The March Fishing Report, Week Four 2006, Noosa, Queensland, Australia, brought to you by Black Magic Tackle.

As at Monday March 27th 2006

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OFFSHORE: Although we were out of the path of cyclones Larry and Wati we felt the effects sure enough, with strong to gale force winds and seas and swell up around the 4 metre mark as the week progressed. The local reefs, as a result, Northern Bluefin Tuna

were a definite no go until today and even then the bar crossing was not for the faint hearted, with most boaties content to leave the open waters to the jet ski anglers and yak fishos. But what a difference a day makes! The photo above was taken yesterday morning at Main Beach when the swell was still up around the 2.5m to 3m mark. This morning, with light to moderate sou'/south easterlies prevailing, it was down to a more manageable 1.5m, although Sunshine Reef was about as far as anyone was prepared to venture after the weekend's blustery conditions. Still, the fish were there to be targeted, as local angler Rob Grace (right) found when he motored out to Sunshine on his jet ski this morning. Rob got onto a school of Tuna around 10am but, casting slugs, got busted off a number of times before he finally managed to hook and land the 6.5kg Northern Bluefin he's posing with. He was armed with a Shakespeare Ugly Stik and an Okuma Epix 80 reel loaded with 30lb braid.

ONSHORE: The coastal surf beaches took a real battering this week with even the die-hard surf anglers calling it a non-

event and heading for the shelter of the estuary. In the river, conditions were a little more manageable with some quality Whiting coming from the sand flats down towards the mouth and (as you can see by the photo on the right) Flathead in the drop-offs. Local lass Holly Monro was fishing with her father down at the river mouth yesterday morning when her fresh Prawn bait was taken by the 1.65kg 'Lizard' she's pictured with. She was armed with a threadline combo loaded with 6kg line. Flathead were also active in the Tewantin stretch with Whitebait and soft plastics getting best results there. Apart from that, the entrance to the Frying Pan was the spot for Trevally on live baits, Queenfish were responding well to surface poppers in the Woods Bays, and around the back of Noosa Sound and towards the Munna Bridge area there were a few Bream and Trevally on the bite. The lower reaches of the Gympie Terrace stretch produced some excellent Whiting on live Worms. For Mud Crabs, the hot spots to check out were Lake Cooroibah and Lake Weyba.
The start of the Bass Electric Comp

The first of this year's two Lake MacDonald Bass Electric qualifiers (part of the Australian Bass Tournament Series) was held on Sunday and as you can see by the photo above (which shows many of the 37 entrants just before they dispersed to contest the event), conditions were pretty much as good as they get at this ever popular local fresh water fishery.
During the hotly contested competition a total of 29 Bass were weighed in, and then released.
The fight for top spot (which saw two contestants each with a top weight of 3.02kg for the maximum two Bass) was actually decided on who had the heaviest single fish.
Taking out first prize was Gavin Dunne (right) from Tingalpa, whose top weight 1.8kg fish tipped the scales in his favour.
For his trouble Gavin won an Angler rod and a selection of lures and tackle and gained entry into the Series Convention which will be held later in the year.
The four runners up, who also advanced to the Convention were:
Steve Otto... 2 x Bass, 3.02kg
Scott McKenzie... 2 x Bass, 2.8kg
Jonathan Ward... 2 x Bass, 2.34kg
Dale Ianna... 2 x Bass, 2.14kg

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