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Night anglers have been well rewarded
  |  First Published: March 2017



Flathead have been in great numbers in the Noosa system. The channel in Lake Cooroibah, as well as the deeper section at the mouth of the lake, has seen some quality fish landed. Drifting whole fish baits like frogmouth pilchards, hardiheads and whitebait has been very successful. Prawn profile soft plastics like the new ZMan ShrimpZ have also been very effective.

The Noosa River mouth has also been fishing well for large flathead on the run-out tide, and live herring have claimed some monster females. For those that love to use live baits, live poddy mullet or herring fished late into the night around heavy structure has been producing some outstanding mangrove jack. The run-out tide after a warmer than usual day seems to be the best time to chase these fish. There have been some good whiting taken from around the Dog Beach and Munna Point areas. Live worms and freshly pumped yabbies have claimed some real elbow-slappers.

Bream have been in good numbers. As the cooler months approach, we’ll see the bigger winter fish start to arrive. Fishing super light with quality fluorocarbon leader is an absolute must if you want to tangle with the bigger fish. Smaller plastics like the 2 and 3” Keitech Easy Shiners rigged on 1/12oz or 1/16oz Hidden Weight jigheads have seen some outstanding fish taken in the past. Some popular spots include Woods Bays, Munna Bridge, Tewantin Boat Ramp and the river mouth rocks.

For the bait anglers, fresh mullet strips or bonito seem to be work well. The trevally in Woods Bays have been prolific. Big numbers of fish have been feeding on the surface and are happy to take poppers and surface walkers. Anglers have had success with the Sammys from Lucky Craft and the Baby Bell poppers from River2Sea. We are still seeing good quality muddies caught, so set pots in deep water near the mangroves and leave them for at least one full tide. Fresh bait is a must!

In the Maroochy River trevally have been in good numbers over the last few weeks. Small slugs and micro-jigs on a steady retrieve have claimed a lot of fish. The area towards the mouth sees bigger fish on the high tide. Whiting have been in good numbers around Chambers Island and Black Banks. Worms, yabbies and soldier crabs have all been top baits.

Live bait has also been the key to catching some mulloway. The deeper holes upstream from Coolum Creek are where the mulloway love to hide. Fishing paddle vibes like the Samaki Thumper Tail has worked extremely well. These lures put out some great vibrations which mulloway pick up on their lateral line.

Beach anglers have been getting great fish over the last month. There are good gutters on most Sunshine Coast beaches so try to concentrate your efforts around the top of the tide. Dart, whiting and bream as well as tailor and smaller mulloway have all come from the gutters along Noosa’s north shore. On the southern beaches, Maroochy’s north shore has dart everywhere at the moment with some big fish amongst them. Small pilchards, mullet, prawns and worms have all been doing the job. Lure anglers casting slugs have nailed some of the larger fish.

This is also the crazy time of the year where we see the odd mackerel coming from just beyond the breakers. The anglers that have the most success have been using long-casting overhead surf rods and are running slider rigs with live mullet. To find out more on this style of fishing, hit up the team at either of our Davo’s stores.

This is that great time of the year where we see those monster pelagics, be it Spanish mackerel, wahoo or even mahimahi, so it’s not unusual to see 20kg+ fish. These large pelagics love to cruise the edges of the reef systems where baitfish are plentiful. The closer reefs like Sunshine and Jew Shoal are popular for those with smaller craft while those with larger craft like to head to North Reef and Chardons Reef.

Trolling hardbodies has nailed great fish. Deep diving lures have been working well, as the fish seem to be holding that bit deeper. Bait anglers fishing slow trolled live yakkas rigged on the Spaniard Special rig have also been cleaning up. This rig is pre-weighted and loaded with flashers and a squid skirt – it’s like chocolate to a big pelagic.

For those anglers that love chasing reef fish, there’s good news: trout, sweetlip, cod and squire have all come from the bottom on the closer reefs. If you are heading out to the Hards or the Barwon Banks, you’ll come across some nice pearl perch, cobia, cod, and spangled emperor, and maybe the odd red emperor. Live yakkas, slimy mackerel, pilchard and squid baits have all claimed their fair share of fish. Micro-jigs are also working extremely well at the moment.

With little or no sweep, we’ve been able to fish the lighter jigs that impart some great action. Palm Slow Blatts and the Shimano Colt Sniper Flat Fall have been really doing the job. Nomad also have a flat fall jig called The Gypsy, which I’m keen to try.

Soft plastics have also claimed some great fish on the reef. Large jerk shads and large paddle-tails have been producing great results in recent weeks.

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