Sunshine Coast Fishing Report

OFFSHORE: The northerlies dominated the offshore scene again this week. Not unexpected for this time of year though, and not so bad, as they were largely light to moderate most mornings. Best option was to hit the reefs around sparrow fart and be on your way home by lunchtime before the the brisk 15 to 20 knot north easterlies kicked in. There wasn’t much swell about but no glass-outs to boast about either. The fish were on the bite, however, so no complaints.

Under the circumstances, the closer reefs were a better option for the smaller boats while the bigger (charter) boats targeted the more distant reefs whenever conditions permitted. Report and photos (above and below) from Trekka 2 skipper Nat Turner… “Hey Bill. We ran nine hour trips up to Double Island Point on Saturday and Sunday. Conditions were relatively good both days with a slight current and northerly breeze. The fishing was pretty good on both days with quality snapper, pearl perch, cobia, mulloway, moses perch, gold band snapper and venus task fish all coming over the side. Cheers, Nat.”

And we received this from local angler Scott McKenna, below left… “Hooked this cobia hard on the bottom up Double Island Point with a strip bait of skipjack. Got it up about 15m off the bottom and gave up the ghost. Hmmm probably would have gone 30kg+. Bugger.”

And the Trekka 2 crew fished closer in along the middle reef belt on the odd shorter charter… “Hey Bill. We ran a five hour trip to North Reef on Friday morning. The fishing was good from start to finish. We caught quality Maori and gold spot cod, snapper, pearl perch, venus tuskfish and moses perch. The wind was 5 to 10 knots from the north east and there was a slight current to the south. Cheers, Nat.”

From closer to home, we received this report and photo (above) from Chicko Vella, Tackle World Noosa… “Between the northerlies and the storms (which is expected for this time of year) there has only been small windows to sneak offshore to catch a feed. Wednesday was the best day for just that. Whilst having the bar, tides and swell in our favour, we headed straight to the bait grounds. Knowing that it’s time for the trout to come out and play, next mark was Sunshine Reef. After a few stops we boated several sweetlip and pearl perch but at the next stop it was trout on! The larger fish play dirty. Sonnie managed to handle his medium size strawb and the interesting thing was… NO sharks were present. Hopefully a good sign for things to come. Cheers, Chicko.”

Apart from that, those big yellowtail kingfish were still lurking around Jew Shoal and Sunshine Reef while cobia were still in good numbers around Halls Reef.

COASTAL: Rob Bracey, Tackle World Noosa.… “With a westerly flavour in the early morning winds the open beaches were a good option for a first light fish. On the south side, the rocks at Yaroomba produced the odd grass sweetlip and pan sized snapper while flathead and whiting were active at Castaways Beach. Further up, whiting and dart were schooling at the northern end of Sunshine Beach with the odd elbow slapper on the bite at the southern end of A-Bay.

With the bit of swell we got last week there are plenty of close gutters on the Noosa North Shore, perfect for the kids to fish in. Reports are that whiting are in good numbers along with dart and the odd flathead with the waters from the First Cutting to the river mouth and around Teewah village producing well.”

ESTUARY: From Rob Bracey, Tackle World Noosa.… “There were some good whiting schooling in the lower estuary this week with live prawns, live yabbies and small surface poppers all getting results. Flathead were on the prowl in the deeper channels near the river mouth while queenfish were chasing the baitfish in the Current Line and, together with trevally, along the Culgoa Point/Munna Point stretch. Just along from there, the back of Noosa Sound was good for mangrove jacks between dusk and dawn while Weyba Creek was the spot for some thumper whiting and keeper size buck mud crabs.

Upriver, jacks were out at night at the Noosa Marina, whiting were biting at the mouth and top of Lake Cooroibah and between the lakes it was mud crabs.”

From Jimmy Free, Noosa River Fishing Safaris… “Hey mate. Overall we had a pretty good run in the river this week. The northerly wind and hot weather over the weekend slowed things down a bit but we still managed some nice fish. The Frying Pan had some nice whiting over the flats on the receding tide while the Woods Bays fished well for bream, queenfish and flathead. Tuesday morning, however, was gods country, overcast and light westerlies. Pictured (above) from that charter is Izzy with a 73cm and 84cm flathead and 35cm bream and (below) Paul with a 73cm queenfish. All were released after a few photos.

And from Saturday afternoon’s charter. Mac with a 58cm flathead (below left) and Andrew with a 61cm specimen. Both fish released after a couple of pix.”

Apart from that, there were plenty of blue swimmer crabs up in Weyba Creek while further upriver, the Tewantin stretch yielded trevally, flathead and bream.”

FRESHWATER: Grant Budd, Northshore Bait and Tackle… “Impoundment levels are dropping which helps to concentrate the bait and the fish. Surface fishing is becoming gmore productive and once we see some hot weather the first light surface bite will be fantastic! Have a few lures ready and weedless soft plastics. The ZMan Finesse Frog is a perfect plastic for weedy edges and points. Don’t forget if heading the lakes and dams you need a SIPS permit which can be purchased online and is sent to your phone in only a few minutes.”