OFFSHORE: Well, it was a pretty patchy week to say the least. The winds (predominantly southerly) blew light then strong, gusty then mild. Top that off (as the week progressed) with big seas, a building swell, torrential rain and a heavy hail storm and you've pretty much covered the week. Having said that, of course, there were always those who were prepared to take advantage of any window of opportunity that presented itself and there were just enough of those to avoid having to declare the week a total washout. On the fishable days, in fact, Squire and Parrot Fish were common to all of the visited reefs. In addition to that, North Reef produced Pearl Perch, Moses Perch and Estuary Cod while across at Chardon's Reef the extras were Teraglin Jewfish, Estuary Cod and, as you can see by the photo below, Snapper. Local lad Izack boated the 3.5kg specimen he's (only just) holding up while out there yesterday on a three quarter day Cougar One charter. Closer in, Sunshine Reef was the only other performer, yielding the common species already mentioned earlier and, as per the photo above right, quality Snapper as a well deserved bonus. Paul Johnson from Buddina picked up this 4kg 'Knobby' while out there on a half day Cougar Too charter on Friday. He was kitted out with a Wilson Live Fibre rod and a Shimano 6500 Baitrunner reel loaded with 8kg line.


ONSHORE: The coastal surf beaches weren't particularly well patronised this week and in fact there were no reports of any activity from the North Shore at all. The middle groyne on Main Beach, however, was certainly worth a shot, with Queenfish chasing cast metal slug lures. Around the National Park headland the standout species were Bream and the odd Snapper while further south, Sunrise Beach was the spot for Whiting and quality Dart and North Peregian Beach produced a few Tailor. In the river, Flathead and Whiting were the bread and butter species this week with the hot spots being down around the river mouth (with Whiting best on the incoming tide), Munna Point, the Gympie Terrace stretch and up at Lake Cooroibah where Bream and Javelin Fish were also on the menu. And it was on Saturday at Munna Point that Adam Rogers (right) nailed the 1.4kg 'Lizard' he's posing with. Adam used a live winter Whiting to tempt this good 'keeper' size fish. Also at Munna Point, and on the same day around high tide, young Yasmin Rivers and her unnamed fishing buddy (below) used live Davo's Beach Worms on a No.4 longshank hook to catch these nice size (400gm) Whiting. They were armed with a Shimano threadline combo loaded with 8lb line.

Apart from that there were a few Trevally chasing soft plastics down at the river mouth and around the Sheraton Bridge where Mangrove Jacks (in the deeper water), Flathead and Cod were also quite active. On the freshwater scene, the Lake MacDonald Bass were chasing Tailspins and Jackals from 'The Gazebo' to Eagles Bay while at Lake Borumba 'The Clumps' in the Yabba Arm worked well for Saratoga (to 74cm) and Bass (to 41cm). Jackals got best results there.