bully55

We ditched the double paternoster and tried the single 6/0 hook and running sinker with cut pilchards and that seemed to give us better results on the closer/shallower reefs. Fishing lighter had better results. I also had a whole pilchard on triple ganged hooks floating that took a big hit but the 15lb line broke. The two we caught were on 30lb line. Lucky those cobia have no teeth, they fight like crazy.

Third time out over the Noosa bar today. Getting pretty confident as long as the swell is small. Hanging around Laguna Bay today hitting jew shoal, halls reef, and the wreck. Caught one nice 35cm sweetlip then caught two cobia over one metre, they were unbelievably hard to reel in, great fun. We let them both go but I hear they are good eating.

Thanjks buddy, appreciate the tips!!!

Thanks everyone. I Have been out over the bar 3 times in the last 4 months. The first Time was with a local fishing charter company, we went to Barwon Banks some 20miles out and caught large snapper, skipper even filleted the fish for us when we got back. See the attached pic. That trip showed me the current route out over the bar. It is a very shallow river in parts so you need to keep your eyes open for the channels. Since that first trip I have been out twice in my own boat. The second time going out at high tide was easy, but coming back at a lower tide was dodgy, on the way in I missed the channel and hit the bank at the river mouth, luckily the swell was tiny and I was able to turn out to sea and try a bit further north and crossed ok, but the prop was still grinding the sand. The third time was pretty easy crossing in and out. The trick when coming in is to keep the boat planing with the prop up. That was what the charter skipper did, he came in across the bar at high speed in an 8 metre with twin 200hp on the back. The fishing on both my trips has been slow. First trip was to Jew Shoal where we caught a few red rock cod. The second trip was to Sunshine reefs where we caught a few reef fish, we kept one nice red emporer. Both times We were fishing with double paternoster tied with 70lb mono. I have since read in this forum that when fishing the inner reefs it's better to ditch the double paternoster and use lighter line with a single 6/0 hook and ball sinker as the fish seem to hug the reef more on the shallow reefs. So I will try that next time. On the last trip there were small tuna going crazy on the surface. Are they worth catching? If so, for Bait or eating, and what is the technique to catch them? So far i am enjoying Noosa and hoping to get onto some nice fish soon. Cheers fellas.