Southern
OLD
Change of season is a great time! NOOSA
Peter Wells
This is the amazing time of the year where we get the last of the pelagic run and the start of the winter snapper. For pelagics, some of the favourite hunting grounds are the reefs off K’gari, Double Island and Sunshine Reef but with the amount of bait around at the moment anywhere you see bird activity is worth a look. Tuna have been in the mix with plenty of mac tuna for a bit of fun with the sortafter long tails holding that bit deeper. Most of the bait seems to be hardyiheads and frog mouthed pilchards, so larger slugs 30-40g will match the hatch. From the bottom there is plenty on offer. The closer grounds have been giving up some nice snapper along with sweetlip and tusk fish. Around Noosa, anglers in smaller craft have managed to get over the bar and head for Sunshine with some great success; coral trout, mulloway, snapper and
some solid cobia have come from the area. Snapper numbers will increase as the waters cool. Some anglers think that the fish move up from down south, but this is not true as they tend to move in and out to deeper cooler waters. First, the better fish will come from the eastern side of the Barwon Banks, the Hards and Caloundra 12 Mile before
making their way closer to places like the Gneerings and Sunshine. For the bait anglers, fishing on a floater rig with a pilchard or large squid is a popular way to target snapper. For the lure anglers these fish respond well to soft plastics and jigs. A couple of options are coconut ice and nuclear chicken in the ZMan 7” jerk shads and the Flipper Jigs
from Black Magic. Another fish that has been on offer lately has been the mahimahi. These fish are attracted to anything floating on the surface as well as the FADs that are dotted off our coast. You will often see the larger bull free swimming on the surface, they will often take a well placed floater. In the river and creeks, the lower reaches of the Mary
Another of the charter operators out of Noosa got this very solid red.
Khy Lawrence with a couple of quality crabs from around the Tin Can Bay area. and the Noosa have been outstanding for jacks, barra and even a fin salmon. Anglers have had the most success with live baits of poddy mullet and larger banana prawns. For the lure anglers, larger swim baits and larger prawn profiles like the Chasebait Flick Prawn and the Zerek Live Cherabin have been outstanding. Flathead numbers around Noosa continue to impress with plenty of larger fish
first light or early evening on live baits. Crab numbers will start to drop away locally so if you are after a feed you will have to head north. Bigger bream are also starting to show up. These fish will be looking to spawn over the coming months so there will be some big ones around. Tailor have started to make their way back into the rivers, reports from the Maroochy area are from the traffic bridge down to the mouth on the incoming tide. Upsizing the leader is a must with the sharp teeth of the tailor. We see plenty of anglers trolling this section of the river using smaller slugs, plastics, and diving lures. On the beaches, the amount of bait has been outstanding, bringing plenty of predatory fish in close. To the south some beaches were closed as small sharks were working in the areas.
mouths with some nice tailor reported around Pincushion Island. Anglers have been fishing the dirty water line on the run-out tide. These fish will be feeding on smaller baitfish running to more saline waters. Trevally have also been in the mix as well as the odd queenfish. Casting a Halco Twisty into the darker water and retrieving it into the clear has been a very effective method, for those looking to throw a bait a smaller pilchard cast along that dirty water line is your best bet. The Mary around Gympie has been outstanding, and anglers are reporting some nice bass down river from the weir. Grub style soft plastics have been working well, as well as surface lures in the morning and afternoon. Sooties are also in the mix with not quite as many fish as earlier in the season. Darker
A nice Spanish taken around Sunshine Reef on charter operator Cougar One.
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Aiden Whitehead with a sooty football from the Mary River. boated on the bigger run out tides. With the amount of bait around at the moment these fish are feeding hard. Lightly weighted small pilchards, hardiheads and herring cast upstream and worked back with the tide has been the way to go. As usual for this time of the year, the trevally in the Noosa River has been outstanding, most fish come at
Mulloway have been plentiful along the Noosa North Shore as well as K’gari. Queenfish, trevally and larger tailor are also feeding hard on the abundance of bait in the area. The best approach is to fish for two hours either side of the high tide and use similar baits like pilchards and hardiheads. On the southern beaches there has been plenty of activity around the river
smaller hardbodies seem to be the favourite here. • Do not forget to check in to www.fishingnoosa.com.au for all the latest up to date info on fishing and bar crossings. The knowledgeable teams at Tackle World Noosa, Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola our new store The Tackle Shop in Gympie can provide you with the right equipment, bait and advice to ensure success!
