Fishing Monthly Magazine | April 2022

Page 34

Southern

OLD

Hunting for trophy-size fish NOOSA

Peter Wells

Weather conditions have been a little hit and miss but there have been plenty of windows for anglers to head offshore. There still seem to be plenty of pelagic activity in the Bay and the closer reefs. Mackerel are in good numbers, along with tuna (longtail and yellowfin). They seem to be feeding

shallower reefs have been working really well. Give the Duo Realis cranks a go as these lures will swim down to 20ft or more depending on the line you are using. Sunshine Reef has been fishing very well with some great trout, snapper, sweetlip, pearl perch, cobia and mulloway all on the chew. Fishing hard to the reef with live baits has been the most productive. Anglers have also had success fishing a paternoster rig with a bait on

Zane Gordon with a monster 60cm+ mangrove jack taken in the dead of night, which was quickly released. on larger baitfish, so bigger slugs and smaller stick baits have been ideal. For the bait anglers, pilchards or garfish have worked well when fished through a wellmaintained berley trail. For those that are throwing slugs the Mustad Mezashi Casting jig has been very popular in the 40g size. Those that love fishing the reefs have been doing well with plenty of early season snapper on the chew, these fish are around the 50cm mark so ideal for a family feed. For those that like to try things a little different, deep diving crank bait style lures slow trolled over the

Boat d e r u t a e F

one hook and a plastic on the other. A lot of the time the smaller fish will pick the bait to pieces before the big fish get to it, have the plastic there will keep you in the game when that bigger reef fish comes along. Go for a lighter sized jighead so the plastic will swim that bit better. For those that want to do the run up to the ground off Double Island there has been plenty going on. Pearl perch, bigger snapper, red emperor and even the odd nannygai have been on the chew from the bottom. Again, the pelagics have been in good form with some of those big Spanish catching

anglers unaware and blasting off into the distance. These fish can sometimes be 30kg or more, so they do take a bit of stopping. Tin Noosa River has been really firing for flathead at the moment, we have seen plenty of fish over the 60cm mark over the last month with some fish touching 80cm. Small live fish bait or live prawns worked around the drop offs has been the easiest way to pick up a big lizard. Some of the more dedicated flathead anglers are trying larger soft plastic with bigger paddle-tails, like the Keitech in the 5” and 6.5” working well. With plenty of rain over the summer season the jacks have been on the chew. These fish have amazing eyesight and love a bit of dirty water giving them cover and will quite often be out feeding even in the middle of the day. Live baits will always stand you in good stead for boating a great Noosa River jack but if you love being sporting about it there is nothing better than picking one up on a lure. Lures that have been getting the job done have been the Smith Cherry blood, Jackall Squirrels and the Lucky Craft Pointers. Any of these lures in a red or part red colour have been a real favourite and have all claimed fish. The river mouths of the Noosa and Maroochy have been fishing very well for predatory fish like trevally, queenfish and mulloway. Fast moving slugs have been great on the trevally and queenfish while prawn profiles have been good on the mulloway. The New Armour Prawn from Chasebaits have been a popular choice around the river mouths with all these predator species seeming to love them. There are still some crabs

to be had with some good bucks finding there way into pots, good fresh bait is the key so fresh mullet, fish frames or chicken carcases are perfect. This will be getting close to the end of the fuller crabs as we move into the quieter part of the year. Don’t forget to mark those pots and floats with your name and phone number. With the school holidays upon us this is a great time to get the kids into beach fishing, with plenty of dart whiting and bream in the closer gutters they should be catching. Look for those closer gutters that are easy for the kid to cast to, use small baits of worms, pipis and prawns on a size 4 bloodworm hook. Use a running sinker rig with a size 2 or 3 ball sinker and about a metre of leader down to the hook. There are plenty of whiting around but sometimes it can be a little difficult to get a bait past the dart. If you want to really target whiting, then try the run out tide. Night anglers that loaded up and headed up the Noosa

Graham Jordan with a cracking bull shark off the local beach before he landed a snapper. North shore have had success on the evening high tide with mulloway and the odd tailor taking a liking to fresh mullet or pilchards. Fishing the new moon is key for mulloway

Jeremy Hoover with a stunning 68cm grassy sweetlip.

anglers. With very little light these fish are happy to move into the closer gutters in search of smaller fish, worms and squid. It is very important that you do not let that beam of light over the water as this can spook the fish. For the Rock hoppers Double Island and the Noosa National Park have been hot spots with plenty of fish on offer, these closer areas have been fishing well for squire, sweetlip, mulloway and small cobia. Tuna have also been in the mix with some good schools getting in close. • Don’t 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 and Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola can provide you with the right equipment, bait and advice to ensure success!

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34

APRIL 2022

• Centre console • Large front casting deck • Large centre rod locker

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Freshwater

11min
pages 122-123

Lancelin

4min
page 118

Exmouth

3min
page 120

Mandurah

4min
page 117

Karratha

5min
page 121

Metro

4min
page 116

Augusta

6min
page 114

Bunbury

5min
page 115

Eildon

3min
page 100

Tournaments

24min
pages 108-112

Fun page/Sub

3min
pages 105-107

Shepparton

5min
page 99

Ballarat

7min
page 97

Hobart

5min
pages 81-83

Phillip Island

5min
pages 90-91

Albury/Wodonga

4min
page 77

Geelong

5min
pages 86-87

Canberra

4min
pages 78-79

Offshore

5min
page 80

Lithgow/Oberon

5min
page 75

Batlow

3min
page 76

Batemans Bay

5min
page 71

Central Coast

8min
page 69

Forster

5min
pages 66-67

Sydney South

4min
pages 62-63

NEW SOUTH WALES Pittwater

9min
pages 58-59

Sydney Rock

4min
page 60

Sydney North

4min
page 61

Testing Booth: Tokuryo Line Lab

11min
pages 54-56

Cape York

3min
pages 48-49

Sustainability of morwong stocks

10min
pages 52-53

Freshwater

13min
pages 50-51

Cooktown

4min
page 47

Hinchinbrook

4min
pages 44-45

Townsville

6min
pages 42-43

Gold Coast

5min
pages 22-23

Northern Bay

5min
pages 32-33

Noosa

6min
pages 34-37

Easter holiday fishing

12min
pages 8-11

Southern Bay

3min
pages 28-29

QUEENSLAND The Tweed

6min
pages 20-21

Jumpinpin

5min
pages 24-26

Starlo’s back to basics

6min
pages 16-19
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