Fishing Noosa

[Will Latimer]

Hi,
My first post here, pretty much got the subscription too just learn about noosa.
So every year I come up too noosa for a week's holiday and everytime I normally just do a fishing charter however this time I've decided to rent a boab for the week. Only problem is I have absolutely no Idea where to go. Mainly targeting flatties and whiting using live worms as well as a few zman grubz 2.5" and 3.5" (another question: what weight jigheads should I use when the current is running and I'm fishing around the mouth of the river). Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks a lot,
Wil

[VictorOscar]

Hey Will,

Which BOAB boat are you hiring?

I was up at Noosa over Christmas, and didn't have a problem finding flatties - I caught them at numerous locations.

Just stick to the basics - fish a drop off on an outgoing tide and you should find them too.

Regarding your jigheads, I was finding them in a couple of metres of water so only a 1/6 or a 1/8 oz 3/0 jighead was needed.

But if I were fishing in deeper water or around the mouth of the river where the current is quicker than I'd step up to maybe a 1/4oz.

I didn't chase any whiting so can't help you there, though a couple of the kids fishing off the beach where we stayed pulled in a whiting from time to time.

[Will Latimer]

I hired the Kakadu tinny,
Been fishing a few drops offs but not having huge success, mind you I'm at least getting a few undersize ones, but not very many. Maybe it's my technique? I don't use SP's often so I'm just casting up current (on top of a slightly submerged sand bank) and then letting it sink down, then doing a slow reel (winding up slack + a bit more) where I can feel the jig constantly hitting the sand then after a 1-2 second reel doing 1 or 2 quick whips then letting it sink down and stay down for I'd say 5 secs? Then just repeating the process. Does that sound right?
Thanks a lot,
Will

[VictorOscar]

Ah ok, I was going to suggest that you go offshore as well but maybe not if you're in a tinny?

Technique sounds fine, though I usually stick to one technique per cast (ie. slow roll first cast, rod flick second cast etc.)

Cast out in a different direction each time so you fan out and cover more ground in one spot.

If no luck after covering all the area in one spot, try changing plastics to a different colour then move to another spot if your luck doesn't change.

After a while you will work out what technique and colour is catching more fishing - then stick with those until they stop working. Keep in mind that they might change every day.

What colour plastics are you using?

Also, flathead usually face into the current when they are feeding as they wait for their prey to be pushed towards them by the current so try casting down current and jigging your lure back up through the current.

I normally have my success fishing the out going tide where all the bait fish, yabbies etc move off the bank and into the deep water. The flathead are usually in the drop offs facing towards the bank (into the current) waiting for them.

[Will Latimer]

Yeah, flat water only boat unfortunately.
Will try just doing a slow reel without and whips and interchange with whips.
I've moved away from the mouth and want to try around goat Island a little bit as that looks good (when I motor around, tons of bait schools of gar, herring etc) but I haven't heard anything about it for fishing. I'm using 2.5" grubz in bloodworm and 3.5" in motor oil. Will also try using some scent as I'm using unscented SP's. Any recommendations?
Also if you do know about goat Island, if the current is running out towards the mouth, going towards low tide etc, which way would the current be running where I have done a GREEN circle? Would the water be pulled out into the main channel of the noosa river or would water be pulled from the main channel and go behind the island if you understand what I mean? The RED arrows are direction of main current
It looks a good place for flatties with a deep channel on one side and shallow bank on the other.
Also is the other side of goat island any good for fishing there is a very big sand bank (edge of it is roughly the BLUE line) that wouldn't be more then 1.5 feet deep so is that too shallow for flatties? I'm thinking that maybe where I have drawn the YELLOW dot is where I would anchor and the arrow is where I would cast (in a run out tide)

Sorry for all this information, but any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm new to SP's. The fish I caught the other day was my first fish on a SP.
Thanks a lot,
Will

[VictorOscar]

I was using Z-Man (scented) and Keitech (unscented) plastics and both fished well.

All were 4 inch. Try to get the plastics that have a lot of tail action such as the paddle tails and poggy’s.

Regarding colours, I start on darker colours for overcast days and transparent colours (hold them up to the light and you can see through them) for bright days. If they don’t work then I go to those neon/fluoro colours.

If there is bait hanging around that island then it’ll be a good start. Move around the whole island if you can.

I couldn’t tell you about the current in that spot. The current in most spots will change depending on a number of factors so every spot I go to I drift for a moment and use my GPS/refer to a point on land to work out which way my boat is going and anchor accordingly.