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Report supplied by Davo's Tackle World
March 19, 2020
The Maroochy River has again produced a great mixed bag of fish including flathead, bream, whiting and trevally, with a lot of fish being taken in the lower parts of the system.
When chasing flathead, plastics like 4" paddle tails soft plastics like the Keitech Easy Shiners fished low in the water column has seen some great results. Whole fish baits like, hardy heads, whitebait and pillies floated along drop offs and edges has working well on the run out tides.
There have been reports of bigger whiting being caught around Chambers Island and the North Shore areas. Live worm and yabbies have produced some real elbow slappers.
Areas around the river mouth have produced some good trevally. Fast moving slugs, plastics and stick baits have seen some action with big giant and golden trevally on offer.
Night hours and low light periods have seen some good mangrove jack being caught. Paddle Vibes and prawn imitation soft plastics have been accounting for some good fish when fished around heavy structure like pontoon and moored boats.
Crabs are really coming on with some large bucks potted after the rains last week, set your pots in deeper holes down river, fresh mullet continues to be the prime bait. Don't forget the new regulations that came in last year where you can only take 7 per person with a maximum of 14 per boat.
With the swell and wind up last week the beach fishing has been a little more difficult. Fishing early morning will be the better times. Captures of good sized whiting have been reported on the Maroochy North Shore using lightly weighted fresh worms and pippies. Cast to the back of the white water and slowly rolled along the bottom should see a result. There has also been some good reports of smaller jew coming around Coolum.
For the Offshore anglers, windy and wet conditions have kept plenty of boats on the trailers. The good news is we normally see a bit of a lull after a cyclone passes and this appears to be the case this weekend. With both swell and wind dropping and only a few showers so we should be able to get amongst it.
If you want to get on to those big pelagics your best bet will be to head to the outer reefs, Barwon banks and the Hards will be ideal as the pelagics will be inhabiting those clearer waters. Deep diving trolling lures are a good way to start, try working the pressure edges of the reefs. Floaters of large pilchards, gar and slimy mackerel will also be a good option.
The closer reefs should hold snapper, sweetlip, cod, mauri cod, cobia and pearl perch. There has not been a lot of fishing pressure and with a large amounts of bait heading to the closer reefs after the rains there should be some good reef fish to be had. Live baits will be your best option as well as plastics and jigs.
Now for all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports, don't forget to drop into Davo's Tackle World, Davo's Boating and Outdoors in Noosa and Davo's 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!
March 13, 2020
On the beaches, with the bigger swells we have had in the past weeks good gutters have formed in close, anglers have been having success with smaller lighter rods, casting small slugs and micro jigs and smaller 2-3" soft plastics picking up dart and small trevally.
Whiting are still in good numbers along the open beach with the area north of Marcoola Beach showing better numbers. Stick to the lower water gutters on the last half of the run in tide with worms and peeled prawns resulting in good catches.
Pin Cushion Islan on the run in tide is showing giant trevally with most fish taken on big surface lures and metal bait fish profile lures.
Off the Rocks in the Noosa National Park; good sized bream, squire and sweetlip are being caught on pilchard and squid baits. The North facing areas have been the safest with the strong southerly winds.
The Maroochy River has been a smorgasbord lately with the rain providing a good run off making the mud crabs feed. The areas up river from Bli Bli Bridge to Coolum Creek has been very productive.
The flathead are loving soft plastics rigged on a 1/4 Oz jig head to keep close to the bottom, don't forget to scent your plastics to give you that added advantage. White bait hardy heads and baby blue pilchards are perfect for the bait anglers. Try the mouths of Eudlo and Petrie creeks and the back of channel Island on the run out tide.
On the run in tide stick to shallows on Picnic Point the back of Goat and Chambers Island for some decent whiting. Live yabbies, soldier crabs and worms have shown the bigger fish.
Mangrove jack have been on the prowl in the upper reaches of the river and responding well to live and fresh flesh bait. Paddle vibe soft plastic have also been great on the red devils, with the vibration from their tails really firing them up.
Bream numbers have started to grow as we move towards the spawning season, with most fish coming from structures like old jetty's and pontoons.
With the wind and swell up over last weekend not to many boats headed out, reports we have are from before we saw the bigger swells coming through, most worked the closer reef like the Gneerings, Sunshine Reef, and Halls Reef. Halls saw some nice mackerel including spotted and spanish as well as bottom dweller like pearl perch, cod, sweetlip, and squire.
Sunshine Reef was again a standout with some good catches coming from the bottom including venus tusk fish, coral trout, squire, sweetlip and smaller cobia. Baits include live baits, pilchards, squid, and slab baits like mullet and bonito all claimed good fish.
The Gneerings was good for reef fish such as pearl perch, grass sweet lip, squire and Moses perch all on the chew. Using good baits like pillies, local squid and fresh mullet fillets on a two gang Tru Turn rig are securing the bigger fish.
Pelagic numbers are a little down at the moment with the discolouration in water, these fish tend to like the cleaner clearer waters. To find some good mackerel you may have to travel a little wider.
Now for all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports, don't forget to drop into Davo's Tackle World, Davo's Boating and Outdoors in Noosa and Davo's 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!
March 6, 2020
With the wind still up for most of last week the offshore situation was pretty quiet, a few Jet Ski anglers managed to get out and picked up some nice long tail tuna. With Swell and wind due to drop this weekend anglers will be queued up at the boat ramp ready to hit the water.
Mackerel have been on everyone's mind and I am sure there will be plenty on offer on the closer reef with all the bait that is around at the moment. Keep an eye on the sounder and look for those deeper bait schools, try fishing a live bait on a light enough sinker to slowly get the bait to the bottom. Try a snelled rig of 5/0 hooks with a small wire bit leader to help with those bit offs.
Tuna numbers will also be strong with plenty of smaller schools around the closer reefs. Smaller slugs around the 20 to 40 gram mark have been working well, cast to the edges of the schools let it sink a little then retrieve at a steady pace.
For those that love bouncing the bottom plenty of reef species will be on offer and with the full Moon next Monday this weekend will be the ideal time to hit the water. With the morning tide the bigger of the two, you will have to make sure you have enough weight on board to make sure you can get to the bottom.
With the breezes getting up during the day most anglers made an early start. With the river still a nice chocolate colour angler timed there fishing around the high tides to get the clearer water.
For those fishing the run in tide the trevally have been plentiful with some nice GT, big eye and golden taken. Fast moving plastics, stick baits and smaller micro jigs have been working well. Casting at fish feeding on the surface has been the most productive. For the bait anglers smaller pilchards, whitebait and prawns have been the go. Best to try the river mouth, Black banks and Twin Waters weir.
Maroochy River has been good for some nice flathead taken on plastics, trolled lures and live baits. Fishing the banks and drop offs on the run out tide has been the most productive.
Plenty of whiting have been on the chew with most fish taken on the run in, fish are moving onto the flats feeding on yabbies and soldier crabs. Casting smaller popper around the flats is an exciting way to target these fish, using very light braids, mono leaders and surfaces lures like the Bassday Sugapens has seen some great fish captures.
Crab numbers are also up with a bit of fresh water in the systems after the recent rains. Pot placement is important, making sure you look for those more saline deeper holes should see you come up with some nice crabs.
Maroochy River has been good for some nice flathead taken on plastics, trolled lures and live baits. Fishing the banks and drop offs on the run out tide has been the most productive.
On the beach there are some great gutters after the swells. Dart are in great numbers and there are even some good sized ones amongst them. Worms seem to be the number one bait for the dart and you may also pick up a whiting or two.
There are some jew being taken at night with most fish being under legal size, these fish will be coming into the gutter to feed on the bait that has been flushed out of the rivers so areas like Stummers Beach and down towards Pincushion Island will be your best bet.
Now for all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports, don't forget to drop into Davo's Tackle World, Davo's Boating and Outdoors in Noosa and Davo's 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!
February 14, 2020
With the solid rainfall we have seen in the catchment area the river has a good deal of fresh water coming into the system, with this in mind; we have to think about what changes this makes to the fish environment and in turn what changes we need to make to the way we fish to be successful.
As the salinity level changes in the river this changes where the bait will tend to congregate. As the bait look for more saline water they move toward the mouth of rivers and creeks and with this so do the predators that feed on them.
This is no different in the Maroochy River and over the last couple of week the area down towards the river mouth has been a haven for predatory fish.
I have had great report of larger trevally feeding around the Pincushion Island and just inside the river mouth. Live baits will always be the best approach but if you are not into bait then fast moving slugs like the Halco Twisty are perfect, the 20 gram size will match the bait and give you a good cast. Make sure you start your retrieve as soon as the slug hits the water to keep it up in the water column.
Jacks have also been taking advantage of the conditions and are able to cope with the fresh water quite well. These fish are holding around Twin Waters Weir, the bridge Pylons and anywhere there is a drain running into the river. Brighter coloured soft plastics have worked well with the water being so dirty.
Flathead numbers have also been strong with these fish also holding downriver, again bright colours are a must as these fish will see them better on the run out tide. A reel favourite is the Powerbait Nemesis 4inch in the pink. Make sure you also use plenty of scent in these conditions.
One of the bonuses to the rain is the amount of crabs on offer, angler have been reporting very full pots with some having over 10 crabs after one tide cycle. The bad news is that most are jennies or undersize, still you only have to get a couple of bucks to be a mile in front. From what we have seen they are nice and full and very sweet.
Offshore only the bigger charter vessels have been out with the conditions offshore a little testing. For those that have ventured out the closer reefs have been there objective. For the best results head out of Noosa and fish the northern end of Sunshine Reef, halls and Jew Sholes, there has been a mixed bag with venus tusk fish, moses perch, sweetlip, squire and Maori cod, with the added bonus of a coral trout from Sunshine reef.
Pelagic are also on the chew with the mackerel coming from the clean side of the dirty water line. Tuna have also been in Laguna bay with some solid long tails amongst them.
On the beaches; Maroochy Northshore has had plenty of activity, with quality whiting, bream, flathead, and dart all on the bite. Putting in the time to find a decent gutter has be the biggest benefit to anglers. Looking out and seeing the waves breaking a little further offshore and then reforming to break on the beach is a pretty good indicator of a nice gutter. Cast to the back of the gutter and roll the bait back into the gutter for the best results.
Now for all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports, don't forget to drop into Davo's Tackle World, Davo's Boating and Outdoors in Noosa and Davo's 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!
February 7, 2020
Hot weather and minimal rain has certainly made the offshore fishing fire over the last weekend. The people who headed out and fished the morning windows were rewarded with some nice catches. With the water temperature being right up there the mackerel season really picked up.
Spotties in some areas have been so thick with school of bait coming up right under the boat. Best areas for the spotties have been Gneerings, Coolum, Old Woman Island and Sunshine Reef. Floating pillies and throwing bigger slugs like the Halco twisty's in the 40 to 55 grams are nailing the fish.
Another technique that has been producing spotties is the micro jigs in 20 to 40 gram size, jigs such as the Shimano Colt Sniper produce a perfect flutter action which seems to be irresistible to these speedsters.
Spanish are sitting that bit deeper so slow troller dead baits on chin guards have found some bigger spanish.
Trolling a good spread of diving lures like Halco laser Pros and Rapala Xrap around area like Sunshine Reef off Noosa, Arkwright shoal and Coolum Reef at speed may see you secure one these monsters.
The wider grounds on the Barwon banks have been producing quality Mahi Mahi on floaters along with squire, moses perch, venus tusk fish and the odd amberjack.
The closer in reefs like Murphy's, the Gneerings and Currimundi are all seeing snapper, grass sweetlip and moses perch, with pilchards and squid been the popular baits.
The Sharks have been a real problem for anglers as they feed on the bait schools and anything that seems to get hooked. Anglers are having to work hard to get the fish to the boat before it gets taxed by the sharks.
Maroochy River is still seeing good quality mud crabs mainly up river from Bli Bli, please ensure all pots are marked correctly, and your floats are the correct size as the fisheries are taking a shine to this lately.
If chasing a good feed of flathead try drifting small pillies along the deep channel, down river from the nojoor road boat ramp. Best time has been in the slower current an hour and a half either side of the tide change.
Twin Waters is all fired up with good catches of trevally at the weir on surface lures like Bassday Sugapens.
Whiting have been biting on worms around the black banks, Chambers Island and inside Goat Island on the run in tide.
The mangrove jack have been taken on suspending lures around the bridge pylons with right on dark producing the best fish. If wanting to chase the jack further up river try the mouth of Coolum creek, Petrie creek and Dunethin rock. Live baits have been nailing the better fish or try trolling lures such as the Zerek Tango Shads.
The beaches have seen nice size whiting in those shallow water gutters on worms and pipis.
The trusty dart have been mainly appearing in the higher water gutters late in the afternoon, with the better bait being pipis and pilchard pieces. Make sure to use bait keeper hooks with the dart as this helps the bait stay on the hook longer ensuring a larger catch.
Night angler have picked up some bigger tailor and mid-sized jew to about 80cm. Bigger baits of mullet, squid and pilchards have worked well.
Now for all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports, don't forget to drop into Davo's Tackle World, Davo's Boating and Outdoors in Noosa and Davo's 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!
January 31, 2020
On the river the bread and butter species have been keeping anglers busy, good numbers of whiting and bream have been on the bite around the river mouth and Black Banks area. Using live worms and yabbies have been getting some good results, if you haven't got a yabby pump give peeled prawns a go.
The flatties have been loving the soft plastics, the curly tail soft plastics like the Powerbait Nemesis have been dynamite. Rigged on a 1/4 Oz jig head so you keep close or on the bottom will put you in touch with the fish, don't forget to scent your plastics to give you that added advantage.
Twin Waters have been producing quality trevally during low light periods, poppers and surface walkers have been getting the job done. For the anglers that love their bait, fresh mullet, bonito strips and whitebait have been prime baits.
Mangrove jack have also been on the prowl in Twin Waters and around the bridges and responding well to live and fresh flesh bait. Paddle vibe soft plastic have also been great on the red devils, with the vibration from their tails really firing them up.
Crabs are still on the move with some good sized bucks getting taken around Bli Bli Island and up Petrie Creek. The crabs have been nice and full and very sweet. Make sure you mark your pots and meet all the regulations in regard to size and bag limits. There is some hefty fine for those found to be doing the wrong thing.
On the offshore front; things have been a little tough for anglers in small boats with the swell and the wind speeds as well as extended rain periods, angler with larger boat heading straight to the Gneerings while others did the run out to Murphy's.
For those that fished Gneerings , cobia, parrot, mori cod, and sweetlip were all boated, pelagic's were also on the cards with some nice spotted and spanish mackerel landed. In a little closer the reefs around Old Woman Island has been produced good numbers of squire, sweetlip and a coral trout.
If you have a smaller craft or just aren't willing head out too far, then stay in the bay with plenty of spotted and Mack tuna on offer.
Up on Sunshine we saw plenty of grassy sweetlip, cod, squire and trout taken along with the pelagics. Floating pilchard baits or live baits through a well maintained burley trail is a sure fire way to get them to chew.
On the beach; the Maroochy Northshore has been fishing well with plenty of dart and whiting inhabiting the gutters and holes, there have also been a few quality flathead moving through the gutters and smashing the smaller baitfish. Fishing the high tide may also see you come into contact with a nice jew. There are plenty of gutter on the beach so make sure you pull up and give them a go.
January 24, 2020
The Maroochy River had a major change over the weekend. Quite significant rainfalls over the weekend saw the water colour change dramatically. Fresh water tends to make the bait in the river more active and in turn really get those predatory fish eating.
There have been some great jack taken over the last week with the night angler getting some stonker's. Live baits, fresh mullet strips, and live prawns have been the go. Fishing structure or deeper holes has been where the red devils have been hiding while at night they do tend to venture out onto the flats and beat up smaller bait fish. Soft plastic like the Zman Swimmerz and the Keitech Easy Shiners have also claimed some nice fish.
Flathead are also in good numbers with some big mummers over the legal limit, landed and returned. These fish are great to target on soft plastics and with the water that bit dirtier you will have to use those bright colours.
Trevally have also been feeding well on live bait with the river mouth and Twin waters hot spots first thing in the morning. Surface lures have been worked well with some of the larger popper and surface lures claiming the bigger fish. Give the Bassday Sugapens in the 120mm a go or the Shimano Coltsniper Rockpop in the 90m.
Whiting have been in good numbers with Black Banks and Cotton Tree being the pic of the spots. Worms and yabbies have been the prime baits with surface lures worked across the shallows on top of tide also working well.
Ever body is talking about the crabs after the rains fell on the weekend, set your pots in those deeper holes as they will hold more saline water. Big baits of mullet or chook frames have been the go and if you can cope with the smell soaking your bait in tuna oil will work as an added attractant.
On the offshore seen, earlier last week some good mackerel have been taken on trolled lures around the Gneerings, and the Blinker. Halco Laser Pro and Nomad Minnows have all got the runs on the board. Floating baits has also been a popular way to do battle with some good sized pelagics coming from Sunshine Reef and Jew Shoals.
If you are going to anchor up make sure you get a good burly trail happening with the added bonus of cobia and dolphin fish coming from the trail. For those of you working the bottom, trout and big sweetlip have been on the menu from Sunshine Reef.
Tuna schools have been at play just offshore rounding up schools of small bait fish, slugs like the Halco Twisty in the 20 and 30 gram size have pinned some good Mack tuna. With the wind and swell little unpredictable trips to the outer reefs have been put on hold until things calm down.
The beaches have been packed as people make their way down for some relief from the summer heat. Most angler have been up early to beat the heat and afternoon breezes and have had some excellent results.
The odd tailor has been taken on the Maroochy North Shore, with most good fish coming on the morning tides, for the anglers that like to fish at night the evening tide has also been good for a small jew or two.
The close gutters have been great for whiting and dart as well as some good flathead. On the northern beaches Marcus and Peregian beaches have seen good catches of whiting from mid to high tide on live worm and pipis.
January 16, 2020
With the weather perfect for an offshore adventure last Saturday plenty of anglers took the opportunity to head out.
The pelagics are now in full swing! The standout species this week has been the spotted mackerel. Spotted mackerel have been in good numbers this week, with many anglers reporting huge bait schools getting harassed by spotties and other pelagics. The best method to catching these speedy fish is a cast-and-retrieved metal slug thrown around the bait schools. Casting slugs around the 20 to 30 gram size seems to be the most effective. Alternatively, trolling deep diving lures around reefies areas that hold bait is also an effective method. Try to keep that lure size that bit smaller, around the 140mm size is perfect. The Nomad DTX Minnows are perfect for the job, they can be trolled at speed and get down deep.
Another species making an appearance this week is the dolphin fish (Mahi Mahi). These fish have been spotted free swimming or hanging around any flotsam that is in the water. They can sometimes be a little frustrating as you can see them but they will not eat. A good idea is to have a slow sinking bait out if you are drifting as they may take a bait as it gets a little deeper. Fishing this way may also see you with a cobia as they also tend to feed mid water.
On the beaches, bream, whiting and dart have all been making regular appearances with Mudjimba Beach being the standout location for a feed of these tasty fish. Another species which is on the move at the moment is the humble flathead. Flathead inhabit both the rivers and the beaches and can be tempted with a variety of baits and lures. Because of their large mouth and aggressive nature, flathead are easily caught by staying mobile and covering lots of ground.
In the rivers, Mooloolaba has been firing for bream, big Gt's, and big eye trevally with some cracking fish getting caught along the rock wall at the mouth of the river. Getting up early has been the key to catching these fish, with the lure anglers in particular catching some great fish.
It's all about the jack's at the moment in the Maroochy with good catches around Twin Waters and upstream in the Maroochy, in fact anywhere there is structure is a potential home for these piscatorial freight trains. Reports have been coming into the shop of large fish over 50cm attacking lures in the system with nice fish being caught on live bait at night on the incoming tide in Twin Waters.
Whiting have been on the chew lately with some cracking "elbow slappers" getting caught over the past week. To tangle with some big whiting, try fishing locations such as Picnic Point, the shallows around Chambers Island and if you have a Kayak or boat try the banks on the eastern side of Goat and Channel Island.
Elsewhere in the river, flathead and trevally are making an appearance around the Cod hole and the Bli Bli Bridge. The best techniques to targeting these fish have been working soft plastics in bright flashy colors.
Now for all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports, don't forget to drop into Davo's Tackle World, Davo's Boating and Outdoors in Noosa and Davo's 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!
January 10, 2020
With some nice weather and a drop in wind, swell and run plenty of anglers took the opportunity to head offshore over the weekend. Pelagic numbers have dropped a little since before Christmas but there is still plenty of opportunities to bag some quality mackerel, tuna and even dolphin fish (Mahi Mahi). Most angler are looking for the birds to indicate were the bait is schooling this in turn will show where these fish are feeding. A good tip is if the birds are right down low then the bait is on the surface and something big is feeding from underneath, if the birds are higher than the bait is deeper and it is more likely that there are less fish feeding on the school. Using slugs in the 20-40 gram range seems to be the most popular sizes as the bait the fish are feeding on is quite small. The Halco Outcast have been a very popular slug with a nice profile that is a good match for the bait.
For the bottom bouncers it has been a little easier to get those baits to the bottom with the run dropping with the neep tides. There have been some nice fish coming from the reef with the Gneerings, Murphies and Coolum all producing trout, squire, mauri cod, sweetlip, cobia and the odd jew. Anglers have reported a lot of undersized fish when fishing baits so I always suggest switching to plastics or even running a paternoster rig with a bait on one hook and a plastic on the other. Squid profiles have been very popular with the Chasebait Ultimate Squid one of the favourites.
In the Maroochy River the report of mangrove jacks are still coming in hot and strong, popular areas to fish have been Twin Waters, Maroochy Waters, Petrie Creek and upriver from Coolum Creek. Most angler have been using live baits with majority of the bigger fish coming at night.
Flathead numbers have been good in the river considering the amount of boats on the water over the last few weeks. The best approach has been fishing the run out tide with smaller fish baits or prawns. Using little or no weight cast upstream and work the baits back with the tide. This approach also works well with plastics and micro jigs.
There have been plenty of trevally around the river mouth and in the entrance to Twin Waters. These fish have mainly been taken right at the top of the tide as they chase bait brought in on the tide. Fast moving jigs or slugs have been a great way to target them.
Whiting have also been in good numbers but size has been a bit of a problem. I think with the fishing pressure and the amount of water traffic the bigger fish tend to spook and not feed as well. Still they are great fun for the kids to catch on worm's pipis and peeled prawns. Just remember to put those undersized ones back.
Crab numbers have improved with the small amount of rain we have had over the week, set your pots in deeper holes near mangroves for the best results.
On the beach the dart are in great numbers. Plenty of anglers have reported that they seem to catch the same size all the time. I have found that the bigger fish are that bit further out and right on the top of the tide.
There are plenty of whiting on the beach also but it can be a bit hard getting a bait past the dart. One spot that has been reported is just north of Peregian past the water tower. Fishing the start of the run out seems to be the better bite.
Now for all the latest information log onto www.fishingnoosa.com.au for up to date bar and fishing reports, don't forget to drop into Davo's Tackle World, Davo's Boating and Outdoors in Noosa and Davo's 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!
December 16, 2019
Lately the Maroochy River has come alive with trevally of all kinds! Big gt's goldens and big eyes have all been prowling the river from the traffic bridge down to the mouth of the river. There have been some quality fish falling to surface lures like the Lucky Craft Sammy's and Sugapen surface walkers, fished with a fast walk the dog retrieve both these lures are sure to get you hooked up.
Whiting have been in abundance around the Black Banks flats and Chambers Island area, for the bait fisherman live worms and yabbies have been working a treat with fish over 35cm not uncommon. Walking the flats first thing in the morning flicking smaller popper and surface lures is another great option for these sweet fish.
Flathead have been in good numbers upriver from the Bli Bli Bridge with bright coloured soft plastics around the 4" size working well. Colours that have been working well have been the bloodworm in both the Squidgy and the Zman, and Holts Herring in the Keitech Easy shiners. For the bait anglers, frogged mouth pilchards on small ganged hooks have claimed plenty of fish.
Anglers that have fished after dark have been rewarded with the mangrove jacks well and truly on the bite. Livies and big strip baits fished around the Cod Hole and deeper holes upriver have been doing the damage. Remember to have your drag set at the right level not too tight to pull hooks but not too loose to lose fish.
Crab number are really starting to improve with plenty of quality bucks in the pots. Mullet and chicken frames seem to be the baits of choice.
On the beaches; the Maroochy Northshore has been fishing pretty well over the past week with a few good gutters down towards Pincushion Island. There has been plenty of sweep up the beach with the big tides so you will have to up your sinker size. Trevally, dart and whiting have all been accounted for.
If you're after a good catch of whiting, the word on the street is just north of the Water Tower at Peregian is the place to be. Burley pellets and quality baits of live worms or yabbies are the key here, a sprinkle of burley in the white water along with quality baits will help to bring them on.
Offshore; pelagics are starting to gather some momentum now. Sunshine reef has had some nice spanish mackerel along with good mahi mahi and bigger tuna. With the warmer currents moving south we should start to see those bigger schools of spotted mackerel and tuna off the coast soon.
The Gneerings has also been fishing well with some snapper, sweetlip, cod, and cobia reported. To the south the Caloundra 12 mile has fished well with some bigger amber jacks recorded.
December 6, 2019
The Maroochy river system has been on fire over the last couple weeks with the small weather windows allowing for some cracking sessions. Families have enjoyed the summer days fishing around Chambers Island and the north shore dog beach with some stonker whiting and bream coming in. cured beach worms have been the pick for these tasty table fish but the live yabby has been the standout. Be sure to come into Davos Northshore bait and tackle so we can hook you up with a brand new pump or fix your old one and get you catching the best bait in the river.
Flathead have been in numbers further up the river with most fish being boated around the Bli Bli islands region. Standout fish have been caught on a mixture of dark coloured plastics such as the Z man streakz curly-tailz in both bloodworm and midnight oil in the 4" sizes. Drifting small pilchards along the drop offs in the same area has also seen fisho's catch some crackers.
Mangrove jacks have also been prevalent within the river with multiple captures being recorded in the deeper parts of the upper reaches around Yandina, Coolum creek and Lake Dunethin. These fish of have been caught on strip baits such as salted bonito fillet rigged with 3/0 Tru turn double hook rigs fished as close as possible to structure. Lure Fishos have taken advantage of the warmer water as well with a quality fish landed and released in both stumers creek and the upper reaches. These fish have been taken on surface poppers such as the lucky craft g splash and soft plastics such as the Keitech easy shiner in 4 and 5 inch sizes. A pro tip is to rig these plastics with weedless hooks such as those found on the tt lures snake lockz range. These rigs allow the angler to place their lure in the snags and fish it without becoming stuck, so be sure to come in and grab some.
In the river, trevally have been firing during the sunset periods with anglers catching some large big eyes as well as the occasional GT. These fish have been taken on surface lures such as the atomic k9 bulldog and Bassday backfire popper. Be sure to persist when fishing for these fish as they can turn on instantly out of nowhere. The Bli Bli Bridge has seen some awesome surface actions over the last week as well as the western tip of Chambers Island and Godfrey's road rock wall.
The past week has been very restricting for offshore anglers with wind persisting at around 15-20 knots throughout the week but the coming week looks more promising with winds staying low for the most period. The crazy ones that decided to risk it all did indeed get rewarded with some large grassy sweetlip and tusk fish taken on flesh baits.
Now for all the latest information check out our Facebook page or call into Davo's Northshore Bait & Tackle at Marcoola to find out where the fish are biting, and remember Tight Lines and Bent Spines!
November 29, 2019
With the warmer weather being well upon us, the Maroochydore River has seen some well-known summer species hit the deck. The present weather of warm days with the odd storm in the afternoon has seen the humidity sky rocket which has been triggering the elusive mangrove jack to fire. Anglers have been successfully boating a large quantity as well as some trophy fish up to sixty centimetres. The locations that have seen anglers having the most success have been areas that hold structure. The twin waters bridges have seen fish as well as Dunethin rock and the upper reaches of the Maroochydore River near the old sugar cane bridges. For those who prefer to chase fish on lures, hardbodies have been the ticket with minnow profiles such as the bass sugar-deep barra tuned, and the Jackall hank tune producing fish in Petrie creek as well as other said locations.
Flathead have been busy spawning and as a result have seen some cracking fish being boated over the last week. These fish love to hunt on shallow sand flats during the high tides in schools, preying on whiting, herring and small crustaceans. Using baits such as pilchards, prawns or beach worms, the angler matches their natural food source producing a high catch rate. A successful tip is to run a light sinker making it travel across the chosen area in effort cover more ground. Anglers have been boating fish around the chambers island sand banks as well as Goat Island on the eastern side. The pick has been the run out tide, targeting fish that are moving off sand banks into the main channels. This method has seen success with fish up 75cm being caught. Fishing lures such as the Keitech easy shiner in 4" with a light jig head has seen lure anglers have success.
Whiting fisherman haven't been missing out on the action with the favoured sand whiting appearing once again for the summer. These fish feed in large schools sucking yabbies, worms and other crustaceans of the river bed. These fish move onto sand flats like those located on chambers and Goat Island and feed as the tide comes in and move into the main channel as the tide recedes. A very effective method of targeting these fish is with a small sinker running straight to the hook with a small piece of red rube separating them. A sinker such as a size 1a ball sinker and a hook such as the size 4 Mustad long-baitholder ensures a higher chance of catching a feed. Peeled prawns have been the pick for bait. For those who prefer lures, the Bassday sugar pen 75 and the eco gear px55f have also delivered fish of up to 40 centimetres.
Large schools of herring have also been present in the river system with predators closely following them. Large schools of giant and big eye trevally have kept anglers entertained over the last few weeks with low light periods such as dusk and dawn being the pick. Lures such as the atomic k9 and lucky craft Sammy have seen some epic surface strikes as well as some trophy fish of up to 60 centimetres. The pick locations have been the Bli Bli Bridge and twin waters weir on the incoming tides.
Our offshore scene has started to fire up once again for the annual summer season with early season Spanish mackerel and dolphin fish being caught. The large tides brought with the full moon fire the pelagics up as they love strong current, so be sure to include a floating pillie rig in your next outing. The Gneerings shoals have produced a large amount of quality grass sweetlip with bigger fish being boated within the hour of slack tide. Reefies such as tusk fish and the occasion snapper have also been caught. The larger snapper are still around but have been sitting wide in regions such as the Hards with big leds and big baits being the ticket.
Report 21/11/19
With the Winds blowing pretty consistently last week those in smaller craft had to hang in close or fish the rivers, for those that did get offshore some nice trout have come from sunshine reef with live baits fished hard to the bottom the most productive, also from Sunshine we have seen some good parrot, maori cod, jew, Mac Tuna and the odd mackerel.
Cobia numbers have been strong all year and these fish are always happy to swim mid water so floater baits fished around reef edges have been working well.
Some anglers in larger boats did find a window to head to the wider grounds with some nice snapper, sweetlip and pearl perch landed. With this week's forecast still seeing winds at that annoying 10-15 knot range it will be the river for most of the smaller boats again.
Mangrove jacks have been plentiful in the Maroochy River, good numbers of jacks have come from the jetties and pontoons around the Maroochy waters and Twin waters areas. Live baits have been the most productive, small pilchards and mullet strips have also worked well rigged with 15-25lb leader and some super sharp Mustard Predator hooks. Paddle tail soft plastics in the 4inch size like the Zman Swimmerz or the Keitech Easy Shiners have also been doing the trick with, red & gold being the popular colours.
Families have been enjoying the river with plenty of quality whiting from the lower reaches of the river. Chambers Island, the Dog beach and the Cotton Tree have all produced great catches of fish. Live worms baits, yabbies and pealed prawns have all helped anglers catch some awesome fish.
There are still good numbers of flathead on the outgoing tide from around the upper reaches of the river, fishing from the Bli Bli Bridge up to the Islands has been very productive.
Trevally have been in good numbers, with Golden Trevally, GT's and Queenfish have been reported throughout the lower reaches of the river. Prawns, Pilchard and cut baits of mullet and bonito have been the best baits for these fish. When lure fishing lures anglers have had success with surface walkers and poppers along with 2-3" Curly tail grub style plastic.
Mud crabs are being caught along the mangrove edges toward up toward Coolum Creek and around Bli Bli Islands, with mullet heads and frames being the best choices for bait.
The beaches have been fishing well with Marcoola beach down to Pincushion Island seeing some good gutters. Good numbers of dart, whiting, flathead and bream have all been reported. Lightly weighted baits like; live worms and strips of mullet have been working well on lighter outfits using a running sinker rig. If you want to get into the deep gutters further out, use larger paternoster rigs fitted with a surf popper on the top dropper, this technique may see you in with a chance of catching a few tailor using a fast retrievals through the surf.
Report 8/11/19
Fishing Offshore last weekend was tough with conditions less than perfect for chasing reef fish and pelagics. For those boat that managed to get out, there were still good numbers of fish to target. Spotted mackerel and the odd Spaniard were showing up with the majority of the action being around bait schools. Trolling hard body lures is a great way to cover ground while you are making your way to your favourite fishing ground. Another great option is the Davos Spanish Special which works well on the mackerel and other mid water swimmers.
When you anchor up, the good old pilchard floater has been working well picking up some nice cobia around Murphy's and the Gneerings. These fish are a great test for anglers and can really stretch the arms.
Sunshine Reef is starting to fire with trout and sweetlip as well as snapper, cobia and good sized jew. The Barwon Banks had some good captures earlier last week with snapper, maori cod, pearl perch, jewfish, cobia and tusk Fish all accounted for.
In the Maroochy River; good sized whiting have been prowling around the river mouth and the North Shore low light hours, using live bait like worms and yabbies has produced some nice table fish, surface walkers like the Bassday Sugapens and the MMD Splash Prawns have also been doing the job.
Trevally and tailor have been feeding off the surface in the low light hour's morning and afternoon just inside the mouth and down towards the traffic bridge.
Fishing those drop offs near sand and mud banks opposite Oyster Bank Rd has resulted in some quality flathead. Small fish baits like small pilchards, hardy heads and white bait cast up and worked over those edges has been the most productive technique. Using brightly colored soft plastics like the Entice Bungie Baits coated with scent has also claimed some big mommas.
The upper reach of the river has been producing with some nice sized mangrove jack, being ready for battle is accentual as these brutes of the river pull line like no other fish, fishing braided lines to 20lbs and leaders to 25lb will defiantly help with the fight.
School jew are again back in force after the recent rains, live baits like poddy mullet and herring have been the way to go as well as larger sized soft vibes, the Samaki Thumper Tails in the 100mm size have been perfect, the tail on these vibes put out a vibration the jew pick up on their lateral line.
On the beach's, the stretch between Yaroomba and Pincushion Island on the North Shore have been holding some good tailor. Fishing at night on the incoming tide has been the prime bite time. Whiting, flathead, dart and the odd nice size trevally have all been taken from those same gutters.
Whiting, Bream and dart have been caught along Peregian beach and down towards Coolum.
On the rocks around the Noosa National Park we are seeing some nice pan sized snapper and sweetlip. Whole large pilchards on ganged hooks or local squid on a suicide hook have been perfect baits
Report 1/11/19
Some good weather over the weekend saw plenty of angler out on the river.
Crabs In the river are on the move after the recent rains with most anglers reporting good catches with well baited pots. There has been reports of pots being raided so staying within eyesight and checking your pots regularly.
Nice size whiting have been report throughout the lower reaches, try Black Banks, Chambers Island and the back of Goat Island. Hook sizes 4 and 6 with a well weighted rig and fluro carbon leader are securing the better fish. Best performing baits have been worms, yabbies and soldier crabs.
Flathead are on the move with catches taken on soft plastics and Vibes. Power Baits in Nemesis style have been a proven performer with the Samaki Thumper soft vibe running a close second. Top spots have been around back of Goat Island the mouth of Eudlo and Petrie creeks on the run out tides.
Mangrove jacks are favouring the deeper holes and structures around the lower reaches of the river. Lures such as the Zerek Fish Trap are responsible for taking some of the bigger fish.
Twin Waters has seen a few trevally down near and inside the weir with most fish taking surface lures at first light on the incoming tide the best bite.
Offshore anglers were blessed with some nice weather windows last so those that did get out were well rewarded. Those close in reefs like the Gneerings, Murphys and Coolum have produced good size snapper, grass sweetlip and jew with baits such as pillies and squid responsible for the catches. Ensure you have a floating pillie out on these local reefs as there have been quite a few cobia taken this way.
Out wider on the Barwon banks saw red throats, quality snapper, sweetlip and moses perch in the 35 to 50 metre mark with most fish taken on bait.
Further to the south on Wide Caloundra saw anglers bagging out on pearl perch with bigger fish found on the deeper marks.
Mackerel numbers are starting to pick up as the warmer currents come down from the north, fishing slow trolled baits on Davo's spanish special rigs is a great way to cover ground and maybe attract that big Spanish.
Spanner Crab season is about to close so we will all have to wait till Mid December to get your traps out. If you have never fished for spanners call into the store and have a chat to the guys to get you set for the opening of the season.
On the beaches, with a bit of swell over the past few week we have seen a few more gutters starting to open up between Northshore to Coolum resulting in some nice fish.
Whiting numbers are picking along this stretch with the lower water showing the better catches. Quality beach worms either cured or live have been responsible for those bigger fish.
Flathead are responding well to small pillies and peeled prawns with most fish coming from the shallow water gutters.
There has been the occasional tailor taken on strip baits such as bonito with the high tide gutters near the mouth of the river and Yaroomba rocks the better areas.
Report 26/9/19
On the
river it is still all about the flathead, September, October is always the best
time for flathead 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
mud banks up river from Eudlo Creek on the run out tide has also been very
productive. Prawns and small baitfish like frogged mouth and hardy heads have
been very productive baits. Soft plastics have also claimed some quality fish.
The Powerbait range of plastics has been a favourite, working the lure slowly
along the bottom seems to be the most productive. Whiting numbers are also
improving and the mouth of the river around Black Banks and Cotton Tree has
produced some good elbow slappers. Worm and yabbies have been the prime baits.
Trevally are also in good numbers with the bigger fish taken on the high tide
around Sunshine Motorway Bridge and Twin Waters Weir. The mangrove jacks have
come on strong as the waters warm, lure anglers have had success around
structure like pontoon and moored boats. Live bait anglers picked up fish
around the code hole and Bli Bli Bridge.
On the beach the weather has been perfect for wetting a line, fish those deeper gutters for whiting, bream and swallow tail dart, again prawns, worms and small flesh bait of mullet have claimed some nice fish. For those fishing into the evening some good sized tailor have also been taken. Off the rocks around the headlands larger bream, tailor and trevally have all been taken. The GT Ice cream has been a very popular casting slug, they are perfect for the rock as they carry a single assist hook limiting snags on the rocks.
With some sloppy conditions over the weekend it was mainly the bigger boats that headed offshore. Earlier in the week conditions were more favourable and some anglers did the run out to the Barwon Banks. Fishing the evening seems to be the most productive for snapper with some solid fish around the 70cm mark boated. Plenty of angler in smaller craft got out early and headed back in as the winds picked up, popular spots have been the Gneerings, Murphy's, Currimundi and Coolum. Plenty of fish were taken including smaller snapper, pearl perch, jew, tusk fish, cod, and some solid cobia. With the new moon this weekend fishing the morning tides should see better result for reef anglers, this may be our last new moon before the snapper start to head south. Mackerel are also starting to turn up with plenty of school mackerel and the odd spotty taken. Mack tuna have also been seen feeding on smaller schools of bait. Now is a great time to stock up on some slugs ready for chasing those schools of bait and the pelagics that go with them.
Report 19/9/19
In the
Maroochy River it's all about those big flathead. The banks just up from Bli
Bli bridge is a great place to start. Trolling hard body lures is perfect for
targeting those bigger fish, it also helps because you're covering a lot of
ground. Bright coloured lures in pinks and greens are ideal, try and use lures
around the 60mm size with a depth of around 2.5m. For the bait anglers the good
old frogged mouthed pilchard is the perfect bait on a set of smaller ganged
Down towards the mouth the Trevally have been in good numbers and this will only improve as we move into those big spring tides, cast fast moving slugs and plastics around Black Banks, Nojoor road and Twin Waters, these fish will hit hard and fast thinking it is a fast moving bait fish. Whiting numbers are also improving with Chambers Island, Picnic Point and Cotton Tree all seeing fish, worms' yabbies and prawns have all bee prim baits.
Another species we are all targeting over the warmer months is mangrove jacks, Jacks love structure so jetties and pontoons are a great place to start. The upper reaches of the river is also prime ground for jacks, with the area between Coolum Creek and Dunethin rock a great place to start. Jacks are opportunistic feeders so a run out tide and lures cast close to the structure should see some results. Suspending lures like the Jackall Squirrels or the Lucky Craft in the 70mm are perfect for the job. These lures will suspend and stay in the fishes face for longer.
This Season shaping up to be great for pelagic's, spotted mackerel, school mackerel and even spanish are starting to move into the area with more and more positive reports coming through. With some good schools of baitfish off the coast over the last few weeks this will make our peace of coastline perfect for pelagic's and with the warmer water currents making their way down the coast making conditions perfect for pelagics. Off the bottom some good snapper, trout, cod, parrot, and jew have all been taken. Large soft plastics like the Zman Scented Jerk Shad and micro jigs have been outstanding on the trout. Fished hard to the reef is the way to go so make sure your drag is locked up tight as these fish fight hard to get back to their reefy homes. Sunshine Reef has been the pick if you are hunting coral trout, with most of the reefs producing summer nice snapper. For the bigger models head to the Barwon Banks or Murphy's.
On the beach; early mornings and late evening on the rising tide have been a prime bite time, bream, whiting, dart and flathead are all in the gutters. Quality baits like fresh mullet, cured worms, prawns and pilchards have been producing the fish. Make sure you hit the beaches at night in search for the odd jew. Fishing baits like fresh mullet strips on a 6/0 snelled rig and bonito fillets on the same hook setup should see you landing a quality jew. There have been some bigger one around but most fish are around the 80cm mark.
Report 13/9/19
With the
wind up for the weekend most offshore reports came from late last week. Anglers
did find a couple of good windows to get out and pick up some nice reef fish.
Snapper number still seem to be improving with better than average sized fish
coming from the Gneerings, Murphy's and the Barwon Banks. Plenty of anglers
picked up fish over the 70cm mark and then had to release even larger fish. The
key to catching good fish is those larger baits, use larger strip baits of
mullet, bonito, large pilchards and full squid baits have also been good. Using
bigger baits has meant that there is still baits for when the bigger fish come
along after the pickers have had a feed. Another tip is to use plastics on a
paternoster rig with a bait on one hook and a plastic on the other.
Cobia numbers have been good and they just seem to be getting bigger, plenty of angler have been shocked by the size of some of these fish. Sweetlip are also in good numbers as the waters warm. The well know grounds just off Mooloolaba have been producing some good fish. To the north, Sunshine Reef continues to be a great spot to head too with some good pelagic activity reported over the last week. Mackerel, spotted and spanish have been reported along with some nice tuna.
On the beach we are starting to see some improvement on the tailor front, bigger fish have been taken around the Board Walk at the town of Sea Side. Most fish have come just on sunset or just after. There was also a couple of reports of jew with most fish being just legal. Down towards Pincushion Island there have been plenty of dart in the surf and the closer gutter with the better fish showing up at the top of the tide. Sand whiting are also about with worm yabbies and pippies the best baits.
The Maroochy has been looking great over the last couple of weeks and there is plenty on offer for anglers, the big new is that the mangrove jack are starting to feed with some nice fish taken around the rock walls upriver from Coolum Creek. Suspending hard body lures cast close to the rock walls and then pulled down to depth have been working well, a couple to try the Jackall Squirrels and the Zerek Tango shad in the 69mm size. Angler that have been fishing at night around the traffic bridge with live baits have also had some success. Flathead have again been on the chew with plenty of fish taken in the mornings on a run out tide. Casting upstream and working plastics across the bottom has worked well, while the bait anglers have been using frogged mouth pilchards on small ganged hooks. Trevally numbers down near the mouth have been good on the high tide, casting smaller slugs and plastics. Tailor are also mixed in with the trevally with some quite good fish amongst them.
Report 6/9/19
have been on the chew early morning and late afternoon from around the traffic
bridges, small soft plastic presentation like the Zman Miinowz in the 3 inch
size as well as the Berkley Powerbait Nemesis in 4 inch have gotten some great
results, fishing tight to the pylon seems to be the way to go with the fish
using the structure as cover. The deeper hole up from Bli-Bli Islands and past
Coolum Creek are still holding some nice jew with school sized fish feeding on
small baitfish and prawns coming past with the tides. Larger soft plastics and
live baits have been the go here. Bream are still in great numbers in the river
with their spawning season just about completed, these fish lose a bit of
weight over this period and this makes them feed harder to put on condition.
Small bait like mullet and bonito strip baits have been perfect for the job as
well as prawns and small fish baits. Large female flathead are really starting
to show, this will only improve over the coming months as these fish move into
their spawning cycle. Whiting are in good numbers with Black Banks and Chambers
Island being the prime areas, freshly pumped yabbies or live beach worms have
been the best of the baits. Mangrove Jacks are starting to feed that bit more
as the waters warm, most fish have been taken around Twin Waters and Maroochy
Waters. Live baits of poddy mullet and herring are the bet baits.
Along the beachfront, reports of tailor have been coming thorough with the new moon, it has been a bit tough to find a good gutter at the moment but I am lead to believe there are a couple up towards Yaroomba and south of Marcoola surf club opposite the airport. Early morning off Northshore beach and around Pincushion Island have also produced some good fish and with the tide cycle moving around to early morning highs last week there were plenty of anglers fishing, good size dart, trevally and bream were also inhabiting those same area so if you are up early you should score a feed. Whiting numbers are also improving with the area north of Coolum and around Stummers Creek popular.
Offshore has been fished really well late last week with the wider reefs producing the larger catches. Up to the north off Sunshine Reef, anglers have boated squire, maori cod and grass sweetlip. Murphy's and Gneerings haven't been extremely busy, but are still providing a handful of snapper, grass sweetlip and moses perch with pilchards and squid the best baits. Out wider on the Barwon Banks and up on The Hards is seeing the most action. Big cobia on pillies and live baits while the pearl perch are taking slimey mackerel and yakkas. Worthy catches of snapper, sweetlip, and venus tusk fish have preferred the pilchards and squid.
Report 29/8/19
Maroochy River is a great place to while away a couple of hours at this time of
the year. With the warmer weather starting to come in plenty of angler are
taking advantage of the conditions and heading out for a fish. Flathead are
again high on the score board with some good catches being taken drifting your
boat over the shallower areas of the river, working the drop offs on the runout
tide is prime as the flatties will lay in wait for a passing morsel of food.
When you get onto a patch of flatties make sure you keep casting as the
flathead are very social at this time of the year, and where there's is one you
will usually find a large female keeping company with a group of younger males.
Another great table fish on offer at the moment is whiting; Chambers Island is
one of the hot spots as well as the area around Picnic Point and Cotton Tree.
Worms, pippies and yabbies are all great baits to tempt a hungry whiting. With
the warmer days and nights rapidly approaching mangrove jack action will start
to hot up.
Casting hard bodied lures like Lucky Craft Pointers and Jackal Squirrels at structure is a good way to start. Both these lures are suspending so as you pull them down and they will spend more time in the fishes face, keeping nice and close to rocky structure is also a surefire way to snag a jack. Working those deeper holes upriver has seen some nice school jew on the chew, these fish tend to hold in the deeper hole and pick off bait as it passes by. Down towards the river mouth, trevally of all kinds, tailor, queenies and large bream have all been feeding in this area. Small fish baits, fast moving slug and plastics have all claimed some nice fish. Fishing the top of the tide should see you amongst the action.
On the offshore scene, the closer reef have been fishing well for moses perch, squire, grassy sweetlip, cod and cobia. Coolum Reef has also seen some nice tuna of late, floater baits have been the favoured way of targeting these speedster's of the sea. Sunshine Reef has been good for some nice snapper, make sure you have a good burley trail and fish your jigs, soft plastic or bait hard to the bottom here and you will be rewarded. The Barwon Banks has seen large snapper, venus tusk fish, pearl perch, moses perch, jew, cobia and amberjack have all be hitting the decks. Plenty of anglers have been fishing larger baits to get past the pickers and onto the larger fish. Large pilchards, whole squid baits and large strip baits of mullet have worked well.
On the Maroochy North Shore, whiting, bream, tailor and some quality flathead have all come from the gutter. Best to head out on the low tide checking out the water and looking for those deeper gutters and fishing the incoming tide. Make sure you top up on pilchards, salted bonito fillet worms and prawns before you head up, you can also collect pippies and worms from beaches. Having a good selection of slugs is a great idea if you find a good school of tailor.
On the rock around Yaroomba and Noosa National Park tailor are still on the chew. The schools are small but fish quality is good with tailor to 50cm not uncommon, bream and squire are also inhabiting the same areas. Fresh mullet, pilchards, and squid have all claimed their fair share of fish.
Report 22/8/19
With some
specular weather over the weekend, boat ramps were full to overflowing as
anglers headed offshore. With the calm conditions vessels have been able to
venturing out wide to the outer band of reefs. Those that made the trip out to
the Barwon Banks and Caloundra 12 mile were well rewarded with good catches
reported. Large snapper, sweetlip and a whole range of reef species have been
caught. Cobia numbers are also increasing at the moment with most reefs holding
some good fish, fish over 10kgs are not uncommon. Smaller snapper, sweetlip and
a few nice jewies are getting caught around the closer reef like Coolum, The
Gneerings and Currimundi. Having a good burley trail is a must so make sure you
grab some extra bait to use as burley. The bay and Old Woman Island has started
to fire with a bit of tuna activity. These are mainly rouge fish chasing
smaller bait schools. Squid numbers around the island are still good with some
nice squid inking anglers and boats.
In the Maroochy River, schools of Trevally are feeding in numbers on the incoming tide with some bigger models landed. The spectacular colored golden trevally and the hard fighting giant trevally are being caught in surprisingly good numbers. These hard fighting fish are happy to take a small baitfish profile soft plastic worked at speed. Give the Zman Slims Swims a go, they are a great small bait fish profile similar to what they are feeding on. Elsewhere in the river, the upper reaches have been fishing well with school jew on the prowl. Like the trevally, Jew fish are best targeted with larger soft plastics and paddle style vibes. The bream are still in great number with plenty of juvenile sized fish on offer, the larger fish seem to be hanging around structure and can be coaxed out with an unweighted prawn. Flathead numbers are also very strong at the moment with plenty of larger females caught and released over the past couple of weeks, these big breading females are crucial to the improvement of the stocks in the river so make sure you handle them carefully and return them as soon as possible. Small fish baits, prawns and cut baits have all claimed some nice fish.
On the beaches, the conditions have been excellent for beach fishing with low winds and clear blue water. Dart, bream, tarwhine and some nice sized whiting have been caught right along the Maroochy North shore stretch with the better fish being caught near Pincushion Island. There have been some good reports of tailor getting caught along Marcoola beach up to Yaroomba. These fish are a little shy during the day so best to target them early morning or late afternoon, they are aggressive feeders that will happily eat a large baits like whole pilchard's mullet fillet and bonito fillet. Whiting are also improving in numbers on the beach, fishing north of the Peregian Water Tower has seen some good fish taken on worms, pippies and peeled prawns.
Report 14/8/19
With the
breezes blowing over the weekend most offshore anglers keep to the closer reefs
with some larger craft ventured to the outer reefs to find they were really
firing. The Barwon banks and the Hards have been fishing extremely well for
pearl perch, snapper, cobia and jew making the long trip from the bar well
worth it. A little closer to home mixed reef species like parrot, sweetlip, cod
and squire have been keeping anglers happy at Sunshine Reef along with some
quality coral trout still hanging around. The odd mackerel and tuna are still
being taken around Coolum Reef even with water temperatures dropping. On
Murphy's Reef there were good numbers of snapper being taken on Micro Jigs in
the 40 – 60g sizes seemed to be doing the job. The Cast PTYD Jigs are a great
jig with that perfect slow action that works well for bigger sweetlip, pearl
perch and snapper. Large strip baits like mullet fillet, slimy mackerel fillet
and squid baits on paternoster rigs with 4-6oz snapper sinkers have been the
standard baits and working well, lightly weighted whole pilchard baits floating
down the burley trail have also produced some bigger snapper.
On the Beach, fishing those closer gutters during the days has been producing, with whiting, bream and dart taken on worm's pipes and yabbies'. Cast to the back of the gutter and roll those bait under the white water to get the best results. For the rock hoppers; fishing bigger stickbaits like Shimano Rock Slide and Fish Inc Flankers cast off the headlands of Yaroomba and Noosa National park has seen catches of trevally, queenies and the odd large dart. Jew will be a little quiet as we move into the full moon your best chance is after the moon has set.
In the Maroochy Rivers we have had an outstanding bream season. This time of year they school up in big numbers as they spawn and are willing to take a wide variety of lures and baits. When targeting bream on soft plastics jig head selection is quite important, as you want the lure to sink fairly slowly and stay in their face, another great option is the very popular Crusty Crab, these crab have to be one of the most realistic profiles on the market. Dropping your leader size too will see better numbers, most anglers opt for a 3 to 6lb leader when targeting these wary fish. If you want to soak a bait for a bream, fresh strips of mullet are pretty hard to go past. Elsewhere in the River, the river mouth has been providing some spectacular surface sessions lately, with trevally schooling up and smashing bait fish. Surface lures in the low light periods have been perfect with both popper and surface walkers getting the job done. Flathead numbers are also improving with plenty of fish taken in the shallower water, these fish will congregate in these areas as the water is that bit warmer. Fishing the run out tide with plastics or shallow diving lures should see you with a feed.
Report 9/8/19
With light
breezes and little swell last Sunday, anglers headed offshore in droves. There
have been heaps of snapper and pearlies around the reef at the moment with
Murphy's Reef, Coolum Reef, Barwon Banks and the Hards are producing some
outstanding fish. Snapper have been well spread throughout most of the major
reefs, with some bigger fish caught during the lower light periods. There has
been the odd coral trout taken from Sunshine Reef, fishing hard to the reef is
the best way to come into contact with a nice trout. There's plenty of big cobia
hanging around at this time of the year and they love nothing more than live
bait on a slow sinking floater rig. With the smaller tides and less run try and
get a good burley trail going, then send down a couple of light or even
unweighted baits. The snapper will be drawn in the burley and hopefully find
your baits.
In the river; those cooler nights make fishing the Maroochy River perfect if you are into chasing trevally and tailor, these fish seem to revel in those cooler water temperatures and with the Maroochy River having plenty of bait fish on offer these predators are attracted to the river as a food source. These cold water predators love nothing more than forcing bait to the surface to feed so casting surface lures can see some amazing results. For the anglers that are working off the banks; the river mouth and dog beach area has been producing great number of quality bream, whiting and flathead. Live worms and yabbies have been the best on the whiting while live herring have been standouts for the bream and flatties, for those of you without a cast net or yabby pump, pilchards and worms have been the favourite dead baits. The Bradman Ave stretch of the river has also been producing with prawns and worms the favourite for the kids. Heading a little further upriver the area around Bli Bli Islands and the first ski run has been producing jew fish in the low lights periods morning and afternoon.
Maroochy North Shore has again been firing for bream with the quality fish coming from the Pincushion area, this is that great time of the year when they start to schools up to spawn. Another fish you find prevalent this time of the year are Jewies, these fish love nothing more than a fresh tailor fillet so if you catch a smaller legal tailor take the fillets off and run it down a set of 4/0 ganged hooks. The Northern beaches around Marcus and Peregian have also been seeing tailor and jew activity, Just remember jew tend to hunt more on the darker nights so the bigger tides around the new moon is the ideal time to target them
Report 2/8/19
Well we
have had another sensational weekend weather wise giving angler many
opportunities to get out and get amongst some great fish. Starting in the
river, tailor have been reported with most fish taken by anglers trolling
diving lures from the top of Chambers Island up to the traffic bridge. Trevally
have been very good in Twin Waters with some nice big eye, Giant and goldens taken.
The river mouth has been another spot where the trevs have been active with the
incoming tide the best time to fish. Jew numbers have also been good in the
river with the area out front of Eudlo Creek and Petrie Creek both fishing
well, larger soft plastics on heaver jig heads has been the way to go. Try the
Grass Kickers from Zman and the Paddle tails from Chasebaits as these plastic
give off plenty of vibration which the fish pick up on their lateral line.
Flathead numbers have been excellent with plenty of anglers picking up fish
trolling diving hardbodies, the Zerek tango shads have been very successful.
Whiting have been a little quiet in the river for the diehards try the start of
the run in around Picnic Point or Cotton tree. Freshly pumped yabbies and
soldier crabs have been the gun baits.
On the offshore seen, plenty of quality snapper have been recorded last week, conditions deteriorated a little on Saturday with the swell but things improved a little Sunday giving anglers an opportunity to get out. Snapper numbers have been very good with some good reports coming from the close reefs, Coolum, the Gneerings, Hancock Sholes and Currimundi have all produced snapper around that 50cm mark, and occasionally anglers have picked up some bigger models. For those doing the run to the outside reefs the bigger snapper seem to be more prevalent, along with these there are plenty of good cobia, pearl perch, jew, cod and sweetlip. Live baits are still your best chance of picking up some good fish so make sure you have those bait jigs ready and keep an eye out for those schools of bait on the sounder. Running those live bait through a good quality burly trail will also improve those catch rates. Up on Sunshine Reef there has been plenty on offer, with even the odd coral trout still being caught.
For the beach anglers there has also been plenty on offer with some nice tailor being report from the rocks up at Sunshine, Peregian has also been good for whiting and dart on the incoming tide, worms and prawns have been the preferred baits. Flathead have again been reported in the closer gutters with plastics anglers walking and casting small plastics into the white water, prawn profiles have been very popular. With the new moon this week we expect to see some good jew taken, the larger fish are happy to come into the shallower gutters and feed on baitfish, worms, prawns and even pipis. Fishing strip baits of mullet or tailor will get you in with a good chance if there is a fish in the gutter.
Report 19/7/19
With a
stunning weekend plenty of anglers got out for a winter fish. Bream catches
have started to show up a bit further up river, try fishing the rocky outcrops
and structures like jetty's and pontoons around Twin Waters, Maroochy Waters
and Bli Bli Bridge. Casting small minnows and curly tail plastics like the Zman
Grubz in 2.5 inch are perfect, Make sure you use the lightest jig head possible
when fishing for bream. For the baits anglers; try fresh mullet strips, yabbies
and chook or mullet gut to get the job done. Twin Waters has also been good for
trevally, Gt's and big eye are on the chew with most fish hitting surface lures
like the Zippin Ziggy and Sugapens, fishing the high tide is providing the
better results. Nice size flathead have been taking on soft plastics around
Goat and Chambers Island, and the banks just up from the Jet Ski Run, with
better catches on the run out tide during the day. Black Banks Cotton Tree and
Picnic Point are holding nice size whiting with the bigger fish taking worms
and yabbies on the last of the run in tide.
On the beaches is seeing good whiting on the chew taking worms, with the best areas north of Coolum beach on the run out tide. Mudjimba Beach seems to be the spot if chasing a good feed of dart. This stretch is holding top looking gutters at the moment which is perfect for these fish. Best baits are pipis and worms or throwing small metal slugs like the Halco Twisty 15 gram will secure a nice feed. Jew reports have quieten a little this is only due Full moon conditions. Tailor numbers are starting to improve with the best results coming from around the river mouths and off the rocks around Coolum. Slide Baiters are seeing plenty of sharks with reports of some bigger sharks at night on live baits.
Offshore has been a little quiet due to the southerly's over the weekend, but there was plenty of action late last week. Plenty of snapper have come from those closer reefs with most fish between 50 and 60 cm, there hasn't been a lot of run so the fish are responding well to whole baits and plastics fished through a quality burly trail. The Gneerings, Murphy's and Currimundi have all produced some nice snapper.
Caloundra wide was good for amber jack, bigger cobia pearl perch and some nice mauri cod. Those that did fish over the weekend tended to hang a little closer, good areas include out front of Mooloolaba Rocks and Alex Headland. Anchoring up out from the rocks in around the 7 to 8 metre mark and float pillies back towards the rocks will secure you squire, grass sweetlip and moses perch.
Report 12/7/19
With the
weather turning a bit average over last weekend most anglers keep to the river!
Flathead are in great numbers in the river with the channels around the river
mouth being the most productive. Soft plastics paddle tails and vibes have been
working well in the deeper channels. Baits of small pilchard and prawns have
also claimed some good fish. The whiting fishing has been very consistent this
week. The top of the tide and the first hours of the run out have been the
prime times with the dog beach, Picnic Point, and Cotton Tree all fishing well.
Live worms, freshly pumped yabbies and peeled prawns have all been the go to
bait for catching a feed. Bream have also been caught in good numbers, the
river mouth and the deeper channels in the lower section of the river on the
top of tide has fished well. Very lightly weighted baits fished in a well
maintained burley trail has claimed the majority of fish. Tailor and some nice
sized trevally were also caught around the mouth of the Maroochy, Nojoor Rd and
Twin Waters with the larger fish taken around dawn and dusk. Most fish have
been taken on fast moving slugs, stick baits and micro jigs. The odd winter
jack and jew has been taken around the bridge pylons on the main traffic
bridge, these fish are lying in wait for passing baitfish swimming down river
to more saline waters, live baits have been the best option but can be a little
hard to get, strip baits of mullet or bonito have also worked well. For those
throwing plastics, try the darker colours in the darker waters.
On the offshore seen; with the wind and swell up last weekend most angler left the boat on the trailer, but with a major change in conditions this week there will be plenty of opportunity to head out. Plenty of angler are planning to head wide so we should see good catches over the coming week, pearl perch, sweet lip, tusk fish, Cobia and snapper should all be on the chew. An overnighter may also be on the cards and would be worthwhile with most fish feeding more aggressively in the low light periods, morning and afternoons. The Gneerings is well worth a look with some good reef species on offer, try floating a whole pilchards, or soft plastics fished through a good burley trail. For those in smaller craft, Old Woman Island should be good for some small sweet lip, squire, parrot and maybe a jew.
On the beach; Marcoola Beach has been fishing well for dart and bream using prawns, pippies and live sand worms. Fishing early morning and late afternoon, and using burley have been the best methods this week for catching larger numbers of fish. On the Maroochy North Shore anglers using metal slugs as well as whole ganged pilchards have landed some nice tailor and the odd smaller jew.
Report 5/7/19
With all
the rain the Coast experienced over the week the Maroochy River has turned to a
nice chocolate colour. The good news in the crabs are up and walking, report of
good bucks have been coming from upriver with the deeper holes near mangroves
the better placement for your pots. The deeper hole will hold more saline
waters that the crabs need. Best baits have been mullet and chook frames. With
the amount of fresh in the water most anglers are looking for that clear water
that comes with the high tides, tailor and trevally have been in numbers around
the mouth of the river and moving as far up as the traffic bridge with the
bigger tide in the evenings. Slugs like the Halco Twisty have been working
well, micro jigs have also been a favourite with the junior anglers, try the
Jigpara Jigs from Majorcraft, they come in a great range of colours and sizes.
For the bait anglers, small pilchards, whitebait and hardy heads have all
worked well, a good tip when using small fish baits is to use small ganged
hooks and a bait thread to help keep the baits on the hooks. Flathead have
again featured highly on the capture list over the last week with plenty of
quality fish between 40 and 60cm taken. Most fish have been taken on soft
plastics and the brighter the colour the better. Grubs tails seem to be the
most popular and pink and chartreuse are the colours of choice. Best approach
in the dirty water is to keep those plastics on the bottom so make sure you use
a heavy enough jig head and slow your recovery as much as possible. There are
some big bream in the system at the moment with plenty of fish over the 30cm
mark, these bigger fish are the breeding stocks so if you get a real big one
maybe take a photo and release it so in can breed and insure stocks for the
future. These bigger bream are quite difficult to catch and have seen a hook or
two in their time so make sure your lures and baits are lightly weighted and
fish around structure. Whiting have mainly been taken on the start of the run
out tide over the past week, numbers are down a little so good bait is crucial,
freshly pumped yabbies, sandworms and soldier crabs are perfect.
On the Beach the swell has made thing a bit tough but the white water does provide cover for the fish so if the wind is not too bad it is worth having a throw. With the bigger evening tide and the new moon there should be the odd jew on offer. Bigger sinkers and bigger baits of pilchard, squid mullet and clumps of worms should see you in with a chance. Tailor and trevally are also cruising the gutters and have been feeding in quite close. Bigger dart seem to be around at the top of tide in the mornings and are feeding on prawns and worms.
Report 27/6/19
With a
change in the weather midweek offshore anglers were having to opt for the river
to get there fishing fix. Report we have from offshore are mainly from before
the weather changed. In close, Old woman Island, Handcock Sholes and Currimundi
Reefs have all been good for squire sized snapper, sweetlip, parrot and the odd
good sized jew. The sharks have been prolific so getting the fish up quick from
the shallow reefs is key. Soft plastic and smaller jigs have been working well
with pink still seeming to be the most favoured colour. For the bait anglers
the pilchard floater has been working a treat and fishing with a good supply of
burley is also important. Heading a bit further out the Caloundra 12 mile,
Murphy's and the Barwon Banks have all been prime spots for some bigger
snapper, pearl perch, cobia, jew and some stonking amber jack. The Gneerings
has also given up some quality fish with the odd pelagic on offer, spanish and
spotted mackerel were taken but numbers are well down.
In the rivers the whiting are getting bigger and there seems to be more of them, we now have cured yabbies in store and these baits have been really firing on these sweet fish, Chambers Island has been the hot spot on the incoming tide. Bream numbers are really coming on with some big fish reported, these fish are moving into the rivers getting ready to spawn. Fishing unweighted baits like prawns and small fish baits around structure is your best bet, for the lure anglers keep your lures as light as possible using light lines and leaders. Trevally numbers have been good around the mouth with the high tide the prime time, we are also starting to see more and more tailor coming into the river so up size your leader, fishing downstream from the traffic bridge with pilchards or casting small slugs and retrieving at speed has seen some good fish. Upriver the jew are back is the call out and there have been quite a few taken in the deeper holes up around Dunethin Rock, soft vibes and large paddle tail soft plastics have been the go to lures for those of you that like using bait then live baits of poddy mullet and herring have been working well.
On the beaches it has been all about finding those gutters, with plenty of light swells a lot of the gutters have filled in and fining a good deep gutter or hole has been a little difficult, a couple on offer are just North of Pincushion Island and just to the south of Yaroomba Rocks. The Jew numbers have been down with the full moon but as we move into the new we should see more fish landed. Tailor and trevally have been coming from around Pincushion Island along with some bigger bream. For those that love a walk up the beach there has been plenty of smaller flathead taken along the beaches on soft plastics.
Report 20/6/19
from all over the coast took advantage of the near perfect conditions we had
over the past week to get offshore and get amongst some quality fish. Offshore,
the swell and wind dropped out making it easy for small boats, jet skis and
kayaks to chase reefies and some quality pelagics. Mack, and longtail tuna have
been hanging around the back of the shark nets and around Old Woman Island with
the schools smaller in size and moving quickly it was a challenge to get
amongst them. There have also been a few spotted and spanish mackerel following
the tuna schools. Casting 3"size plastics into the schools and retiring at
speed is a successful ways to target these speedsters. On the reefs the closer
reefs have been holding squire sized snapper, pearl perch, tusk fish, moses
perch and sweetlip. Plenty of angler that did the overnighter over the long
weekend and headed for the Barwon Banks, better quality snapper were found as
the water offshore is that bit colder. Cobia, jew and some bigger amberjacks
were also reported. Live bait fished through a burley trail has been the most
productive but has been a little difficult as there has been a far bit of run
with the larger evening tide. For those that fished Sunshine Reef, micro
jigging has been paying dividends for anglers with plenty of quality reef fish
come over the side. If you're new to the concept of micro jigging just pop on
by the shop and have a chat with either Mike or Grant.
On the Beaches; tailor having been coming onto the bite after dark along with bream and tarwhine. These cooler mornings have seen beach anglers hooking into good size sea bream right up the coast with the gutters along Northshore Beach well worth a go, small pillies and mullet strips on a running sinker rig have been a favourite amongst anglers. For the kids smaller baits cast into the close gutters have been good for dart and whiting. Cast to the back of the gutters and roll that bait under the white water. Prawn, worm, pippies and yabbies are all ideal baits for fishing the closer gutters.
In the River; the River Mouth has still been the spot to fish with small chopper tailor schools coming through followed by bream and trevally. Make sure when fishing the mouth to fish the tide change as the water slows up it makes it much easier to fish. Casting soft plastics and even small slugs into the eddies having been producing good fish. Further upriver, the mouth of Eudlo and Petrie Creeks have been playing host to flathead, trevally, bream and the odd school jew. Live baits of herring or poddy mullet seem to be gobbled up as soon as they get to the bottom, if you don't have a cast net to collect your own bait then small pilchard, hardy heads and whitebait have been great baits. On the flats around Chamber Island, Picnic Point and Black Banks there have been some good whiting on the chew, the number one bait for whiting is small soldier crabs so if you see them scurrying across the flats on low tide try and collect a few for bait. The winter bream are really starting to show up in the Maroochy and there are plenty on offer, the biggest mistake the angler make when fishing for bream is that they use to heavy a sinker, these fish are very smart and anything that plummets to the bottom will be left alone, try to imitate what happens naturally, so lightly weight your baits.
Report 15/6/19
It is all
about the flathead in the Maroochy River; quality fish have be caught in the
lower stretches of the river with the best results seeming to be on the run out
tide. Whole fish baits like small pilchards, hardy heads and frogmouth
pilchards have been the best dead bait offerings. For those of you that love
chasing them on lures, soft plastics in both the 4" paddle tails and prawn
profiles have been successful. There have been plenty of quality whiting caught
around Chambers Island, Picnic Point, the Black Banks and Nojoor Rd areas.
Worms' baits have been securing the better fish. The light wind conditions have
been perfect for chasing whiting with surface lures. Popper around the 70mm
size has been very successful. Some good sized tailor are showing up around in
the lower stretches of the river. Live baits and fresh flesh baits have been
the best option to target these fish. The night owls have seen the odd jew
caught around the deeper sections of the river. Paddle vibes and live baits
have been accounting for some good fish when fished around heavy structure.
Trevally catches will also improve over the next week with that morning and
afternoon tide, poppers and surface walkers have claimed some great fish in the
low light periods.
On the beach; live worm baits have been accounting for some good whiting from the gutters along Marcoola beach and the Maroochy North Shore. Those same gutters have been producing good sized tailor at dusk and dawn. Dart and bream are in good numbers on the high tides. We are still hearing of good school jew around the rocks at Yaroomba with local squid and fresh mullet the ideal baits. For those that are planning the trip to Fraser, reports of tailor are starting to filter in. Don't forget to buy your baits locally as bait on the Island can be a bit pricy.
For the offshore anglers; the wind and swell conditions last week were a bit average with both the wind and swell up, but after the change on Sunday this week is looking great for offshore. Report are coming in of large cobia being caught around Murphies and the Outer Gneerings. Fishing with live baits like yakkas and slimies on a floater rig has seen the best results on these fish. Coolum Reef has producing sweetlip, moses perch snapper and trout. Fishing hard to the reef with a size 10 ball sinker right down to the hook has been very successful. Mackerel are starting to move north as the water temperatures drops but there are still a few rouge spanish and smaller schools of spotted mackerel and tuna rounding up bait schools. Snapper numbers are defiantly starting to improve with better fish showing on the closer reefs. The Gneerings, Currimundi, and Coolum reefs are all worth a look. Fishing through a burly trail with a pilchard floater is a great way to land a knobby.
Report 7/6/19
With some
perfect winter days over the last couple of weeks Anglers have been out in
force on the river. The Flathead have been in good numbers with the area around
Oyster Bank Rd, Bradman Ave and Picnic Point hotspots with the locals, table
fish around the 40 to 50cm mark have been happy to take small baits like hardy
heads, prawns and small pilchards, soft plastic have also been a popular choice
with pinks and reds colors perfect for the job, give the Zman Streakz Curly
tails a go. The predatory fish have been in good numbers in the river,
trevally, tailor and queenies have all been beating up bait schools as they
come into the river on the rising tide. Areas like the Jet Ski Run, the current
line around the tip of Goat Island and of course the bridge pylons on the
traffic bridge have all been hotspots. Casting small micro jigs and either
working them off the bottom or retrieving them at speed has worked very well.
The bream are really starting to fire with the river mouth right the way up to
Bli Bli Bridge seeing good fish, fish over the 30cm mark are not uncommon and
hit like a train. Good baits have been whitebait, mullet gut and fowl gut as
well as strip baits like mullet and bonito. If you love chasing them with lures
the new Chubby 35 from Jackall are a great choice.
Offshore angler were not deterred by the rain and were happy to again be spoilt with some great wind and swell conditions last week, squire and sweetlip have been plentiful with some nice snapper amongst them, the Gneerings is the place to be with anglers that are burling up seeing some great results. The key to burley is don't overdo it; too much and you will attract the sharks. The Barwon Banks have also been producing some great pearlies snapper and cobia. Another reef often forgotten is Currimundi Reef, this reef holds some great sweetlip snapper and the odd tusky. As the reef is quite shallow soft plastics work a treat, fishing the Zman scented Jerk shads on light jig heads has seen some outstanding results. Pelagics are still about with some good mackerel still take, number are starting to dwindle on the southern reefs but if you head up to Sunshine or North Reef you may come across some.
On the beach there are plenty of good gutter with large bream schooling up and snacking on passing bait fish. Add to the mix, some nice whiting and tailor and the odd jewie and the beach fisherman have been having a fine old time. For those angler that have been braving the cool morning and fishing into the night there have been some nice tailor taken at the mouth of the Maroochy River. They are feeding on small bait fish that are brought in on the tide. Rather than bait give soft plastics a go, try the Zman MinnowZ in the 3 inch, cast as far as you can and retrieve quickly, the paddle tail put out a nice vibration through the water they leave a trail like a fleeing bait fish which is the main course for a hungry tailor.
Report 31/5/19
What a
fantastic weekend it was for Anglers last weekend. It was great to see so many
family's out enjoying all that the Maroochy River has to offer. Down towards
the river mouth the rocks around Pincushion Island have been great for some
nice bream. Fowl Gut and Mullet Gut have both been great baits. For those
throwing slugs there have been a few tailor as well as some good sized
trevally. Soft plastics have also been working well when retrieved at speed.
It's coming to that time of the year where the flathead seem to grow in numbers
in the river and there are some outstanding fish being caught. Work those sand
or mud banks as the fish will lie in these area warming themselves in the
warmer shallower waters. I like the lighter coloured soft plastics in the
clearer water and fish the brighter colours in the darker water. Upriver the
deeper holes past Coolum Creek have been good for some smaller jew, fishing
well weighted soft plastics with a paddle tail seem to be very successful.
Whiting angler are reporting quality fish around Chambers Island, Black Banks
and even as far up as the banks near the Bli Bli Bridge, worms, yabbies and
peeled prawns on a size four long shank hook has been the best approach.
On the beach things have also been firing, tailor are on the mind of most angler as the head to the beach in search of a good feed. Unfortunately numbers have been down a little this week as we have had those smaller tides. As we move into the new moon this weekend we should see some better tailor come in along with those bigger jew, fishing the run in tide will be the key along with a good gutter, give fresh mullet, pilchards, squid and worms a try. Most of the bigger fish will be taken in the low light periods. So an early start or a fish just on dark is prime time.
Outside the closer reefs have really been fishing well. Good sweetlip, trout, pan sized snapper, and cod have all been on the menu. Sunshine Reef, the Gneerings and Coolum Reef have all come up with the goods. Mackerel and tuna continue to be caught with a couple of quality fish taken. Out on the Barwon Banks larger snapper, pearl perch, cobia and jew have all been accounted for. Live yakkas have been the baits of choice fished through a good burly trail, don't overdo in with the burley as all you will do is attract the sharks. For those tuna lovers you will have to head a bit further north as the waters cool, good report of longtail have come from North Reef and further up around Double Island.
Report 23/5/19
With some
average weather and a full moon phase last weekend, those that did find a
window to sneak out the close reef found they were running hot. The offshore
conditions are due to improve this week so a run to the Barwon Banks should see
some good results. Snapper always seem to come on the bite around the full moon
with the best time the lead up to the moon, other options you may find at the
banks are pearl perch, cobia, jew, sweetlip cod, trout and hussar. There have
been quite a few large cobia and jew taken on most of the offshore reefs, these
fish are mainly hitting floaters that are fished in a burley trail. Closer in
the Gneerings and Coolum reef should be good for squire sized snapper, grass
sweetlip and moses perch, try slimy mackerel, squid and pillies as baits.
Cooler mornings on the Maroochy River has seen good bream on the chew, with most fish favouring the mouth of the river in the deeper channels and around the pontoons that line the canals. Best baits have been the mullet strips, fowl gut, prawns and live yabbies. Trevally and queenfish have been smashing surface lures like popper and surface walkers around the current lines near black banks. Flathead have been in the lower reaches and taking small pillies, hardy heads and prawns, soft plastics have also been fantastic on the flatties with pinks, reds and chartreuse all colours that flathead love. Stick to the run out tide to secure the better fish. The Dog beach, Chamber Island and Cotton Tree is seeing some good whiting on the run out tide with most fish taking worms and yabbies. Good size Tailor re also starting to show up at the river mouth, most fish have been taken on the run up and top of the tide. Throwing small metal lures around the 15 to 40 grams with a medium to fast retrieve should see you land a feed.
The beaches have been very productive with good size dart around Marcoola and Mudjimba beaches, fish the run in tide and the top of the tide for the better fish, and the best baits have been beach worms and pipis. Whiting are still about in the gutters just north of the river mouth, with most catches taken on worms in the last half of the run out. Some nice trevally have come from the Maroochy North Shore with the area just north of Pincushion particularly good! Pilchards on a gang of 3 x 4/0 or 3/0 hooks has secured the fish. The better tides have been the run in. It's been a good week for the jewies with the big fish loving the last of the run in tide. Reports have shown that after dark before moon rise is the prime time, using mullet fillets, whole squid and beach worms has been the key.
Report 16/5/19
With the
wind and swell not quit playing the game over the weekend most offshore reports
came from late last week. Quality snapper are starting to show with some bigger
model coming from the southern reefs last week, Coolum Reef has been fishing
well with squire, sweetlip, cod and jew all claimed last week. For those with
the bigger boat that can handle the conditions, heading to the Caloundra Wide
has been productive for quality snapper, pearlies, jew, sweetlip and cod. Some
local anglers also headed to the Barwon Banks last week and bagged some good
snapper, cod and pearl perch. The tuna have been nuts with large schools just
offshore, the schools consist of mainly Mack tuna but there are some good long
tails amongst them. Fishing slugs and fast moving soft plastics on lighter gear
has been a test for anglers. Mackerel have been a bit hit and miss with some
angler's donutting and others hitting a purple patch, one angler last Friday managed
three fish over the 10kg and lost another two. Floater pilchards have been the
most productive with large trolled dead baits accounting for some good fish as
In the Maroochy River, trevally have been in good numbers and seem to be traveling in small schools with dawn and sunset the prime attack times. Fishing down towards the mouth with surface presentations have been the most exciting and effective ways to target these fish. Quality tailor have also been feeding amongst these trevally so you will have to upsize your leader. As night falls there are still plenty of fish on offer so switch to soft plastics with larger paddle tails or grub tails. Queenfish have also been in the mix with the early morning and around the turn of the tide the best times. Good numbers of bream are starting to show throughout the lower estuary, they provide great fun on light line with lightly weighted fresh mullet pieces or prawns as bait. The area between Eudlo and Petrie Creek has been holding good amounts of bait so predators like tailor, giant trevally and diamond trevally have been feeding hard, plastics like the Zman 2.5"- 3" GrubZ have been the go to plastic for catching these feisty fish . Larger presentations like soft vibes and bigger plastics have been accounting for jew and large flathead in the same area. Quality flathead have also been taking from the lower reaches of the river on the run out tide, smaller fish baits like frog mouthed pilchards, hardy heads and whitebait on small ganged hooks have claimed some great fish.
On the Beach, Good numbers of bream and whiting have all come from the gutters on the Maroochy North shore. Live beachworms have been one of the best baits, good quality jew have also come from the deeper gutters with the night high tide getting the best results. We are starting to see more and more tailor showing up on most Sunshine Coast beaches, angler's fished pilchards and mullet strip baits. For the kids finding a close gutter should see you with plenty of dart and you won't have to cast far. Worm, squid and prawns are the perfect baits with the bigger fish coming around the top of the tide.
Report 10/5/19
With the
great conditions we have been having, it's hard to leave the boat sitting in
the shed. Out the front tuna are still in good numbers. Coral trout are still
plentiful around Sunshine Reef as well as sweetlip and squire. Fishing hard to
the bottom is the real key when it comes to targeting coral trout, so the
sinker just above the hook is the key, Micro Jigging has also been the way to
attract a nice reef fish, give the Palm slow blatts a go, these Jigs come in a
range of colors and weights and are perfect for the shallower reefs. Snapper
are starting to come on the chew, with some nice fish coming from the Barwon
Banks, the pilchard floater method has been the most productive, Pearl Perch,
Maori Cod, Sweetlip and Jewies have also been getting in on the action with
some outstand fish boated over the past week. The Gneerings, Coolum and
Currimundi reefs are all holding quality pan sized Reef fish. Spanish Mackerel
are still about with plenty of fish taken on deep diving lures, the closer
reefs seem to be more productive.
The Maroochy River Mouth has really turned it on this week with everything from school jew, bream, trevally and tailor moving over the bar and through the mouth on the run in tide. Whiting have been in good numbers around the Black Banks, Chambers Island and Cotton tree, small poppers and live yabbies have proven really successful in landing the bigger fish. Early morning starts, around the Cod Hole and the mouths of Petrie and Eudlo Creeks has proved to be worthwhile for trevally, bream and flathead. With plenty of prawns in the river a lot of the fish have been falling victim to a slow rolled Zerek Hot Legs live Shrimp. Further up river at the deeper sections near Bli Bli islands has been the spot to be for some good sized school jew, live baits and soft plastic paddle vibe lures like the Thumper Tails from Samaki lures have been coming up with the goods. Casting around the snags and rock bars up towards Dunethin Rock has seen the odd good jacks caught over the past week. Suspending Hard body lures have been perfect when targeting jacks.
The Maroochy Northshore Beaches have been fishing particularly well, with whiting, bream, dart and flathead coming from between the Life Guard Tower down to the mouth, worms, pippies and small pillies have proven the best baits for them. Tailor Jew and larger flathead have been caught between Marcoola Surf Club up to Yaroomba rocks. The rocks at Yaroomba and Coolum have been good for squire and sweetlip, with some lucky anglers doing battle with tuna and smaller mackerel.
Report 3/5/19
With a
couple of great days over the weekend with light winds and low swell plenty of
angler took advantage and headed offshore to get into the action. Reef like the
Gneerings Coolum and Sunshine all reported good fish over the weekend.
Pearlies, tuskies, jewfish, snapper and sweetlip were all on the chew. Using a
live bait rig to get some fresh Slimy Mackerel or Yakka's has proved to be
worthwhile as live baits seem to be getting inhaled as soon as they get to the
bottom. Large strip baits have also been popular with fresh mullet and hussar
working well. When fishing bait a consistent stream of burley will really help
the cause, having some pre-mixed burley or burley logs and Tuna oil to help get
you into the action. For the lure anglers; soft plastics have been working
exceptionally well, jerk shad style lures in either Motor Oil, Nuclear Chicken
or pink have been the go. The lead up to the new moon this weekend we should
see snapper number really pick up. Those that have larger craft that did the
run to the outer reefs, there was plenty of offer with some big amberjack,
kingies, snapper, pearl perch, cobia and cod climbing on any live baits fished
close to the reefs. Knife jigs have also been working well, dropped to the
bottom and ripped up at speed has seen plenty of monster fish leave the bottom
in pursuit of these fast moving jigs. The pelagic run still seems to be going
on with plenty of quality mackerel and tuna taken from most of the reefs,
probably the best advice is to get to the north of the feeding schools and let
the fish come to you.
In the river we have seen some big Flathead from the lower part of the system. These have been caught on a wide range of baits from livies to whitebait and of course soft plastics. The tailor are making a stronger presence each week as they start to make their way north. The mouth of the river is where we are seeing most of the action with some nice trevally also in the mix. It's important to upsize your leaders when the tailor are around as they can get through some gear if the leader is to light. The bigger fish are falling to a range of trolled lures and surface lures and fresh strip baits fished on small gang hooks. Live beach worms have been accounting for quality whiting in the lower parts of the river when rigged with lighter leaders and worm hooks. Fishing areas like black Banks Picnic Point and Chambers Island have all seen great results. Some big bream are also starting to show up as the water start to cool, fishing around pontoons and jetties with unweighted prawns has been working well.
Fishing along the Maroochy North shore has been very popular with some bigger fish on the morning and afternoon tides, jew 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. The best jew bite is always around the new moon. There is still a strong presence of Whiting, Dart and good sized Bream on most of the close gutters.
Report 18/4/19
anglers where well rewarded over the first week of the school Holidays with
some fishable conditions last week that allowing them to fish just not only the
close in reefs but out wide as well. Areas that fired included the Gneerings
and Currimundi Reefs where snapper, grass sweetlip, cod trout and tusk fish
were on the chew. Try quality baits like pillies and slimy mackerel to ensure
better catches. Up to the north off Coolum saw pelagic's on fire with quality
long tails and the odd spanish mackerel on the menu. The long tail and Mack
tuna were hot for small bait fish presentation slugs like the River2Sea Sea
Rocks while the spanish were taking live yakka's and floated dead baits down
the burley trail. Out on the banks quality snapper sizes are on the increase
with the top of the banks producing the bigger fish. All species responded well
to local squid, pillies and live baits. There have been some nice pearlies and
cobia coming from Wide Caloundra with whole slimeys and large local squid
landing the bigger fish.
In the Maroochy River flathead are loving soft plastics around the back of Goat Island and the stretch along the ski run with bloodworm and motor oil the winning colours. If using bait try the mouth of Eudlo Creek with small pilchards on a ganged hook rig on the run out tide. The river has been very popular over the last month for crabs with catches in the areas up river from the Bli Bli Bridge to Coolum Creek. There have been plenty of jennies in the pots driving anglers mad but there are a few good bucks amongst them. Baiting your pots heavy with fresh mullet has been the key to bigger crabs. If you are looking to fish the run in stick to shallows along Chambers Island, Cotton Tree and Picnic Point for some decent whiting. Quality whiting really enjoy live bait at the moment so try pumping some yabbies or soldier crabs to give you that little extra chance of a great catch. Mangrove jacks are still around with all reported catches on live bait around Twin Waters, the Cod Hole and Petrie Creek. Anglers have reported the odd larger bream just inside the mouth, hopefully this is the start of the winter bream spawning season.
The local beaches have a good range of gutters at the moment so try hitting the stretch from of beach from Peregian to Mudjimba as this section is holding dart and whiting with the bigger dart at the rear of the gutter when it's at its fullest. With the full moon this weekend the jew may slow a little, try fish the dark period between sunset and moonrise. There have been some nice jew taken over the last couple of week but with most just under the metre mark. Whiting still on the bite and will favour the last half of the run out while staying closer in the gutter. Use popular baits like worms, pipis and fresh yabbies to ensure a quality catch. If you like to chase your own live worms Peregian and Marcoola Beaches have showed the better results.
Report 12/4/19
With some
fantastic weather for the start of the school holidays plenty of anglers were
out and about. In the river Mouth the winter bream are just starting to come in
with the rocks off Pincushion Island producing some nice fish, trevally have
also been in numbers around the top of the tide, baits that are working is the
good old half pilchard, mullet strip baits and mullet gut. Trevally and
queenies are coming back onto the bite inside Twin Waters on the bigger tides
with the fish responding well to live baits and soft plastics. Keitech Easy
Shiners in both the 3" and 4" sizes have been working well. Whiting are in good
numbers around Chambers Island sandbanks, small poppers or surface walkers have
been claiming some nice elbow slappers. Upriver the stretch from Coolum Creek
to Dunethin Rock has been fishing well for the odd school size jew and mangrove
jack, look for those deeper sections of the river, slow hopped Transam vibes
and Zerek Swimbaits have been claiming their fair
share. There are still plenty of crabs in the system and with the rains over
the last couple of weeks they are up and walking. Fresh mullet is a great bait
for the big bucks.
The beach has also been fishing well with the gutters along Maroochy North Shore starting to produce some good numbers of dart, tarwhine and bream on the incoming tide. Pilchards, worms and fresh mullet have all been working well. Another great way to improve your catches on the beach is adding various attractors to your rigs, such as glow beads and red tubing. This last week has been the optimum time for the night anglers with the large evening tide and minimal moon light. This is the perfect time to chase the jew, there has been plenty of reports of fish with a lot undersize, still there has been the odd keeper amongst them. Fresh mullet, local squid and big clumps of worms have been great baits. Another great tip is to keep as much light as possible off the water.
For the offshore anglers, longtail and mac tuna have been in great numbers in-close over the past couple of weeks with good schools showing up around Old Woman Island. Slugs in smaller sizes have been the way to go as the tuna are feeding on very small baitfish. The Sea Rocks from River2sea have been a favorite with the lighter colors working best. The reef fish have also been very popular targets of late. With good snapper starting to show up as well as trout, spangled emperor and nice sweetlip all on the menu. The Gneerings has been fishing well and with depths ranging from around 10m – 15m, it's the perfect place to target a few nice reefies. When fishing this area, try using soft plastic lures. Fished nice and close to the bottom, plastics tend to draw the bigger fish from the schools. Another thing to remember when chasing reef fish on soft plastics it all about the presentation, try and use the lightest weight jig head possibly for the run. With a couple of good weather day this week plenty of anglers are planning to run wide, the Barwon Bank should hold some bigger snapper, pearl perch, cod, cobia and Jew.
Report 5/4/19
have been plentiful with good catches reported thru out the lower reaches of
the Maroochy River. With the recent run off plenty of larger fish have headed
down river giving local anglers bigger and better catches. Best areas for
whiting have been Black Banks, Chambers Island, Cotton tree and the banks
around Goat Island. Best performing baits have been worms, yabbies and soldier
crabs. With the predicted South Easterly winds fishing poppers from the
southern side of the river would also worth a shot. Flathead have been around
with catches of nice fish taken on lures and bait. If you're lure fishing then
plastic is the way to go try the Zman Grubs and Squidgy Prawns in darker
colours. Popular areas the mouth of Eudlo and Petrie Creek on the last half of
the run out. Bait fisherman on the other hand have found drifting small pillies
along the channel edges giving them the best results. The run in and top of the
tide has been good for trevally with most fish taken on surface lures. Lower
reaches of the river has shown catches of Sand Crabs, the mud crabs are coming
from further up river and are walking, get those pots in deep as they will be
looking for the more saline water, try the deeper sections near the Bli Bli
On the beaches, has shown good whiting this week with most catches coming from the low water gutters. Try using quality beach worms on a Blood Worm hook sized 4 or 6 for those bigger fish. Peregian down to Stumers Creek and Yaroomba down to Marcoola beach have been the pick of spots. Trevally have also been in the gutters with the high tide the time to pick them up along with some of the bigger dart, prawns small pilchards and whitebait have been showing the better results. If you are looking for jew hit those high tide gutters with strip baits such as bonito and mullet on a Tru Turn strip bait rig.
Offshore fishing anglers were a little hard done by the weather with only a small window early on the weekend. Most reports are from earlier in the week, anglers hit the close in reefs like the Gneerings, Murphys and Currimundi all reported catches of snapper, moses perch, and grass sweetlip with baits such as pillies and local squid. A good tip when on these grounds is to troll around as solid cobia have been caught this way. The tuna schools have been very large with plenty of long tails on offer, the trick is to get to the north of them and let them come to you, casting slugs and stick baits has been very successful. Out wider on the Barwon banks produced quality snapper, sweetlip, pearlies, and jew.
Report 21/3/19
The weekend
was perfect for the offshore angler with low swell and light winds making it
very busy time on the water. The closer areas such as the Gneerings and
Currimundi seem to the favourites with snapper, grass sweetlip and parrot fish
all on the menu. Best performing baits were pillies, slimy mackerel and local squid.
Spanish mackerel have been taking slowed trolled skirted baits and deep diving
lures with the Barwon Banks, Chardon's and Currimundi reefs all showing good
fish. Coolum reef has also seen plenty of action with quality long tails at
first light and large spotted mackerel once the sun rose. Most anglers reported
fish taking small bait fish profile slugs or pillies floated down the burley
trail. Up to the north saw Sunshine and North Reef producing squire, venus tusk
fish, good size maori cod and some good quality coral trout. Fishing hard to
the reef is the key to picking up some good trout so a sz 10 ball sinker right
at the top of the hook is the best rig. Best baits have been local squid,
pillies and live baits. Plastics and jigs have also raised some nice fish with
the Zman Coconut Ice in the Jerk Shads a real favourite in the plastics, and
the Entice flops are great for the jiggers.
The Maroochy River was very popular over the weekend with some good sized crabs on the menu. Better crabs came from the areas up river from the Motorway Bridge to Coolum Creek. Baiting your pots heavy with fresh mullet has been the key to bigger crabs. Flathead are taking on soft plastics around the back of Goat Island and up the top side of Eudlo Creek. If using bait try the mouth of Petrie Creek and down river from the motorway bridge to Nojoor Road boat ramp with prawns, whitebait and pilchards on the run out tide. Grunter bream have also been in good numbers around Bli Bli Bridge up to Bli Bli Islands, small strip baits of mullet or bonito have worked well. Fishing the run in tide try the shallows along Chambers Island and Picnic Point for some decent whiting, most fish are taking fresh yabbies and worms. Mangrove jacks are also on the move with the stormy weather over the last week, surface lures very popular at the moment up Eudlo and Petrie Creeks. For the bait fisherman, try live baiting around the Motorway Bridge, Maroochy Waters and Twin Waters. Trevally numbers are also picking up along the beach near the mouth just inside Pin Cushion on the run in tide. Surface lures such as the Nomad Riptide and Chug Norris worked hard have seen some great results.
With the beaches seeing some big swell earlier in the month there are plenty of gutters to choose from at the moment, The Marcoola to Mudjimba stretch is showing some perfect holes that will hold dart and whiting with the bigger dart at the rear of the gutter at the top of the tide. The whiting will favour the last half of the run out while staying closer in the gutter. Popular baits have been worms, pipis and fresh yabbies. Pin Cushion Island would be the pick of the spots if looking to throw a pillie for tailor. Try the gutters just on the northern side of the rocks as well.
Report 8/3/19
With the
winds calming down a little and a bit of fresh in the water the Maroochy is
starting to pick up a little on the fishing front, trevally numbers are
improving around the mouth and Cotton Tree area with larger fish chasing bait
brought in on the tide. Flathead also seem to be improving in both fish caught
and size, plastics like the Zman Minnowz in the 3inch size have been popular on
a 1/6 jig head. Cast up into the shallows and rolled back into the deeper water
seem to be the best technique. Jack have been a little quiet with most fish
reported coming from the upper reaches around the old cane bridge. Whiting have
been in good numbers around Black Banks, Chambers Island and Picnic Point.
Worms,' prawns and yabbies have all been great baits. Bream numbers are also
starting to improve with plenty of fish hanging around the pontoons in Maroochy
Waters and Twin Waters. Casting very lightly weighted soft plastics on very
light braided lines at the shadow lines of the pontoons has been the way most
of the lure anglers have been getting them. Crabs are also on the move with
fresh water starting to run into the system, sinking pots into the deeper holes
has seen some nice bucks coming from the upper reaches.
With the beaches scarfed out there are some great gutters on offer, we should see a few jew and tailor just after the new moon cruising those gutters so get out the big rods, come in and grab some fresh mullet and get amongst them. The whiting and dart will be feeding on pippies and worms that have been exposed with the weather so get the family down there and have a cast with some worms or yabbies. Off the rocks you may pick up a sweetlip or squire first thing in the morning as well.
On the offshore scene things were still a bit lumpy outside, a couple of crew did get out on jet skis and picked up some nice tuna. This weekend we are hoping the weather will come good and we can head out and get amongst them. With very little fishing pressure there is going to be plenty to choose from with big mackerel on the cards, live baits will be the first over the side just lightly weighted, a soft plastic also making its way to the bottom, having a few dead baits is also handy just in case you can't get any live bait. Slow trolling larger baits like slimy mackerel, sauri and large pilchards on chin guards is also a great way to go. If you are going to anchor up then get that burley happening, cut pilchard are a good start but a frozen block on the bottom is perfect and if you can position it up current you will be fishing in the burley trail. Remember the close reefs will have plenty of bait on them so give them a go before heading out to wide.
Report 21/2/19
Maroochy River has seen some nice whiting taken over the past week with plenty
of quality fish caught. For the lure anglers whiting have been taking a strong
liking to surface walking lures such as Bassday Sugapens and Nomad Dartwings in
the 70mm size. Wading the sand flats around Chambers Island, Black Banks or
casting over the banks near the Jet Ski run has been the spots to be, fishing
the bottom of the tide and the start of the run in is the best time to chase
these tasty fish. For the bait angler getting fresh bait is the way to go, so
pumping those yabbies or collecting soldier crabs have been the perfect baits.
Flathead numbers are still strong with plenty of legal fish on offer. Plastics
fishing is a great way to chase flathead, tie on a 3" or 4" size paddle tail
soft plastic and working it across the bottom has seen some good results around
the shallow waters on the run out tide. Keitech Easy Shiners and the Zman
MinnowZ are the perfect flathead soft plastic with realistic colouring and
great swimming action these plastics are dynamite on big flathead. The upper
reaches of the river worth a look, with good size school Jew, flathead and even
jacks on the bite. Getting out early in the morning is the key with fish
tending to feed more aggressively as the sun starts to rise. You will also find
that darker lures in low light periods seem to work that bit better as the fish
see the silhouette. Crabs have been a bit hit and miss but for those that know
the river there has still been some good hauls of bucks.
On the beaches dart in great numbers, mid tide seems to see the smaller ones with the bigger fish on the incoming tide. The beachfront has also been good for quality whiting and bream. Maroochy Northshore Beach has had a few scattered gutters which have been producing fish. Low tide and the start of the run is the key with fish moving up into the shallows to feed. Peeled prawns and cured worms have had the most success. Fishing the top of the tide has seen the odd tailor along with bigger bream, trevally and the odd smaller jew from around the coffee rocks at Mudjimba and down towards Pincushion Island.
Offshore; the wind has still been pretty full on, with a few windows earlier last week to make a run outside. For those that could get out the Inner Gneerings has had decent size snapper along with pearl perch and sweetlip. When fishing the close reefs burley is key and if you can freeze it and get it to the bottom in a burley pot all the better. Pelagic numbers are still good with plenty of spotted mackerel Mack tuna and the odd spanish, fishing the bait schools with small to medium Micro jigs around 20gr or slugs around the 40g size have been claiming their fair share of fish.
Report 14/2/19
anglers where well rewarded over the weekend with some fishable conditions, the
swell was up a little but light variable winds made it tolerable. Areas that
fired included Gneerings and Currimundi Reefs where snapper, grass sweetlip and
spotted mackerel were on the chew. Try quality baits like pillies and local
squid to ensure better catches. Up to the north off Coolum saw pelagic's on
fire with quality long tails and mackerel on the menu. The long tails were hot
for small bait fish presentation slugs like the River2Sea Sea Rocks while the
spanish were taking live yakka's and floated dead baits down the burley trail.
Down on the Currimundi is where the snapper and sweetlip are on the increase
with the middle to the top of the tide producing the bigger fish. All species
responded well to local squid, pillies and live baits. Large cobia have been
coming from Wide Caloundra with whole slimeys and yakkas landing the bigger
fish. Mack tuna have been on the boil with Old Women Island and Arkwright
shoals the best areas with most fish responding to metal lures on the cast.
The Maroochy River has been very popular over the last month for crabs with catches in the areas up river from the Bli Bli Bridge to Coolum Creek. Baiting your pots heavy with fresh mullet has been the key to bigger crabs. Flathead are loving soft plastics around the back of Goat Island and the stretch along the ski run with bloodworm and motor oil the winning colours. School jew are also in good numbers, if using bait try the mouth of Eudlo Creek with baby blue pilchards on a snooded rig on the run out tide. Looking to fish the run in stick to shallows along Chambers Island and Picnic Point for some decent whiting. Quality whiting really enjoy live bait at the moment so try pumping some yabbies or soldier crabs to give you that little extra chance of a great catch. Mangrove jacks are still around with all reported catches on live bait around the Cod Hole. Anglers have reported tailor and trevally just inside the mouth with trolling lures in the deeper channels landing the fish. Twin Waters has been fishing well for both queenfish and trevally on the incoming tide.
The local beaches have a good range of gutters at the moment so try hitting the stretch from of beach from Peregian to Mudjimba as this section is holding dart and whiting with the bigger dart at the rear of the gutter when it's at its fullest. Fishing a couple of days after the new moon last weekend certainly opened up a can of worms with some nice Jew and tailor taken on the run in tide. Whiting still on the bite and will favour the last half of the run out while staying closer in the gutter. Use popular baits like worms, pipis and fresh yabbies to ensure a quality catch. If you like to chase your own live worms Peregian and Marcoola Beaches have showed the better results.
Report 25/1/19
mackerel have certainly turned a corner this week with the catch sizes
improving dramatically. Anglers have been working the schools of bait with both
slugs and stick baits, for the bait angler if you are anchored or on the drift,
float pillies on a gang of three 5/0 Mustad or Tru-turn ganged . A great tip
when floating pillies for mackerel is to place an octopus skirt in front of the
gang for extra attraction, Areas showing great results have been Caloundra
wide, Arkwright shoals, Outer Gneerings and Sunshine reef. The Spanish are
still playing the game down deep with the best fish taken on a deep slow troll.
Pan size squire along with sweetlip and moses perch have been taken on the
Gneerings, Coolum and murphy's reef. Sunshine reef is producing good coral
trout, moses perch and squire. Coolum reef has seen large moses perch, venus
tusk fish and sweetlip, with best baits have been mullet, pilchards and squid.
The wear at Twin Waters has seen the trevally taking surface lures, while in the river the flathead love nothing better than the Keitech East Shiner soft plastics in either the three or four inch. Whiting are still in good numbers down river on the Black Banks, Chambers Island and the sand bars adjacent picnic point. Try using worms and live yabbies on a run in tide when fishing these areas. If heading up river try the mouth of Coolum creek and Dunethin Rock for some quality jack on deep diving suspending lures like the Zerek Tango Shad 69mm. The suspending lure has the advantage of keeping your lure longer in the water column therefore increasing your catch rate. There are still good numbers of Mud crabs up river and make sure both your pot and floats are marked as fisheries are clearing the river of old or improperly marked pots at the moment.
Our beaches are still producing good size whiting on sand worms, try using a long shank hook in size four or six to get better hook up rate. Dart have increased in size in the last week with the better fish taken on pipis and mullet strips around the top of the tide. The rocks around Yaroomba and pin cushion have seen catches of sweetlip and squire, with small pilchards and local squids been the better baits. A good tip to increase your catch rate when beach and rock fishing, is to drop small amounts of berley around your feet so it can disperse slowly with the wave motion. This allows the fish to be attracted to your bait without them being over fed.
Report 11/1/19
With the
strong winds and showers over the past week has certainly seen good catches of
crabs in the river. These tasty crustaceans have been caught not only in the
popular creeks like Eudlo and Petrie, with better than average catches in the
main river system. A good tip when fishing the river is to place your pots at
different depths, by this I mean to place your pots close and wide from the
river bank. Twin Waters seems to be the jack hot spot with fish between 50 to
60cm been taken under the bridges, with strips of bonito or suspending lures
like the Zerek Tango Shad 69mm have been the favourite. If heading up river
wanting to chase a jack or jewfish try using lightly weighted fresh mullet and
bonito fillets. This method has been producing the better catches in those
snaggy areas. If fishing the deeper holes up river, bouncing Fish Candy soft
vibes of the bottom is securing nice size jack. Down river around Chambers
Island and Black Banks have been the whiting hot spots with worms, peeled
prawns and live yabbies being the best bait. Don't forget if the whiting are a
little timid drop your hook size and place red tube above the hook, this will
improve your hook up rate. The motorway bridge is still producing jewfish on
live bait with the fish showing up mostly at night.
On the beaches has seen tasty whiting taken in the shallow gutters on beach worms. The dart have been in the higher water gutters on the run out with pipis and mullet strips producing the better fish. The hot bite this week has been large tailor in the river mouth. If wanting to target these fish the best tides have been the run in at night. The popular rig is two 3/0 Tru Turn hooks ganged with a swivel then baited with a good strip of bonito fillet.
The offshore reports have been little quiet due to the weather late last week and earlier this week, but those that did brave the small windows of weather saw good pelagics on the outer Gneerings. Throwing small slugs like the Sea Rock have been popular because of their realistic bait fish pattern. Arkwright shoals and Coolum reef have had the elusive Spanish mackeral eating trolled lures such as the Samaki Pacemaker. Make sure if you do fish this area try getting to Coolum before first light and float pilchards for a snapper or two. The spanner crabs are on the bite, popular areas have been the 40m line off Coolum reef and the 35m line north of the Gneerings. Best bait for these ocean bound frogs has been pilchards, make sure to place them in a bait bag to ensure longevity.S
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