Bundaberg – weekly report

BUNDABERG INSHORE/OFFSHORE

With this weekend’s weather shaping up to be red hot we should see plenty of great fish being caught. The schoolie mackerel are all along our coast at the moment and are in numbers we don’t get to see too often. These fish have been in schools along almost any bit of structure that our inshore reefs have to offer. Trolling hard-body lures is a great way to catch these fish and they are beautiful eating especially when fresh. Using baits like garfish or pilchards is also a good technique when either trolled or floated out the back of the boat. The leads at Burnett Heads is a great place to troll for these schoolie mackerel.

 

Some spanish have still been caught but they have been scattered and more often than not the schoolie mackerel have beat them to the baits or lures. Using a bigger bait like whole bonito will give you a better chance at catching a solid spanish mackerel. A lot of tuna have been around at the moment, mac tuna have been most common but better numbers of longtail’s have showed up along our coastline.

 

Heading out wide has definitely been paying off lately whilst our bottom fish have been on the chew. Finding isolated structure off main sections of reef has been the go as they aren’t as heavily fished. Reefs towards Lady Elliott Island have been fishing very well, whole pilchards or big flesh baits like fresh fillets have worked a treat. Rigging these big baits on the Buku bait rigs is most effective, the reds off our coast have absolutely smacked them! Plenty of pelagic’s have been caught for those who fish around the wrecks with big trevally putting up a great fight for sport fishos.

 

 

BURNETT RIVER – BUNDABERG

The Burnett has really started to turn it on these last few weeks whilst the water continues to clear. The last week of big tides really helped clear up the river especially from around Kirby’s Wall and down to the mouth. The grunter have been chewing hard again this week with gravel beds and Rock Walls at the Port being the go to place. Using whole prawns or small sections of mullet fillet thrown at the base of the rock walls or in any holes and channels around the port has worked a treat. Land based fishing off the rock walls at Burnett Heads has been another great way of catching these fish along with flathead, cod and bream being quite a common bycatch. Fishing off these rock walls is something anyone can do and given its success rate lately it is definitely worth a try. Rock walls and submerged rock bars through the middle and upper sections of the river have produced some solid jack and barra. These fish have been hugging close to the rocks and the run-out tide has been when these fish have been caught. Live poddy mullet or 4-5” paddle tail soft plastics have tricked these prized fish.

 

ELLIOTT RIVER

The Elliott has been producing some cracking whiting lately but with the tides decreasing in size they have started to be a little harder to find. Fishing submerged yabbie beds or shallow sand flats with fresh bait on an incoming tide has worked best on these whiting. The key to getting these fish to bite has been fresh yabbies rigged with a really light fluorocarbon leader and some red beads or tubing. The flathead have been on the chew this week with just about any stretch of the river and any technique catching a few solid fish. Some solid grunter are still being caught in the deeper sections of the river with small flesh baits like mullet fillet working well. This river system’s water clarity is super clear at the moment especially on an incoming tide. Using lighter leader than usual has resulted in more fish caught as well as natural-coloured lures like a Bloodworm colour.

 

BAFFLE CREEK

Baffle Creek’s water has become quite dirty this week which has had anglers struggling to put fish in the boat. The fish are still there and biting however the usual techniques that have been working for anglers have taken a hit. With the water being murky larger flesh baits especially mullet fillet have worked really well as the scent from the fillet travels a long way and will bring the fish in. For the lure angler a larger presentation of lure in a dark colour has worked best as this throws a big silhouette through the water allowing predators to see the lure clearly. Fishing at the mouth of small creeks has worked well during the run-out tide. Anchoring and throwing your baits or lures into the channel has been the go. There has been some great crabbing this week with the bigger tides getting the big mud crabs on the move. Now that the tides are decreasing in size throwing your pots in shallow ‘out of the way’ locations will help find a few quality bucks. Definitely be ready for the end of the month when the tides are at their largest again because the crabbing has been red hot.

 

KOLAN RIVER

The mouth of the Kolan this week has had another great week of fishing with anglers catching a wide variety of species. Flathead, bream, grunter, cod, trevally and queenfish were all around this week with the run-out tide seeming to the best time to encounter these fish. The trevally and queenfish have been in the cleaner water at the mouth of the river and the bigger tides this week fired them up. Fishing pressure edges was the most effective way to find these fish whilst they were feeding on all the bait being pushed towards them. The flathead and grunter have been caught through most stretches of the river as long as there is structure and bait. Throwing fresh yabbies or small flesh baits along the edges of drop offs during a run out tide has worked really well for these fish. Earlier in the week saw some solid crabs coming out of this river but with the decreasing tides they are patchy for now. Big baits seem to be getting better results along with putting your pots in shallower sections of river.

 

LAKE MONDURAN

Lake Monduran has produced another cracking week of fishing with plenty of big barra being caught. The barra have been big and their belly’s full proving that these fish are feeding up for the summer season. Soft plastics around 5inches in length and in a natural colour retrieved slowly have been the most effective technique. Fishing the dam on a day with plenty of sunlight has been the best time to go as these fish have been eating more aggressively. Although firing up, these big barra have been wary of the increase in boat traffic on the dam meaning that stealth is absolutely crucial. Using your electric motor when scanning fish or moving around in bays is the best way to avoid spooking these fish. If there happens to be too much noise coming from the boat these big barra will shut down and you will struggle to get a bite. Finding a school of fish that haven’t seen much boat traffic is the way to go. Those joining the Tackle World Bundaberg Lake Monduran Family Fishing Classic should be looking to get up to the dam beforehand for a bit of a scope around. The comp is Saturday and Sunday the 22nd and 23rd of October and is always a great time with plenty of prizes…even if you don’t catch a thing!

 

LAKE GREGORY

This week Lake Gregory has been fishing well with a lot of bass being caught along shallow points. These fish have been deep in structure meaning that getting your lure into the weed can sometimes get you a bite. Rigging soft plastics with a weed-less hook will help get your lure deep into the structure without getting caught up. Small paddle tail soft plastics have been the go throughout the heat of the day. Once the sun is on its way down and shadows start to get cast on the dam is when topwater lures have done really well. The Z-man Finesse FrogZ are well known to be dynamite on big bass and have been slaying their fair share over these last few weeks of warmer weather.

 

LOCAL BEACHES

With our local beaches being a lot quieter since the end of the school holidays we have seen some great fishing coming from well known locations. Big whiting have been the target species for most and freshly pumped yabbies have been doing the damage. Lots of flathead, bream, dart and tailor have been caught as well. The incoming tide has been best for the whiting and bream especially with the big tides earlier in the week. The flathead, tailor and dart have been caught during the run-out tide in gutters along the beach. Out the front of creek entrances has also seen some quality whiting, bream and big flathead caught during the run-out tide. Some solid grunter have been caught once the sun goes down and small flesh baits like mullet fillet have worked best.

 

CATCH OF THE WEEK

 

If you would like your catch photos published to be in the running for a $50 gift card every week, email your details and photos of local catches only to  accounts@tackleworldbundy.com.au

From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
Live the Tackle World LIFE – Local Independent Fishing Experts

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