Gamefishing on the Sunshine Coast

The Sunshine Coast offers some of the best game fishing Australia has to offer and is one of the few places in the world where a marlin or sailfish may be caught in any month of the year.

The warm water currents that swing by our coast hold plenty of food for the marlin, sailfish, mahi mahi, tuna, wahoo and cobia.

The waters from Noosa in the north to Cape Moreton in the south allow us to fish both light tackle and heavy tackle for these oceanic predators.

Light Tackle Fishery

Mooloolaba is best known for its light tackle fishery and every year literally hundreds of billfish consisting of juvenile black marlin and sailfish are tagged and released off the Sunshine Coast.

The Sunshine Coast Game Fishing Club has had great success over the years and has numerously won the honour of being Australia’s champion club for the tag and release of billfish in Australian waters.

The fish are generally in the 10-60kg range and put a great tussle on our standard light tackle line class of 8kg (16lb test).

These small billfish would have to be on of the most exciting species to encounter off the coast with their blistering runs and continuous leaps out of the water.

Dolphin fish, yellowfin tuna and wahoo are also caught in large numbers throughout the season. 

 Peak Times:

Traditionally, the warmer months of the year bring larger numbers of baitfish to the grounds, which, in turn, attract greater numbers of game fish to the area.

The light tackle fishing is best between the months of September and April but light tackle fish may be caught at any time of the year.

Location:

Black marlin and sailfish may be taken anywhere from a few hundred meters off the coast to 30 miles offshore and beyond, although the majority are caught in the 10-20 nautical mile range. 

The water is generally around 50-60m deep. A sea surface temperature of 23-26 degrees is ideal.

Some local hotspots for light tackle fishing include:

• Chardons Reef off Noosa:               S 26 26 000   E 153 14 000
• The Coolum 12 mile:                      S 26 32 000   E 153 18 000
• The Mooloolaba 10 mile:                 S 26 38 000   E 153 18 000
• The Caloundra 12 mile:                  S 26 48 000   E 153 17 000
• The Trench (top of Moreton Bay)     S 26 56 000   E 153 24 000

(please note that these marks are just a guide and the bait schools will move and could be a mile or so away from the marks given)

Tackle and Bait:

The tackle consists of an 8kg rated short stroker style rod matched to a lever drag game fishing reel such as a Shimano TLD model. 

Single or two-speed reels will do the job. The most important thing is to have a silky smooth drag system that can accommodate the billfishes lightening runs.

The line used is any IGFA pre-tested monofilament such as Platypus Pre-Test.

Wind-on leaders are used in conjunction with a short double. 

The best methods for targeting these game fish are trolling pusher style lures around 200mm in length, trolling skipping baits (such as garfish), trolling swimming baits (such as garfish or mullet) and live-baiting with yellowtail or slimy mackerel.

Live-baits may caught on 6-hook bait-jig. It is a simple matter of locating a bait school on the boat’s depth sounder and slowly lowering the bait jig into the school of bait-fish. The live baits are then kept alive in a special tank on the boat.

Your depth sounder, birds and dolphins are all sign posts as to where the bait schools are hanging around. Generally on the Coast, the bait-fish may be caught on the actual fishing grounds.

Heavy Tackle Fishery

The heavy tackle fishery off the Sunshine Coast is superb and without a doubt it has allowed many anglers to encounter their first blue marlin.

Blue marlin are the main target species on the wider grounds and the average fish is around 150-250kg.

Black marlin, striped marlin, yellowfin tuna, dolphin fish and wahoo are also taken on these grounds.

Peak Times:

The best time to fish the continental shelf is from January to June.

The black marlin go well in January and February. The blue marlin seem to peak in March, April and May and the striped marlin and yellowfin tuna make an appearance at the end of the season.

It should be noted however, that a heavy tackle fish may be taken in any month of the year.

Location:

The continental shelf waters from Noosa to Cape Moreton hold some world-class heavy tackle fishing.

Numerous Canyons exist around 35 nautical miles from the coastline, which, contain a lot of food for the marlin. The food source consists of flying fish, small tuna and sauries.

On occasions, more than twenty billfish have been seen by various boats in a single day. There are not too many places in the world where that can happen.

Some local hot spots are:

• The Noosa Canyons             S 26 25 000   E 153 52 000
• Cape Moreton Wide             S 26 56 000   E 153 42 000

(please note that these marks are just a guide and marlin will move around these areas within a few miles)

Tackle and Bait:

The tackle used will vary depending on whether a game/fighting chair is used.

The stand-up style rod is a 24-37kg rated short stroker and it matched with a high quality lever drag overhead reel such as a Shimano Tiagra or Penn International.

The chair style of rod (which is a lot longer than a stand-up model), is rated in the 37-60kg range and is also matched with a high quality lever drag reel.

The reels should have a 2-speed mechanism.

The line used is any IGFA pre-tested monofilament such as Platypus Pre-Test. Nil stretch Dacron lines are also used in heavy tackle fishing.

Wind-on leaders are used in conjunction with a double. 

The best methods for targeting these monsters of the deep are trolling pusher style lures around 350mm in length. Both single and double hook rigs work as long as the hooks are razor sharp.

Live-baiting with small yellowfin tuna or striped tuna also works at various times of the year. These baitfish may be caught by trolling a small ‘Christmas tree’ style lure behind the boat.

When targeting these big marlin, look for water in the 23-25 degree range as well as any well defined temperature variations.

Baitfish may be spotted by using your sounder and looking for feeding birds and dolphins.

Heavy tackle fishing is very spectacular. There is nothing quite like seeing 500lbs of raging blue marlin leaping out of the cobalt blue water.

 Capt. Andrew Yeh