OLD
Southern
Now is a great time to head out NOOSA
Peter Wells
With the lead up to the full moon it is the best time to chase snapper, so anglers will be out in force. With the month long closure we have been having over the last couple of years the fish stocks and quality have seemed to improve.
the south all reporting good fish. Using a live bait rig to get some live baits, like slimy mackerel or yakkas, has proved to be worthwhile as these baits seem to be getting inhaled as soon as they get to the bottom. Large strip baits have also been popular with mullet and hussar working well. Those that have larger craft have done the run to
to the bottom and ripped up at speed or slow falling has seen plenty of monster fish leave the bottom in pursuit of these jigs. On the beaches, good schools of tailor are really starting to show up in numbers, using gang hooks with strip baits of mullet, bonito fillet or whole pilchard baits have all worked perfectly.
Luke Becroft with this beautiful blue eye trevalla from the deep water off Moreton Island. For those in smaller craft, quality snapper have been coming from Sunshine Reef, Jew Sholes and Halls Reef. These reefs are also perfect for fishing soft plastics. Plastics fishing is a great option at this time of the year as there can be plenty of smaller picker that will destroy a bait as soon as it gets to the bottom. Some anglers have been fishing both bait and plastic on a dropper paternoster rig, with the bait at the bottom and a plastics on a lightly weighted jighead on the top dropper. This keeps you in the game if the bait has been picked clean before the bigger fish arrive. Popular colours are the nuclear chicken, coconut ice, and bubblegum pink. Further out, the Barwon Banks has been the pick of the reefs with good snapper, pearl perch, Moari cod, mulloway and cobia all on the menu. Best baits have been flesh baits, large squid and floated pillies. With all these reefs, is key, don’t overdo it as all you will do is bring the sharks around, smaller bait chunks seem to be working better than large amounts of chum or oil. Coral trout, mulloway, sweetlip, cobia and tuskies are also plentiful, with reefs like North Reef, Double Island Reefs and the Gneerings to
the outer reefs. There was plenty on offer with some big amberjack, kingies, cobia and cod climbing on any live bait down close to the reefs. Slow fall and knife jigs have also been working well. Jigging is a great way to get amongst the bigger fish without using bait. Dropped
Fishing along the Noosa North Shore has been very popular with the Double Island end seeing some bigger fish on the morning and afternoon tides. Mulloway are also about and love a feed of tailor so if you get a legal chopper take the sides off him and send it out
the back. Mulloway tend to love the darker conditions so fishing the new moon or the period between sunset and moonrise is the better time. There is still a strong presence of whiting in most of the close gutters so make sure you call into the shops and check out the range of Whiting Wacker rigs, these rigs are dynamite on the whiting and loaded with worms or squid tentacles work a treat. Other option from the beaches are dart, goodsized bream and some solid flathead, small fish baits, like hardiheads, whitebait and herring have been working well around the top of the tide. In the Noosa River the fishing has been outstanding with a lot of different species on offer. Starting down towards the mouth. Some nice whiting have been on the chew just inside the mouth, area like the Frying Pan and the Dog Beach have been great, and fishing with live worms or freshly pumped yabbies as bait this should see you with a feed. There are a few undersized fish amongst them so don’t forget they must be over 23cm. Mangrove jack have come on strong as the waters start to warm. Lure anglers have had success around structure, like pontoons and moored boats in the Noosa River, especially after a warm day that brings the water temperature up. Casting Surface lures, like the Lucky Craft Sammy and the Atomic Bulldogs first thing in the morning has been good for a surface bite. As the sun gets a bit higher, diving suspending lures like the Smiths Cherry Bloods and the Bassday Sugar Deeps are perfect for the job. Live bait anglers have found
Abe Andrews with a very solid 83cm snapper from the Barwon Banks. good fish along the rock bars between the lakes by using herring and poddy mullet. September/October is always a great time for flathead as they tend to nest up as they get ready to spawn. Popular locations to tangle with a flathead has been down towards the mouth fishing the edges of sand bars, and the mud banks around Weyba Creek, with the run out tide being very productive. Prawns and small baitfish like frogged mouth pilchards and hardiheads have been very productive baits. Soft plastics have also claimed some quality fish. The Powerbait range of plastics
have been a favourite, working the lure slowly along the bottom seems to be the most productive. Mulloway are still around with some bigger fish being taken up river in the deeper holes around the entrance to Lake Cooroibah. Most fish are coming from live baits and larger paddle vibes and paddle tail plastics. • 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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Anthony Thomas got this solid winter jack just after the rains in the Maroochy River. He was fishing a grub profile soft plastic.
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SEPTEMBER 2021
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