OFFSHORE: Although moderate to strong south easterlies shut the offshore gate today and last Wednesday the rest of the week was dominated by light to moderate northerlies which brought with them some eminently fishable conditions.

With the swell below the 0.5m mark and some days, in fact, total glass outs, there was no shortage of boaties taking the opportunity to work the local reefs in the run up to the full moon. Squire, Pearl Perch, Snapper and Moses Perch were common to most of the visited reefs. In addition, for those prepared to go the distance, The Hards was the spot for some quality Red Emperor while closer in at Chardon's Reef the extras were Teraglin Jewfish and Sweetlip. Also in the middle reef belt area 'The Hill' produced Cobia, Cod and Parrot Fish plus, as you can see by the photo on the right, quite a few Snapper. Young Ethan Rickaby from South Australia boated this 3.5kg 'Knobby' while out there on Friday on a full day Cougar Too charter. He was kitted out with a Wilson Live Fibre rod and an Alvey 825C reel loaded with 30lb line. North Reef, as usual, was a very popular destination, rewarding the faithful with good catches of the common species already mentioned plus Cobia, Parrot Fish, Teraglin Jewfish, Sweetlip and, as per the photo at the top of the page, quality Northern Bluefin Tuna. Jess, from Noosaville, boated the 10kg 'Longtail' she's pictured with while out at North Reef on Thursday's full day Cougar One charter. Apart from that, Jew Shoal produced the odd Sweetlip, as did Sunshine Reef but with the added bonus there of Parrot Fish.

ONSHORE: With the school holiday crowds still in town the North Shore played host to large numbers of family four wheel drives and camper trailers and they all brought their fishing tackle with them. Fortunately the Whiting were still in good numbers all the way up Teewah Beach while those chasing a bit more action found Tailor on the bite down towards the river mouth. There were also some quality Tailor on the bite at the river mouth groyne (on whole Pilchard baits) at dawn and dusk while out around the National Park headland (the Fairy Pools in particular) Trevally and Kingfish were the target species. In the river, Flathead and Whiting were the bread and butter species with good results coming from down around the river mouth and, as you can see by the photo on the right, the Culgoa/Munna Point stretch. Local angler Wally Dawson landed the 650gm Whiting he's posing with from the bank at Munna Point on Saturday afternoon using live Prawns as his draw card. He was armed with a Berkley rod and a Penn 5500 threadline reel loaded with 10lb line.
Whiting were also in good numbers around the sand flats along the Noosaville stretch and in Weyba Creek where quality Bream and Flathead were active. The Munna Bridge area and the Woods Bays were still the best spots for Trevally (to 3.5kg) with the odd quality Greenback Tailor making its presence felt after dark. Further up river, Queenfish were responding to live fish baits around Tewantin, Flathead were chasing soft plastics in the bottom end of Lake Cooroibah while the stretch between the lakes played host to Mangrove Jacks, Bream, Flathead, Trevally and Tarpon which were all quite partial to hard body lures and soft plastics. On the freshwater scene, the Lake MacDonald Bass were found to be responsive to poppers around Borer Creek in the morning and Jackals at Three Ways in the afternoon. Borumba Dam was also very productive this week with the waters around The Eagles Nest and Eagle Bay producing Bass, Yellowbelly, Silver Perch and Saratoga. Regular Melbourne visitor and mad keen angler Jim Walker (above right) spent the day there last Tuesday with Mark Pertot from Davo's Bait and Tackle and during that time caught and released all the species mentioned, including the two handsome Yellowbelly or Golden Perch he's pictured with. He was armed with a G-Loomis GLX rod and a Shimano Magnesium Chronarch reel loaded with 20lb braid and 20lb Berkley 'Vanish' leader. The lure that did the deed? The ever faithful Jackal.