SCHOOL HOLIDAY SPECIES

With the school holidays beginning at precisely 3:01pm Friday afternoon, so for the next 21 days, you can expect the local waterways to be inundated with junior anglers wielding the latest and greatest 6’6” combos in every colour of the rainbow, sand castles and sand traps will be found in places you would least expect and young paddlers will be testing their skills on kayaks, paddleskis and inflatable boats shaped like a giant purple lobster!

 

The school holidays also mean record crowds at beaches, long queues at the shopping precincts and bad drivers inadvertently putting your blood pressure through the roof. So with that in mind, I still know where I would be – on the water with the kids enjoying what the river has to offer! So how do you keep the kids happy with a relatively low-cost stress-free fishing trip to one of those spots in our back pockets (and away from the traffic and shopping mayhem)?  Take some time out to hit the water and target the four following species which will make up the majority of catches from now until summer.  Hopefully the kids will end up with a few in their buckets and take a good story back to school to share with their friends.

 

Whiting: The bread and butter species targeted by young and old anglers who love a challenge with light line as well as the reward of sweet tasting fillets that melt in your mouth. Whiting feed on shallow sand or muddy yabby banks throughout the local rivers.  Try Maroochy River Mouth to Black Banks, The Sand Basin and La Balsa Park at Mooloolaba, Munna and Culgoa Points in Noosa and just inside the Caloundra bar.  Best results are usually on the bigger high tides around full and new moon phases during summer. Whiting will forage in the mud feeding on small worms and crustaceans as they move along the banks. Blood worms, yabbies, soldier crabs, small pipis and sand worms are all part of the whiting’s diet. Recently anglers have been using small poppers no more than 4cm long to bloop over the banks on the making tide for quality whiting. The Gulp sand and blood worm varieties have proven to be an effective soft plastic on whiting in the rivers.

 

Flathead: The ultimate ambush predator which loves to feed up on the banks during high tide and hang on the edge of drop off when the tides going out. They also love to feed around creek mouths, deeper holes, weed beds and river bends. Flathead will eat a wide variety of baits including live bait in the form of herring or mullet, fresh prawn, small pilchards and flesh baits. Soft plastics have been the most successful way to target flathead yet. Flathead, being the gullible fish they are, will hammer most forms of soft and hard lures which pass their nose.  Fish all drop-offs and shallow beds in Pumicestone Passage, Currimundi Creek, Mooloolah River and Canals, Maroochy River and Noosa inlet.  Also worth fishing gutters along the surf beaches for bar-tail and dusky flathead.

 

Trevally: Found usually on the high tide feeding around the schools of herring and prawns. They move throughout the rivers stopping at the usual creek/canal entrances, deep holes and channels, bridge pylons, rocky areas and along the edge of weed beds looking for moving bait. Basically find the schools of bait and you will usually find some trevally. These fish were built for speed and are born lure chasers. Some of the better tried and proven lures include: 20g Surecatch Knights,River2Sea Bubble Pop45, RMG Scorpion 68, Prawn Star Shrimp and Powerbaits in the 3inch size. All river systems between Caloundra and Noosa are playgrounds for these fun fighting fish!

 

Mangrove Jacks: A ‘jack attack’ occurs when a solid mangrove jack departs his snaggy home, does a 180 degree turn and smashes the lure or bait on his way back to the snag. By the time you strike, the Jack already has your line entwined in his snags and you are instantly busted off as the tight line touches one of the many oysters attached to the snag! Not all mangrove jack hit this hard and fast around snags. They tend to move away from their snag into open water overnight. Target Jacks around fallen trees, rocky areas, mangrove roots, concrete pylons and deep holes holding bait – we have plenty of these structures in around McKenzies Bridge, the Cod Hole and Noosa Sound. The best bait for jacks is always live - like mullet, herring, prawn and gar. They will also slam mullet fillet and pilchards when extra hungry. Hard bodied lures like the C-Lure “Jack Snack” and most softies like 3-4” Powerbaits work affectively on jacks.

 

For the kids (and even big kids) who have been bitten by the soft plastic bug and want to practice their jigging, twitching and jerking techniques then give a WildEye Twitching Nipper a go! The WildEye Twitching Nippers by Storm have been on the market for a few years now and work really well in SE Queensland estuaries for a wide variety of species. Recently Storm released an unrigged version of the Twitching Nipper in Australia and it has been a huge success with a broad range of fisherman. WildEye Twitching Nippers are by far the most realistic soft plastics lure on the market because they are a dead ringer of the saltwater yabby in shape and size. They come in a wide range of colours that include a natural colour that is the same as the native saltwater yabby, a pink colour, pumpkinseed and orange. Storm has released two sizes of Twitching Nipper in Australia to replicate the average size of the local yabby, these include a small 5.5cm specimen and a bigger 7cm version.

 

Nearly every species of fish in the river will feed on yabbies at some stage of their lives; even vegetarian species like luderick have been known to eat yabbies at times. I believe this is why when you use the Twitching Nipper you could literally catch anything .

 

LOCAL FISHING REPORT

Noosa: Whiting, bream and tailor to 4kg between North Shore and Double Island Point. Mangrove jack and trevally on lures between the Lakes and also at night in Noosa Sound.  Whiting throughout the lower reaches of the river.  Flathead in Weyba Creek.

Maroochy: Tailor and whiting in the surf between Marcoola and Pincushion Island.  Bream and chopper tailor around Goat Island.  Whiting on bloodworm and small poppers throughout the lower reaches.  Flathead on prawn-style lures in the Cod Hole, and from Godfrey’s Rd to Bli Bli. Try for jew on the evening high tide.

Kawana: Bream, whiting, flathead and dart along Kawana Beach and just north of the entrance to Currimundi Lake. Trevally and gar along the bank at La Balsa Park. Mangrove jack and estuary cod around McKenzies Bridge. Try for muddies in the canal systems

Caloundra: School mackerel and tailor taken off the rocks at Moffat Beach. Whiting and flathead just inside the river mouth and along Golden Beach.  A few flathead on lures in the mouth of Bells Creek. Try for jacks and trevally in Pelican Waters Canals.

Zayden Gladman proudly holds up a golden perch caught at Borumba Dam on a spinnerbait.

 

Ken, Ollie and Mark spent a day bonding at Murphy’s Reef and took home amberjack, yellowtail king and spangled emperor.

 

Dave Plum and Micheal Wilkinson were all smiles after boating these 5kg snapper at The Hards!

 

Shane Powell fished the run out tide near Goat Island to target this 900g bream on fresh prawns.

LIGHTEN THE LOAD FOR WHITING

Last week we looked into the upcoming summer sand whiting season and the best baits for targeting these fish.  Sand whiting move into our water ways between early September and late April and provide anglers with the sport of fast fighting on light tackle.  Schools of whiting can be found foraging on the sand and mud banks throughout the river. The minimum size is 23 cm but any angler worth his salt would consider keeping larger fish as the bigger they are the better taste.  These summer fish are probably the best quality eating fish in the river, with delectable sweet fillets.

Where to fish:

Noosa: The Frying Pan, Weyba Creek to Lake Weyba and in and around the entrances to Lake Cooroibah.

Maroochy: The Bli Bli Islands, between Bli Bli bridge and the bottom end of the channel markers, the mouths of Petrie and Eudlo Creeks, along the sand banks between Chambers Island and Channel Island, Black banks and off the bank at Cotton Tree.

Mooloolah: The sand basin between the Kawana rock wall and La Balsa Park, throughout Mountain Creek and along the shallow sand banks above McKenzie’s Bridge.

Caloundra: The shallow banks opposite Golden Beach, at the mouth of Bells Creek and along the banks opposite the mouth of Coochin Creek.

In the past two weeks reports have come in from local tackle stores that the Pumicestone Passage has been producing excellent catches of elbow slapper whiting on the banks between Golden beach and Coochin Creek. The yabby banks upstream of McKenzie’s Bridge have come alive in the past three weeks with quality whiting. The Maroochy River has been the last system on the coast to take off with average catches until the full moon past, following this, several quality fish have been weighed in up to the 500gram mark.

Tackle to use:

Look at investing in a longer fibre glass rod between 7 - 9 feet in length with a light whippy tip.  This is ideal for loading up nicely when the fish takes the bait. The angler should only have to lift slowly to ensure a solid hook up and retrieve the fish. When whiting are biting finicky, a sensitive tip is essential. You may only see the tip quivering slightly when the fish start to swallow the bait, so always keep a close eye on your tip for movement. We recommend the Australian built Heritage rods by Wilson’s as a quality sensitive rod ideal for estuary whiting fishing.

Reels for whiting don’t need to be high in gear ratio or ball bearings, in fact any small Alvey or thread-line style reel will suffice, as you also don’t particularly need a fancy drag washer material to catch whiting. The advantage of Alvey reels is that you can back wind the spool or slowly forward wind the line, while keeping your finger on the line to feel any movement and adjust the reel accordingly as the fish plays with the bait to increase your hook up rate. A 500 sized Alvey is perfect for whiting fishing.

With line, go as light as possible so that you can feel every little movement on the end of your line. Thin lines or fluorocarbon line help as the fish are less likely to see them in the water. Don’t ever use braided line when bait fishing for whiting as this counteracts the long whippy rod and will make you pull the hook straight out of the fish’s mouth. We generally use between 4 and 8lb line, the thinner the better.

Use the smallest swivels possible, sized 6-2 red long shank or Mustad 4200D hooks and vary your sinker size between size 00 - 4 depending on the strength of the current.  Rig it with a running sinker rig and have at least 30cm of leader.

Using popper lures to target summer and golden lined whiting is the latest craze to sweep the east coast of Australia’s recreational fishing scene.  At this time of the year it’s not uncommon to see small prawns skipping across the surface as they are being chased by fish so it is no wonder 90% of poppers getting the best results are prawn-like and coloured. When small prawns are moving in or out of the river on the tide and work their way over the shallows whiting will ambush them on or below the surface much like a GT would ambush a herring. This is when very small poppers come into their own. Anglers flick the poppers over the shallow sand banks at the right stage of the flood or making tide so that you have at least 30-40cm of water and bloop away. Flick the popper over the bank, retrieve very slowly with the occasional bloop and if the whiting are hungry they should be all over it like a rash. Try varying your retrieval speed between a fast and slow until you find what the whiting like. It is best to target whiting on days when light wind blowing over banks and there is full sun light rather than over cast conditions.

 

LOCAL FISHING REPORT

 

 

Noosa: A few tailor on the southern side of Double Island Point and a few dart, whiting, tarwhine and bream about 27 km north of the third cutting at Teewah earlier in the week.  Flathead throughout the lower reaches and trevally early morning on small poppers and fly in Woods Bay.    Also some good whiting on the banks between the Frying Pan and Noosaville.

Maroochy: Chopper tailor, dart and flathead from Yaroomba to the North Shore.  Golden trevally and flathead on soft plastics in South Channel and along the Black Banks. A few whiting on the making tide on the mud flats at the mouth of Eudlo Creek and flathead, grunter bream, estuary cod and bream on top of the tide in the Cod Hole.

Kawana:  Tailor and spotty mackerel offshore from Alexandra Headland and Point Cartwright.  Bream, whiting and flathead along the beaches.  Bream, trevally and a few grunter in the canal system and mud crabs in the Mooloolah River.

Caloundra:  Grassy sweetlip and small snapper near Bray Rock. Mackerel off the rocks at Moffat Beach. Good whiting out from Golden Beach and the mouth of Bells Creek and a few queenfish and trevally in Pelican Waters Canals.

 

 

 

George Tilgals targets whiting and also dart along the Maroochy North Shore using live worms and pippies which he digs himself!

 

Gary Gardiner hit the beach at Teewah for several tailor, the best one tipped the scales at 4kg!

WELCOME THE WHITING

By now we should have put our beanies, woolly jumpers and assorted collection of winter species lures and rigs back into storage and dust off the wide brimmed hat, pick up a packet of live bloodworms, gear up the light weight rod and check out the summer range of plastics, poppers and minnows for the whiting.  If not, a damn good excuse is necessary.

 

Now that Spring is officially here we can get used to the longer days, bigger tides and warmer temperatures (though Wednesday’s cold start threw us!).  Plus schools of big summer whiting are definitely on the comeback. Sillago ciliat:summer or sand whiting are one of the bread and butter species in South East Queensland waters.   Sand whiting is one of the largest Australian whiting species, growing up to 50cm or 1.25kg in the record books. The legal minimum size for sand whiting is 23cm and there is a bag limit of 30 fish in one session.  They generally live for around 4 years and spawn after 1 year or around 21cm in length. So anyone who keeps an undersized whiting is infact robbing the rivers of future whiting and stopping the cycle of life.

 

Whiting are easily identifiable with their whole body being silver (which looks white) and a brassy yellow underside. They also often have rows of small dark dots by their dorsal fins, and a dark blotch is located at the base of the pectoral fin.

 

These schooling fish begin to feed throughout the coast’s rivers during September and the bigger adult summer whiting living in the upper reaches of the rivers or coming to feed from the surf gutters will be found foraging throughout the middle to lower reaches of the river. Whiting forage on yabbies, worms, small soldier crabs and small shellfish in the sandy banks as they move throughout the river. The dry conditions we’ve had this winter has kept most of the rivers in SE Qld pretty clear and clean, and the Maroochy River is not the exception.  While the water remains so clear, anglers are trying harder to outwit the whiting by utilising red beads and plastic, red chemically sharpened hooks and blood worm coloured Gulp soft plastics. To catch good numbers of these great fish we need to replicate what the whiting are feeding on and present the bait in such a way that it looks natural.

 

Blood worms can be purchased at your local bait and tackle store and are the best bait for whiting due to the bleeding which attracts whiting from far and wide.  Yabbies can be pumped from the flats on low tide, so as anglers we have top quality bait at our finger tips. Blood worms should be rigged on the hook so that they lay flat in the mud with a small section of the worm hanging off the end of the hook.

 

Pumping live yabbies is still very productive and cost effective for most anglers. The only problem with yabbies is that when sitting on the bottom stationary, the big whiting can literally suck them clean off the hook. The best way to combat this is to lash the very end tail section of the yabby onto your hook using elasticized multi strand bait cotton called ‘bait cocoon’. There are no knots required, just wrap the cotton around the tail several time tightly and this means the whiting have to work a lot harder to get it off the hook and hopefully it will get hooked up I the process. At $3 a spool bait cocoon is a cheap way to increase your catch rate. The other way to ensure a better hook up rate using yabbies is to drift fish with them. Summer whiting are more like to swallow the yabby whole on the drift, where as they will pick at it when stationary.

 

Whiting can be found in a very wide range of places from calm areas where the water eddies to the more open tidal banks where the water flows quite fast.  Whether the water flows slow or fast, the key is to keeping your bait moving constantly in order to lure or attract their attention.  When fishing a shallow, relatively still bay the key is to cast well away from the boat and allow the bait to settle. If no bites are forthcoming slowly wind in a few metres and stop again to give the whiting a chance to consider your bait is a moving worm or prawn. Repeat the process until the bait is almost back to the boat or shore and then cast out in a similar space but keep the retrieve motion similar.

 

In more tidal areas in a boat, the better technique is usually to drift. Drifting keeps the bait moving and gives good area coverage with your baits.  When drifting, always note where the fish are caught as the school may be feeding within a limited range and the drift can be shortened to concentrate on the most productive location.  Drifting is also handy for probing large areas if the anglers are new to a particular place and drifting always yields a few bream or flathead as a bonus.

 

Next week we shall take a closer look at best tackle options to target whiting this Spring and Summer.  For now start assessing your local area for possible whiting feeding grounds to prepare for the hunt!

 

LOCAL FISHING REPORT

 

Noosa: Good whiting just north of Teewah before the wind picked up, bream and chopper tailor also off the National Park rocks.  Flathead scattered throughout the lower reaches whiting and a few bream in the Frying Pan, trevally between Woods Bay and Weyba Creek.  Bass to 1.2kg have been caught near Wappa Falls and Borumba Dam yesterday.

Maroochy: Tailor at night just south of Yaroomba Beach and also along Mudjimba and Marcoola beaches.  Bream and dart near Pincushion Island during the day.  Good flathead taking pumpkin seed and nuclear chicken coloured soft plastics along the Black Bank, in the Northern Channel between Goat Island and Godfreys Road and in the mouth of Petrie Creek.  Sand whiting throughout the lower reaches and a few trevally at the Cod Hole on high tide.

Kawana: Dart, bream and flathead along the beaches during the day, with tailor at night toward Point Cartwright.  Plenty of bream in the deeper channels and around the moorings.  Flathead and whiting upstream from McKenzies Bridge and mud crabs in the creeks.

Caloundra: Tailor on the Happy Valley side of the Bar and along the NE tip of Bribie.  Flathead and whiting around the sand banks inside the Bar and in the mouth of Bells Creek.  A few luderick along Bulcock Beach and bream in the Blue Hole.

 

Captain Joe spent a well deserved break at the Maroochy River mouth using fresh mullet fillet to lure this catch of bream.

 

Conner Batey fished with his Dad on the weekend along the sand bank at Cotton Tree when these 400g whiting snapped up his bloodworms.

 

Natasha fished with Brian from Angler’s Advantage upstream from Bli Bli bridge to target flathead on soft plastics.

BE PREPARED ON THE WATER

Witnessing an ever increasing number of visitors to our beautiful waterways with boats, jetskis, kayaks and of course on foot – it has also become evident that some people are not fully prepared for the conditions the Sunshine Coast dishes up on the weather platter each weekend!  In any one day we can be served an early morning snack of mild wind, little swell and a gorgeous sunrise with not a cloud in the ski....then in less than a few hours we can get a main course of lunchtime gale force southerlies and swell that surfers can gorge themselves on.  Afternoon tea could be a freak thunderstorm topped with lashings of hale and supper will likely be a beautiful sunset, rainbow and light sea-breeze making a mockery of your stories of killer wind from earlier in the day.  Yes – are you prepared for Queensland’s Spring/Summer weather?

To better prepare for the upcoming summer weather conditions, I have made a list of things I do to maximise safety when boating and fishing, which in turn gives me greater piece of mind so I may enjoy the experience more!

1. BE WEATHER-WISE

Most importantly - check local weather conditions for boating safety the day before and on the morning or afternoon you head out.  Poor weather can ruin a beach, river or reef trip, so it is often better to reschedule than push on and brave it.  Keep in mind that wind can also change at an instant so keep an awareness of strength and direction when out also.  A sudden drop in temperature and darkening sky is a telltale sign that a storm is on the way.

2. FOLLOW A PRE-DEPARTURE CHECKLIST

Be prepared for any possibility on the water such as freak storm, running out of fuel, collision or even getting lost!  I ask myself the following questions prior to departure:

• Have I checked the weather?
• Checked the boat/jetski is in full working condition.
• Do I have enough fuel for the round trip, plus some up my sleeve in case?
• Do I have sufficient water and food for the return trip?
• Is all the appropriate safety equipment onboard and in working order (oars, rope, radio, epirb, fire extinguisher, lifejackets etc)?
• Have I instructed my passengers on my safety equipment?
• Have I advised a reliable person of my boating plan?  Include where you are going and when you plan to be back as well as the number of passengers on board (in case of emergency).

Some of the following safety equipment is required by law - you should check the laws with your local

3. DESIGNATE A BACKUP DRIVER

Make sure more than one person on board is familiar with all aspects of your boat’s handling and safe operation. If the primary driver is injured or incapacitated in any way, it’s important to make sure someone else can follow the proper boating safety rules to get everyone else back to shore.

4. USE OF LIFEJACKETS APPROPRIATELY

The number of boaties and jet skiers who get booked each holiday season for having lifejackets onboard but forget to actually wear them is pretty high.  Make sure you have a lifejacket to suit the type of water you are boating on.  You need a PFD type 1.  The flotation collar is bigger on this jacket and keeps the head above water. This is for use in smooth, partially smooth and open waters. Suitable for offshore boating. PFD type 2 keeps you afloat but does not have a collar to keep the head above water making it only suitable in rivers and dams - smooth and partially smooth waters. It is compulsory to wear a life jacket in Queensland when crossing a coastal bar in an open boat that is less than 4.8 m in length and if you are under the age of 12 in an open boat, while it is under way.

5. SOBER BOATING

According to the Maritime Safety, one third of all boating fatalities involve alcohol.  The blood alcohol limit on the water is the same as on the roads, meaning the driver must have a blood alcohol limit of less than 0.05, the same rules as on the road. The effects of alcohol are enhanced while on the water due to the sun, wind, waves and constant motion. Reflexes and response times to emergencies are slowed and swimming ability deteriorates considerably.  Keep in mind if you are anchored or moored and aboard the craft consuming alcohol, the blood alcohol limit applies.

6. CHILDREN'S SAFETY

Children are not aware of rules, regulations and commonsense while on the water.  So it is up to their parents and guardians to have an awareness of where they are and what they are doing while on the bank, in the boat or if swimming in the water surrounding the boat.  All children under 12 years must wear a lifejacket if travelling in an open boat, so hire or buy a good Lifejacket or life vest with a collar that turns a child face up in the water. It must have strong waist and crotch straps, a handle on the collar, and preferably be a bright yellow or orange colour for good visibility.

Attach a plastic safety whistle to the Lifejacket and teach the child how to use the whistle - and practice using it.  Additionally, ensure that children thoroughly understand safety procedures and can respond appropriately in an emergency.   Practice safety drills and situation role-plays so that emergency procedures become second nature to you and your children.

Children must also be kept within the bounds of the vessel and should never sit with their legs or arms dangling over the sides of a boat that is underway. People have allowed children to hand off the side of their boat, ride on a donut or inflatable ring behind the boat or hang off the transom while in slow forwards motion.  Children can be very unpredictable and this does not change simply if you have instructed them to stay away from the propeller.  So be very conscious of children near the propeller not only for the deadly chances of getting run over but also as they can be exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning via exhaust fumes.

LOCAL FISHING REPORT

Noosa: Snapper, parrot and trag jew on Chardons  and pearl perch, maori cod, hussar and moses perch on Sunshine Reef. Tailor in the deep gutters in front of Teewah, whiting and dart north of Teewah during the day. In the river, flathead throughout the lower reaches, whiting and bream between the river mouth and Munna Point.

Maroochy: Snapper, pearlies and moses perch at Barwon Banks, Coolum Reef and around Mudjimba Island. Dart, whiting and tarwhine to 1.2kg along the North Shore and Marcoola Beach.  Bream to 900g in the South Channel and Cod Hole.  Good whiting on live worms and popper lures on the northern side of Chambers Island and along the Black Banks.  Flathead on soft plastics between in teh middle and upper reaches.

Kawana: Snapper and sweetlip on Caloundra 5 Mile, Murphys and Currimundi Reefs.   Bream, tarwhine and chopper tailor along the beaches.  Bream and trevally in the lower reaches of the Mooloolah River.  A few mangrove jack, trevally and bream in the Kawana Canals.

Caloundra: Tailor on the Bulcock Beach side of the Bar, bream in the middle reaches of Pumicestone Passage.  Flathead in the channels leading to the Bar. A few good whiting opposite the Power Boat Club.

David Jurgs from Toowoomba was thrilled with this 5kg jew caught at North Reef while on Noosa Blue Water Charters. (ww.fishingnoosa.com.au)

Scott took to the water aboard Charter boat Trekka to bring home this Maori Cod at North Reef.

Terry Gavin fished the Maroochy North Shore for and was rewarded with this 73cm flathead.