarwhine. Apart from that, Castaways Beach yielded Dart and quality Bream while at Peregian Beach (south end) the catch was Chopper Tailor.

In the river, although the murk from the recent heavy rains was pretty much throughout the lower system there were still fish ready to take a live bait or a well cast lure. Down towards the river mouth the catch was predominantly Flathead and Whiting while around the snags on the river mouth side of the Woods Point there were a few Mangrove Jacks and Trevally going for live baits. The outer Woods Bay area (along the murk/fresh water line opposite Riva's) produced Tailor and Trevally (soft plastics and cast slugs), Munna Point yielded Flathead, Trevally (soft plastics) and Bream and Harbourtown at Tewantin was the spot for Flathead, Sweetlip and Cobia! Further upriver, the bottom end of Lake Cooroibah was worth a cast for Mangrove Jacks, Trevally and Flathead (live baits) or trolling for 'Lizards' on C-Lures 'Jack Snacks. There were also a few 'Jacks' chasing gold deep diving lures between the lakes. On the freshwater scene, Borumba Dam had most of the action with Bass chasing Jackalls before the timber and around the 'Eagles Nest'. That same area also produced some quality Saratoga as Davo's staffer Mark Pertot (above) found on Wednesday morning. In a hot three hour session Mark caught and released ten Bass and two 'Toga' (spinnerbaits and Jackalls) with the 4kg+ (73cm) specimen he's pictured with being his personal best to date. Mark was armed with a G-Loomis rod and a Shimano Chronarch MG50 reel loaded with 10lb Superbraid and 12lb Fluorocarbon leader. The lure that did the most damage was a gold Jackall.

Oh, and don't forget to tune in to next Wednesday's ( 8.00pm, December 14th ) segment of the popular ABC TV series Surfing The Menu. Local yak anglers Bill 'Billybob' Watson and Cheryl 'Chezza' Lacey take the two larrakin chefs Curtis and Bender out into Laguna Bay and give them a 'yaks eye' view of our beautiful waters.