Once again the annual Riverfest was celebrated along the shores of the Noosa River under clear skies with lots of entertainment and plenty of boats and fishing. Displays from local boat retailers, as well as some innovative products, kept the crowds interested while the fishing comp weigh station recorded a steady stream of live fish.

The numbers of fish recorded were a little lower than last year, quite probably due to the cooler conditions and cooler discoloured water resulting from nagging periods of rain that just wont go away. No mangrove jacks were weighed in this year, again indicative of the cooler conditions.

The major prize went to a very excited Bryce Francis who fished both days with his Dad Clay, and weighed in flathead and bream. Bryce took home a fully rigged out fishing kayak worth around $2000!

The river has continued to fish slowly, however there have been plenty of tailor and a few trevally, flathead and bream mostly in the lower reaches. Local guide Phippsy reports plenty of school jewies taking soft plastics and quality trevally on poppers, even two at a time on occasions!

The luderick hunters have been hitting their straps lately with some quality fish coming in at the rock wall near the river mouth. This is specialist angling and it is worth a look when the fish are on. Bill Watson has some great footage of these guys on his web site – http://www.fishingnoosa.com.au/luderick.htm .

Offshore there have been fantastic catches of snapper with some real crackers in the 6-8kg class coming in from North and Sunshine reefs. Quality coral trout are still being caught too, mostly at Sunshine Reef. This trout activity is likely to slow down considerably during the cooler months, but they are a year round option. This has been one of the best years for trout for a long time, and many anglers have come home with a feed of sensational coral trout, or in my case just the memory of being comprehensively drilled into the reef. But one day….

Along with the trout have been plenty of Chinaman fish. These are a no take species and as such they must be returned to the water unharmed immediately after capture. This is related to the risk of ciguatera poisoning.

Sweetlip, tuskies, cobia and pearl perch are also featuring on catch lists, so get out there and have a go. Be wary of the bar, and report in to Noosa Coastguard on Channel 22 in both directions.

Boaties that head further afield to Double Island Point, The Hards and the Barwon Banks have seen quality red emperor, yellowtail kingfish, amberjack and scarlet sea perch. Not a bad list is it? Better quality table fish simply don’t exist so we are truly blessed to have these fish available to us, along with snapper, trout and pearlies closer to Noosa.

It seems that common sense has prevailed at last with the announcement from the Queensland Fisheries Minister Craig Wallace that there will be no further snapper closures. The in possession limit will be four snapper, instead of five, and only one of the catch can exceed 70cm. The remaining snapper must be within 35cm and 70cm.