The September Fishing Report, Week Three 2005, Noosa, Queensland, Australia, brought to you by Castlemaine Perkins.

OFFSHORE: Well, apart from the totally unfishable conditions created by moderate to very strong variable Westerlies on Friday and Saturday, it was all systems go for the rest of the week. Light to moderate variable Westerlies, in fact, were the rule rather than the exception and many blue water boaties reported almost TGO conditions on the outside reefs. Snapper and Pearl Perch were the common species taken at all of the reefs this week. Apart from that, out wide on the Barwon Banks, the bonus species were Amberjack, Moses Perch and Coronation Trout. Closer in, Chardon's Reef was the spot for Northern Bluefin Tuna and, as you can see by the photo on the right, a few quality Cobia. 'Big' Andrew Hewett makes the 19.5kg Black Kingfish he's holding appear somewhat diminished but it still gave him a real run for his money when he hooked it on Thursday morning. Andrew, who was on a full day Cougar One charter at the time, was armed with a Gary Howard rod and an Alvey 825C reel loaded with 30lb Pioneer Flexline. The Coffees were another hot spot, producing Sweetlip, Northern Bluefin Tuna, Maori Cod and Moses Perch.
Snapper

North Reef continued to fire, producing Cobia, Teraglin Jewfish, Parrot Fish, Moses Perch and, as in the photo above left, this week's top weight Snapper. Local angler Graham Sanders boated the 7kg 'Knobby' he's pictured with while out there on Tuesday night. He was armed with a Silstar rod and a Shimano TLD15 reel loaded with 12kg line and 25kg trace. The bait that did the deed was Pilchard on a 5/0 hook. As far as the inner reefs went: Arkwright Shoal was an option for Cobia and Venus Tusk Fish while Sunshine Reef yielded Bonito, Parrot Fish, Teraglin Jewfish, Sweetlip, Moses Perch, Cobia and Yellowtail Kingfish. Last but not least, Laguna Bay played host to schools of Yakkas, Slimy Mackerel and Yellowtail Pike which came on the boil either side of the shark nets (earlier in the week) plus the odd Snapper around Jew Shoal.

ONSHORE: With the school holidays in full swing and the weather as good as it gets for this time of the year, the coastal surf beaches were well patronised. On the North Shore there were Dart and Whiting from the river mouth to Double Island Point and more specifically; Bream and Tarwhine (in the middle of the day) plus Tailor and Trevally (to 3kg) after dark between the First and Third Cuttings. On the East side there were small Dart all along the coastal stretch. In addition, Castaways Beach produced Whiting and Bream, as did Marcus and Coolum beaches but with the added bonus of Tailor.
Trevally and Australian Bass

In the river, Flathead were pretty much the high profile species this week with best results coming from down at the river mouth and in the Frying Pan (along with Whiting), the Woods Bays (where Trevally and Bream were also on the bite), up along the Tewantin ski runs (together with Trevally) and up at Lake Cooroibah where Bream were also on the target list. Almost level pegging the 'Lizards', as you can see by the report, were Trevally and this week's top weight, 3.2kg 'Trev', was brought in by Toowoomba angler Matthew McDonald. Matthew, above left, hooked up with this thumper while casting and retrieving a 'Stick Bait' around the Tewantin ski run. On the freshwater scene, the Borumba Dam Bass (to 45cm) were chasing Jackals and spinnerbaits in the Yabba and Kingham Arms while the resident Saratoga were going for spinnerbaits in the Borumba and Yabba Arms. At Lake MacDonald the Bass (to 48cm) were active in the Botanical Gardens reach, around 'Three ways' and up at the Palm Farm. Best lures were spinnerbaits and, in the case of the photo above right, gold Jackals as Danny 'Bonefish' Adams, visiting Noosa from Mt. Isa, found on Tuesday afternoon. During a hot three hour session Danny caught and released 20 Bass ranging from 40cm to 48cm (1.5kg to 2kg). His outfit was a G-Loomis BCR802 rod and a Shimano Chronarch MG50 reel loaded with 10lb Superbraid and 12lb Fluorocarbon leader.

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