The August Fishing Report, Week One 2005, Noosa, Queensland, Australia, brought to you by Shimano Australia.

OFFSHORE: Well, it was just one of those weeks where you 'wouldn't be dead for quids'. Light to moderate variable winds dominated on most days and with very light West/South Westerlies a feature of the early morning sessions, near glass out conditions were more often the rule rather than the exception. With blue skies and an average temperature of 23 degrees Celsius it was perfect Noosa winter weather and those lucky boaties who were able to take advantage of the conditions reported that Squire, Snapper, Parrot Fish and Moses Perch were common to most of the visited reefs. In addition, for those with the bigger boats and bigger fuel tanks, 'The Hards' produced Pearl Perch, Rosy Jobfish and Hussar, as did the Barwon Banks, but with the added bonus (apart from the common species already mentioned) of Maori Cod and Amberjack. Closer in, North Reef was a good option for Teraglin Jewfish, Sweetlip, Pearl Perch and Scarlet Sea Perch while at Massoud's Reef the extras were Red Emperor and Sweetlip. This week's top weight Snapper, in fact, came from Massoud's Reef and Brisbane visitor Ann-Marie Willet (above right) was the lucky angler who boated the thumper 8kg 'Knobby' on Saturday. She was on a half day Cougar Too charter at the time and was kitted out with a Wilson Live Fibre rod and and Alvey 825C reel loaded with 30lb Pioneer Flexline. Back towards home base, Sunshine Reef was the spot for the odd Cobia while in Laguna Bay there were Tailor, Queenfish and Shiny Mackerel intermittently on the boil from the Boiling Pot to First Point. As an added bonus there were also a few small schools of Mack Tuna busting the surface North of Jew Shoal plus, as you can see by the photo on the right, the odd Snapper on the bite. Davo's Bait and Tackle proprietor Cheryl Lacey did well North of the Shoal on Saturday morning, landing her first Snapper on only her second time out 'yak' fishing in the bay. Cheryl was paddle trolling in a Perception Synchro 'Angler' tandem kayak with Fishing Noosa webmaster Bill 'Billybob' Watson when this 4.1kg specimen slammed her trolled Yellowtail Pike. She was armed with a 6-8kg Wilson Live Fibre rod and a Shimano TSS4 reel loaded with 30lb Platinum line. Her troll rig was the ever popular Davo's Snapper/Spaniard Special.

ONSHORE: The coastal surf beaches were a perfect setting to pitch the beach umbrella and wet a line and many anglers did just that. On the North Shore, Bream, Whiting, Tarwhine, Chopper Tailor and Dart (in big numbers) were particularly Bream

active in the beach gutters opposite the 2nd and 3rd Cuttings while up around Teewah and the stretch to the top end, the catch was mostly Flathead, Bream, Tailor and (plenty of) Dart. The National Park was once again worth a look with Whiting and Pike on the bite in Granite Bay plus Tailor, Squire, Queenfish, Pike and Dart around the headland. Further South, Sunshine Beach produced Whiting and Dart, as did Marcus Beach (but with the added bonus of Bream) and Coolum Beach (with the bonus of Tailor). In the river, Bream and Flathead were well spread with best results coming from the Frying Pan (along with Whiting), the river mouth (together with Whiting and Tailor), Weyba Bridge, up around Harbourtown and Doonella Bridge (where Tailor were also on the bite) and at Lake Cooroibah where quality Whiting were an added bonus. Francesco Simonetti (right) did very well on the Bream on Wednesday, weighing in six 'Yellowfins' to 500gm after an afternoon session on the Gympie Tce (we think) stretch. He was armed with a Jarvis Walker threadline combo loaded with 8lb line. His bait? Prawn on a No.4 longshank hook. Apart from that there were Tailor, Trevally and Flathead on the chew around Weyba Hole just below Keyser Island, Tailor and Bream in the outer Woods Bay opposite Ricky Ricardo's, some quite spectacular Trevally boils in the inner Woods Bay and a bit of 'Trev' activity in the back of the Sound at dusk. On the freshwater scene, the Lake MacDonald Bass responded best to spinnerbaits along the weed edges at Airport Corner and just opposite the Hatchery.

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