Page 50 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine

Andy Wyatt with a cracking tailor from the beach in front of Twin
Waters. This 65cm snapper was boated by Matt Cantarella.
Sunshine coast winter fishing warms up
* from P48
formation is to take caution when
Davo’s tackle stores where we will point you in the right direction. Chopper tailor catches are improv- ing, with most fish taken on the run-in tide around the Noosa River mouth during first and last light.
fish. A mid-50cm giant trevally will bend stock trebles right at your feet, so upgrading stock hooks and rings is imperative.
travelling offshore during low-light periods and night. The start of the annual whale migration varies each year and they could be out and about by the time you read this.
If wanting to hook good size tailor, try using bonito or a flesh bait on a strip bait rig after dark. The bigger fish tend to hold around the deeper holes at night and cruise up and down the gutters looking for a feed during lighter tidal flow.
Smaller golden trevally and tea-leaf trevally have been found throughout the river and taking smaller 3” grub-style and jerk shad soft plas- tics. When using soft baits, be sure to use plenty of scent because gold- ens will often follow a bait before hitting it.
Ensure you log on with Volunteer Marine Rescue/Coast Guard (read Brian Webb’s article on Page 6 for more information) and have all safe- ty gear ready to use, with EPIRBs close at hand.
This shows it is imperative to let your plastic sit on the bottom and don’t be in a rush to get it back to your feet. You can also expect to hook a cale cale (longrakered tre- vally) and these fish will test every inch of your gear.
In the surf, things have been warm- ing up, with the silver ghosts very much on the menu. The gutters from Sunshine Beach to the southern end of Maroochy’s Northshore is the main area to get hooked up.
If you find baits hard to cast or you are losing them to smaller fish, be sure to use some bait thread. This is an essential item and keeps baits in place for longer, which equals big fish.
Big jewies have been off to a strong start this year, with fish to a metre or longer landed and many more lost. Plenty of smaller school- sized fish have been caught and released too.
During the daytime, you can ex- pect to find quality dart and sea bream from Peregian south to Ma- roochy River. Traditional baits such as pipis and worms placed on a bait-holder hook will give you better catches, especially if fishing with lighter 10’ surf outfits.
When the water is clean, you are best to drop to 6lb leaders to get the bite. Bream are in good numbers in the lower estuary as water tempera- tures continue to drop.
You will see bigger fish coming in over the next few months, with some reaching over 15kg in weight. Hav- ing the best surf outfits and terminal gear will go a long way towards stopping these power houses.
The Noosa River is coming alive, especially if you love chasing gold- en, giant, big-eye and diamond tre- vally. These fish have been caught around the Coast Guard boats near Munna Point as well as in Woods Bay and along the current line.
Smaller curly tail grub-style plas- tics on 1/20oz jig heads and lightly weighted flesh baits have worked well around structure including the Weyba bridges and pontoons of Woods Bay and Noosa Sound.
Fresh mullet fillets, bonito fillets and live beach worms, as well as tailor fillets if you can them, are the prime baits to use. When using fresh strip baits, Mustad Penetrator hooks snelled together on 40-60lb leader give the bait freedom to move and ensure a positive hook-up when it counts.
Surface presentations have been the way to go early of a morning for GTs and tailor. The Zerek Poparaz- zi and Rapala X-Rap poppers are working well.
Flathead are also in excellent num- bers, with many fish well over the legal size limit. These big breading females are protected when measur- ing over 75cm and must be quickly released to maintain the sustainabil- ity of the fishery.
For up-to-date jewfish reports, call in and see the team at any of the Page 50 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, June 2020
When fishing these smaller surface lures, it is a good idea to upgrade the trebles to cope with the bigger
Supporting any bigger fish by its belly is important when holding for a photo to prevent internal injury. Ensure you never hold big fish up
* continued P51 www.bnb shing.com.au