The September Fishing Report, Week Four 2005, Noosa, Queensland, Australia, brought to you by Castlemaine Perkins.

OFFSHORE: Woohoo! Way t'go! With light to moderate variable Northerlies dominating the seascape, and not much swell to speak of, it was definitely one of those weeks when you wouldn't be dead for quids. And with school holidays still in progress there were plenty of boaties willing and able to take advantage of the idyllic conditions. Squire, Parrot Fish, Pearl Perch and Moses Perch were common to the visited reefs. Plus, for those prepared to go the distance there was plenty of activity out-wide, with The Hards producing Snapper, Rosy Jobfish and Hussar, as did the Barwon Banks but with the added bonus of Gold Spot Wrasse, Yellowtail Kingfish, Gold Band Snapper, Maori Cod and Amberjack. The Hards also produced some of this week's top weight Snapper as Chris Dinges (below) from Cavendish in Victoria found to his delight on Friday. Chris was on a full day Cougar One charter when this 7kg 'Knobby' slammed his Pilchard bait.
Snapper

A little closer in, Chardon's Reef yielded Teraglin Jewfish, as did Massoud's Reef but with Cobia (as you can see by the photo above right) being very much an added bonus. Rick and Christine Harbig from Melbourne both had a hand in boating this 15.5 kg Black Kingfish on Tuesday, with Rick spelling Christine in the last 5 minutes of the fight. The Victorian couple, armed with a Gary Howard rod and an Alvey 825C reel loaded with 30lb line, were on a half day Cougar Too charter at the time. And that's not all! North Reef was hot, hot, hot, rewarding the faithful with good catches of Snapper, Northern Bluefin Tuna, Mackerel Tuna, Sweetlip, Teraglin Jewfish, Cobia and Scarlet Sea Perch while back at Sunshine Reef the extras were Red Emperor, Snapper and Cobia. Apart from a few baitfish boils, Laguna Bay was quiet.

ONSHORE: The perfect conditions meant that the coastal surf beaches were again well patronised. The North Shore provided good returns for those who made the effort with Flathead, Dart and quality Whiting on the bite from Teewah to Double Island Point, while Tailor (to 2kg) were responding to Pilchards and metal slug lures around the 3rd Cutting. On the East side, Sunrise Beach produced Whiting and Marcus Beach was the spot for Tarwhine, Bream and Dart.
Trevally and Whiting

In the river, Flathead and quality Whiting were the bread and butter species with best results coming from down at the river mouth and the Frying Pan (where Chopper Tailor were also on the bite) and the Munna Point stretch, which was where young Jack Hughes (above right) landed his 250gm Whiting. Jack was armed with a Shimano threadline combo loaded with 4kg line. His bait? Live Davo's Beach Worms on a No.4 hook. Flathead were also on the bite up around Tewantin (along with Trevally) and up at Lake Cooroibah where Mangrove Jack were also quite active. Apart from that, the Woods Bays were a good option for Queenfish, Tailor and, as you can see by the photo above left, Trevally. Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds boated this very nice 1.9kg 'Tea-Leaf' there on Thursday morning using a live Prawn as his draw card. On the freshwater scene, the Lake MacDonald Bass (ranging from 45cm to 48cm) were responding to Jackals in the Botanical Gardens reach the while smaller specimens were chasing trolled deep divers throughout the lake. At Borumba Dam, spinnerbaits and Jackals got most of the Bass action which was largely centred around the Eagles Nest.

PAGE TWO