OFFSHORE: Ah, well. With light to moderate (10 to 15 knot) variable southerlies, an almost nonexistent swell and crisp, sunshiny days, you could say that for most of the week it was pretty much as good as it gets for this time of the year.

There weren't a lot of standouts boated this week but there were good numbers of average size reefies for those with the patience and determination to work through a couple of tide changes. With 'out-wide' being still a bit lumpy, the middle reef belt was well patronised with North Reef by far the most popular destination.
Those who spent time there reported pretty good catches of squire, sweetlip, parrot fish, Maori cod, pearl perch, and moses perch, while at the top end, northern bluefin tuna and cobia were on the bite.
Closer in, Sunshine Reef was the spot for parrot fish, sweetlip, spotted mackerel, quality cobia and, as you can see by the photo at the top of the page, coral trout. Local angler Ben Little did well there last night with the 5.5kg 'Trout' he's posing with being the standout of the trip.
Laguna Bay was still a worthwhile option for the smaller boats and the local yak anglers, as Alex 'Iron Bar' Kiefer (right) found on Thursday morning. Alex spent a few hours trolling baits for Spaniards out on the 'Shoal' for no result, so on the way back in he switched to a shallow diving Gold Bomber which soon attracted the attention of the 9.1kg Northern Bluefin Tuna he's pictured with. He was armed with a Wilson Live Fibre rod and a Shimano TSS4 reel loaded with 30lb Platinum line.
And Bill 'Billybob' Watson (above) was trolling a whole 'Pretty Boy' bonito behind his Swing 'Angler' fishing kayak wide of the 'Shoal' on Tuesday morning when his rig was monstered by this 11kg Spanish mackerel. He was kitted out with a 6kg-8kg Wilson Live Fibre rod and a Shimano Baitrunner 4500 reel loaded with 20lb Fireline and 40lb Seaguar leader.

ONSHORE: The coastal surf beaches were a pleasure to spend time on this week and those anglers who made the effort reported chopper tailor, trevally, flathead, whiting (to 600gm), tarwhine and quality bream on the bite north of Teewah on the North Shore. Over on the east side there were thumper (1.5kg+) bream at Sunshine Beach, bream, dart and quality whiting from Sunrise Beach to Marcus Beach (where 2kg+ tailor were on the bite) and flathead at Castaways Beach.

Conditions in the river were hard to beat and with the holiday crowd now dispersed it was eerily quiet on the waterways. Flathead were well spread from Lake Cooroibah down, although the better fish were taken in Weyba Creek and down at the river mouth. Bream were also well spread in the lower reaches with the standouts chasing pilchard baits around Makepeace Island. Apart from that, the better quality whiting were biting in Weyba Creek and around Munna Point, with live worms and yabbies working equally well.
The main sphere of action for the sports fisho's, however, was in the Woods Bays where trevally (to 2kg), queenfish and a few thumper tailor were responding well at dusk to Gulp 3" Drop Shot Minnow soft plastics.
On the freshwater scene, there were a few Bass chasing spinnerbaits and Jackalls around 'Three Ways' at Lake MacDonald while at Borumba Dam, with the temperature dropping, the bass action slowed somewhat, although live shrimp were still getting a bit of attention up around the timber and sticks.

The latest Noosa Bar crossing photo, as of last Thursday, has now been posted. To check it out, CLICK HERE.