Crossover season on Sunshine Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Grant Budd

Kalani Love with a cracking diamond trevally.

Coby Thomas with a pigeon pair of amberjack. Crossover season on Sunshine Coast

LAST 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.

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.

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 headlands 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.

Sunshine Coast by GRANT BUDD

* from P54

Using a simple Halco Twisty can yield great results if you aren’t keen to use bait.

These will also catch queenfish and trevally, so you never know what you’ll find.

For those on lighter tackle, you could have fun with some dart in the shallows, which also make a good feed.

Speaking of trevally, the Noosa River holds a huge array of this species as the seasons change.

Autumn is the time for golden and diamond trevally, which can hit 80cm at times and will melt most drag washers.

These fish are suckers for prawn soft plastics and micro jigs.

Look at the many small jigs from Majorcraft and Rapala Storm and aim to work these around Woods Bay, the current line and Munna Point.

Surface presentations have been the way to go early in the morning, especially with a westerly wind.

Tailor and queenfish should start to show up along with giant trevally.

When using surface lures, be sure to upgrade to 2x-strong hooks.

These will hold larger fish and not bend out after more than two fish.

A word of warning though, don’t go too heavy with the hook gauge or your lure will sink.

Keep leaders short if using fluorocarbon and around 6-12lb, depending on what’s out there.

Flathead are one of those fish that lend themselves to lure fishing and are a great target for beginners.

Drifting slowly down the edge of a banks, fishing prawn profile plastics, soft vibes and paddle tail plastics will get the best results.

Great places to try this are the current line, Frying Pan and various channels around the mouth.

Big breeding female flathead will also start to feature and must be released when they are 75cm and longer.

Most anglers now understand that at over 60cm, these fish are ready to breed and because of this, fishos tend to keep the 50-55cm fish.

Always ensure you never hold big fish up by their jaws with only lip grips or worse, pliers.

Fish marked for return need to be landed in a net and supported around their belly because this is where their main weight or bulk is.

Keep fingers out of gill plates and be quick to photograph and return them to keep the fishery growing from strength to strength.

If freshwater fishing is your thing, before things get cold you could shoot up to Lake Monduran or Awoonga Dam to try for a 1m plus barramundi.

These fish can be extremely hard to figure out but with a bit of basic assistance, we can certainly help you land a big one.

We hold a wide range of suitable casting rods and braids, as well as leaders and lures.

For those staying on the coast, try to locate the warmer bays.

Watching your sonar will show you water temperature spikes and drops.

In general, fish prefer warm water and areas where the sun hits the water first will often hold good fish.

Dam fish love stability and if we have this, always give surface lures a try.

Smaller offerings are often best during cooler months because fish do not want to use precious energy digesting a big meal, so try small bent minnows and poppers from the Berkley ProTech range.

If working weed beds, consider smaller diving options such as the Jackall Squirrel 61SP.

These suspend well on lighter 6-10lb leaders and regularly get smashed by big fish.

Be sure to approach with stealth and have everything ready to go.

The last thing you need to be doing is scrambling for a net when you catch a prized fish.

Look at the many options from the Berkley Catch and Release range.

These nets feature a rubber mesh which not only protects the fish but does not hold hooks.

Finally, don’t forget June 1 is the start of the wild Australian bass closure for tidal waters, so be sure to check your local area.

Now, for all the latest information log onto fishingnoosa.com.au for up-to-date bar and fishing reports, don’t forget to drop into Tackle World Noosa, Noosa Boating and Outdoors and Northshore Bait & Tackle in Marcoola for all the right equipment, bait and advice to get you catching.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and remember, tight lines and bent spines!

Pierre Guillemen with a colourful shovel nose ray from the surf.