Despite the conditions that the recent Cyclone Hamish has thrown up, Teewah Beach is in good shape with very little erosion occurring. Some sand from lower on the beach has been removed which will only help in the creation of deeper gutters and holes, but the dunes are largely intact. Coffee rock patches that were exposed last summer south of Teewah are still under the sand and are unlikely to pose any difficulties to Easter holidaymakers.

Many of us would have liked cyclone type rainfall from Hamish to flood the streams, which at this time of year can be a trigger for all sorts of fish activity. But to all of our disappointment, the rain stayed off the coast with only 35mm falling in this region. However, there will be a variety of angling opportunities available following Hamish that may not have existed otherwise.

The surf is currently doing a job on any algae that survived a good southeasterly wind a few weeks ago and should be crystal clear when it does finally tidy up. This in itself is a huge bonus for anglers, as algae has been a near constant since September and has adversely affected fish movements in the surf for most of that time.

Providing there isn't another cyclone or low following Hamish, the surf should only take a week or two to clean up. By Easter, sparkling blue water should be the order of the day, creating potential for all sorts of species to be available. It will take a couple of weeks for gutters and holes to form, but it is expected that these gutters should be good quality.

Based on previous years that have had weather events such as Hamish occur in February or March, there is good reason to expect April to have adequate numbers of spotted mackerel in Laguna Bay. The week leading up to Hamish arriving saw reasonable numbers of spotties along with the late arrival of mac and longtail tuna in the bay. As conditions settle, the pelagics will begin to chew with the usual reef systems the most likely locations.

The beach to the north of the river mouth is somewhat sheltered by Noosa Heads and can provide opportunities in the calm water for anglers to target spotties, longtail and mac tuna from the beach using spinners. GT, big eye trevally and tailor also can be found along this stretch of beach herding baitfish to shore with terns nearly always marking their presence. GT in particular have been chasing bait close to shore over the last couple of weeks and have provided me with a couple of opportunities to get amongst them from the beach.

Easter is prime time for trevally from the rocks also. But the number of GTs that have been showing up in the surf of late indicates that there should be a few likely locations to chase them other than the headlands. After the swells associated with Hamish die down, there should be some gutters and holes form around the patches of coffee rock south of Teewah and along Rainbow Beach. Quickly retrieved metal lures around these rocks work well on GTs and can also find tailor and other pelagics in the process.

Trevally will often take a spinner when the speed is taken off the retrieve to almost a complete stop. Some of the best trevally I've caught in the surf have struck the lure only metres from the rod tip as I've slowed to prepare for the next cast. Therefore it is worthwhile stopping the retrieve on the edge of the gutter on each retrieve which, tailor also respond to.

Rainbow Bay could be a vehicle free zone after more erosion at the southern end of the bay near the Leisha Track. More trees have been added to the ones that have been blocking access for nearly 18 months due to erosion. Hamish could well prevent any access from the northern end for some time to come and I'd expect that Mudlo Rocks in front of Rainbow Village may not be passable for a little while either.

No beach traffic and possibly no netting activity does however make Rainbow a very fishy spot. The numerous patches of coffee rock in the surf zone along Rainbow can produce queenfish, GT, golden trevally, spotted and broad barred mackerel as well as tailor on spinning lures. High speed retrievals are the order of the day for all these species in the calm water of Rainbow Bay. Mac and longtail tuna are always in Rainbow in April and occasionally come well within casting range of the beach. The Leisha Track end of the bay is usually where they come in close and generally on a rising tide.

The lagoon on the northern side of Double Island Point is currently a fantastic place to enjoy safe swimming and spectacular scenery. The sheer size of the lagoon also causes it to hold fish such as whiting, flathead, bream, sole and tarwhine. For the boaties, the lagoon provides wonderful launching and easy ocean access. At the same time it creates a perfect location for jetskiers and there will no doubt be a few of these there come Easter.

The entire lagoon can be accessed by vehicle at low tide by driving towards Double Island Point from the Leisha Track. It is safe to drive on the sand spit that has created the lagoon and to either fish in the lagoon or on the ocean side for dart and other species. With such easy access, Double Island Point would be well worth fishing for trevally, jew, kingies, bream, tarwhine and pelagic species.

Although bream seem to be very scarce these days, April is normally when they are at their most prolific. The odd bream has been caught recently and it would be reasonable to expect that more will be in the gutters over the coming two months. I have always found that eugarie is the bait to use for bream with the potential to find other species such as dart, big whiting, tarwhine or even oyster cracker.

However, finding eugaries may be easier said than done, as they have been very scarce along the beach for some time now. And of course there will be a lot of people searching for them over Easter, which will make the task even harder. It is advisable then to have beach worm as a fallback bait to use if the eugaries are simply not available. If you're not a competent wormer, then Wide A Wake Tackle at Noosa Harbour will have fresh worms each day of the holiday, weather permitting.

Last month I wrote about a new holiday rental booking service for Teewah that has only Teewah properties listed. Sharon Harris, the proprietor of Teewah Beach Escapes, has just launched a website where each of the properties can be viewed with photos and information on each and an online booking facility. Enquiries can be made through the site via email or Sharon can be contacted by phone on 54499607 or 0427804974. The site address is www.teewahbeachescapes.com.au