Kalani Love with a cracking diamond trevally.
Coby Thomas with a pigeon pair of amberjack.
Crossover season on Sunshine Coast
L
AST month I mentioned how great the weather was, with April seeing some beautiful glass out days, cracking surf and great fishing! With a break in the storms and rainfall, we now have a great range of places to go and a large variety of fish on offer – no matter what your style is. The rivers are clearing up and from Easter onwards lots of bait have been flushed out and with that, longtail tuna arrived in numbers. All along the coastline we have had big pods of tuna, and even mixed mackerel species at times, busting through the bait. Of course, this tends to be mid-week when most of us are at work and conditions are calm! Those of you who go offshore should try to make the most of the next few months, as we are going to be in a period of crossover. A few times a year we see summer and winter species on the catch list and it makes for great fishing. Once across the Noosa Bar, you can go left and fish the shallower waters of Halls Reef.
Sunshine Coast by GRANT BUDD
This is well-known tuna and mackerel ground and it goes to show you need not go wide to score big time. You are best to approach this area slow trolling and casting lures. Set a few whole bonito up for a slow troll because seriously big spanish are found here. If you are new to this, then using the TT Fishing Bait Trolling rigs will take the guesswork out of rigging big bait. The tuna will also work along this stretch, especially up toward Teewah and Double Island Point. You can decide to go with stickbaits from 120180mm to suit your style here. For those who like to sit and wait, floated pilchard while sitting on anchor will see you hooked up. Be sure to use a small berley trail – to create enough interest without bringing in the sharks. Sunshine Reef gives the option to fish light with estuary or light-jigging gear, for the best fun and a few smokings along the way.
Page 54 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing June 2022
For those looking to start up slow pitch or light jigging, a wide range of rods and reels is now available to suit most budgets. The Oceans Legacy Slow Element PE2 is the perfect lightweight rod with enough backbone to pull out bigger snapper. Sunshine holds good pearl perch, coral trout, sweetlip, snapper, cobia and cod – it’s definitely worth drifting around here. Coral trout were still getting caught in May, so don’t be surprised if you land one of these superb table fish. Best bait have been fresh mullet, pillies and live yakka on heavier gear with 50-80lb leaders. For those with big boats, Barwon Banks and the Hards tend to hold monster pearlies, big snapper and cobia. As the water starts to cool down, you can expect to see 90cm plus snapper moving through these areas. In an ideal world, these over 30-years-old fish should be returned
for a smaller fish. For those out of the loop, don’t forget the boat limit – with two or more recreational anglers, it is eight fish. Bait anglers will find success with whole squid and big flesh bait rigged on snelled 7/0 octopus hook rigs and 10 ball sinkers. Live bait get the attention of the bigger amberjack but you better have some serious gear to stop them. Double Island Point is also a great destination when the swell allows, especially if crossing through the bar or using Fishermans Gutter on the Rainbow Beach side. This area is a great place to try slow and high-speed jigging, as well as dropping some bait for some reds. Be warned, this area does hold some behemoth-sized sharks, so heavier tackle will certainly help you get those fish turned. Beach fishing tends to come and go, as does the weather. At this time of year, many anglers will be waiting for the first cold snap before heading out after dark for jewfish and tailor. As well as the head-
lands and river mouths, there are a multitude of gutters and deep holes all along the coast. A drive along David Low Way may yield a few good places to start. Bigger jewies around 15kg plus patrol this part of the coast and will require some medium to heavy tackle to turn them toward the shore. We hold a wide range of rods for spin and Alvey reels, and have long cast reels for those looking to achieve maximum casting distance. Bait anglers will find they’ll have to sift through the sharks and shovel nose rays before the jew show up, so ensure your reel is spooled with a quality line and packed on super tight to prevent break-offs. Chopper tailor catches are set to improve, with most fish taken around the Noosa and Maroochy River mouths during first and last light. If wanting good-size tailor, try using bonito or a flesh bait on a strip bait rig after dark. Bigger fish tend to hold around the deeper holes at night and cruise up and down the gutters looking for a feed during lighter tidal flow.
continued P55
www.bnbfishing.com. au
