The December Fishing Report, Week Five 2007, Noosa, Queensland, Australia, brought to you by Wilson SureCatch and Live Fibre.

As at Monday December 31, 2007

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OFFSHORE: With gale force (40 knot+) south easterlies, squally rain and big seas hammering the coast all week the chances of anyone getting out for a fish on the local reefs seesawed somewhere between 'buckleys' and 'diddly squat'. The Sunshine Coast (to date) fared better than the Fraser Island coastline, which was pounded by 6 metre+ waves and swell, but we copped our fair share of a battering and won't see much relief from the squally conditions until Friday. By the way, the forecast is looking good for the weekend so best make the most of it. From past experience there should be more than a few hungry pelagics and reefies desperately looking for a feed once the seas settle down. ONSHORE: The coastal surf beaches were no place for the faint hearted this week. Fact is, they were no place for the die-hards either with the police evacuating the North Shore camping grounds on Saturday ahead of big seas and bumper tides that were expected to swamp and erode the high dunes over the weekend. So... there are no surf beach reports.

The river was the best option for anglers looking for a feed this week and the area down towards the river mouth, though a tad exposed to the elements, was worth a shot with Bream on the bite around the snags at the old dog beach and Trevally active in and around the Frying Pan. Further upriver, the beach at the Munna Beach caravan park produced Whiting and Flathead, the Woods Bays yielded the odd Trevally (just on first light) while the Munna Point Bridge was the spot for Bream, Trevally (over towards Culgoa Point) and, as you can see by the photo on the right, the odd quality Mangrove Jack. Melbourne visitor Noelene Jeans hit the 'Jackpot' there on Sunday night. She was trying out the new Jarvis Walker estuary combo she'd bought at Davo's a couple of days before when her Pilchard bait was monstered by this 1.7kg specimen. Onya Noelene! Weyba Creek was also worth a look with Mud Crabs, Mangrove Jacks (hooked but not landed) and, as per the photo below right, Grunter Bream or Javelin Fish. Joel Munro from Brooloo was working the Weyba Bridge area with Prawn baits on Monday afternoon when the 1kg 'Grunter' he's posing with came to the party. He was armed with a Jarvis Walker rod and a Pflueger Trion reel loaded with 8lb line and trace. Grunter Bream were also active up towards and past the Tewantin ferry. The Noosa Harbour Marine Village produced quite well this week with Trevally and Bream (as per the photos at the top of the page) being the higher profile species. Quinn Bruce (top left) from Sunrise Beach notched up his first quality keeper on Friday afternoon when he landed the 800gm 'Golden' he's pictured with. He was kitted out with a Shimano threadline combo loaded with 8lb line. His bait? Prawn on a No.2 hook. And off the same jetty, near Kingfisher Boat Hire on Sunday, Tewantin lad Sam Willis (top right) tempted his 500gm Bream with a Pilchard bait. His outfit was a Jarvis Walker estuary combo. Last but not least the Noosa Waters canal bridges produced Bream, Trevally and Mangrove Jacks on soft plastics, while there were a few Flathead to be taken on trolled shallow diving hard bodied lures in and around Lake Cooroibah.
On the freshwater scene, the coves and arms of Lake Borumba provided a reasonable amount of shelter from the big coastal blow with Bass chasing soft Jackalls around the points of the main basin and 'Eagles Bay' plus Saratoga (on Mega Bass Anthrax lures) in the upper reaches of the Yabba Arm. Black and gold Reidy's 'Little Lucifers' were another good draw card for the 'Togas' as Redcliffe yak angler Mick Guthrie (above) discovered on Saturday afternoon. Mick caught and released this 70cm+ specimen not long after his mate Briggsy caught and released a slightly smaller fish. Then, on the paddle back to the boat ramp the two amigos hooked, played and released a number of Bass with trolled Tilsan Bass hard bodied lures getting most of the attention.