Bundaberg – weekly fishing report

Inshore/Offshore fishing

The inshore reefs have been red hot lately! Plenty of schoolie mackerel, grunter and early season snapper have been caught! The schoolie mackerel have been smashing 50g Flasha spoons and lightly weighted pilchards.

Don’t use wire as a leader for the schoolie mackerel, just use 60lb fluorocarbon. You’ll get plenty more bites! The grunter and snapper have been loving 20g soft vibes and 5” Zman soft plastics worked off the bottom. Early morning and late afternoons has been the best bite times.

 

The offshore reefs have been firing over past week! The coral trout, red emperor and cobia have been ON! The trout have been loving pilchards and prawn imitation lures. The reds have been smashing big flesh baits and the new Nomad Squidtrex! Fishing around 40 meters of depth is always a great place to start for a feed of reds.

Some very large cobia have been getting caught as well, fishing the wrecks is a great place to find them. Using squid for bait for them is the way to go to get the bites!

Burnett River

This week has yet again seen plenty of variety coming from the Burnett River. With the amount of bait and prawns currently in this river it is no wonder the predatory fish are on the chew! Most anglers have managed to catch a few solid fish with flathead, grunter, queenfish and cod being the most common however some jack and barra are also being caught.

These fish are all being caught on live baits, live mullet and prawns are the go to. Fishing these baits around the various rock bars and bridges we have in the Burnett is working great. The prawns have been found in some of the deep holes around Strathdees and down river around the Port. Using your sounder to locate the schools of prawns is a great way to target them as they are moving from day to day.

The crabbing in this river is also red hot at the moment especially with the recent rain. Leading into next weeks big tides we should see some absolute cracking bucks being caught so be sure to throw the pots out of you can.

Elliott River

The Elliott is fishing well with plenty of cracking fish being caught on a range of different techniques. Around the mouth of the river has seen plenty of good sized queenfish and trevally being caught on live sprat and topwater lures!

These fish have been feeding most aggressively during the incoming tide, any places where the current is hitting an object like a rock, tree or sand bank is a go to place for these fish. Along the drop offs has seen some good sized grunter and flathead caught, fresh yabbies have been the ideal baits for these fish but small soft vibes have also landed a few good fish.

Up in the creeks has still seen the mangrove jack on the chew! Live baits are definitely the go to when it comes to landing these fish. Whilst up river it is worth a throw of the cast net as the prawns in this river have been thick!

Baffle Creek

The Baffle is fishing great at the moment, the recent rain seems to have got the fish feeding especially the jack and barra! Most of these prized fish have been caught up river on rock bars and in deep holes up the creeks. A well presented live bait like a prawn or even a prawn imitation lure has got the bite.

Using a 40lb leader has managed to get more bites however some of the big barra have made light work and busted through this quite easily. Some monster cod have also been around on the rock bars as well, although not what everyone are after they are great eating and can put up a great fight.

Around the mouth along the flats has seen some good sized grunter, flathead, trevally and queenfish being caught. All of these species have been caught on similar baits and lures and also have been found sitting close together.

Hopping a few 3 inch soft plastics along the sand flats and drop offs will put you in with a great shot an encountering some of these fish. Up the creeks and in places like Middle Channel has seen plenty of quality sized mud crabs being caught! Using a strong smelling bait like mullet fillet or whole fish frames in your pots has been the key.

Kolan River

Similar to our other local rivers the Kolan has had a great week of fishing and crabbing. Some great numbers of prawns are being found as well! These prawns are being caught easily with a top pocket cast net. Having a quality sounder to locate the prawns before starting to throw the net is a great way to do less casts for more prawns!

As for the crabbing we have seen plenty of people manage to get some great sized bucks when using a strong smelling bait. When it comes to fishing the grunter and flathead have been on the chew! Using either whole sprat or strips of mullet has been the ideal baits. Floating out the sprat and letting them sink slowly with the tide over the sand bars or drop offs has been a killer technique.

Fishing Local Beaches

Our local beaches have had a great week of fishing with the majority of anglers hooking up to some solid whiting, dart, bream and flathead. Fresh is best when it comes to bait for whiting so pumping some yabbies before heading out for a fish has payed off really well for the most part.

Using some red plastic beads or tubing on your leader has also worked a treat. Some good quality flathead and dart are still being caught in gutters close to the shoreline. The flathead have been caught on larger baits like strips of mullet or chunks of pilchard, using a running ball sinker rig has worked a treat.

Having a rod or two rigged up with some small metal slugs has been a good idea as some solid queenfish and trevally have been caught around the entry/exit of gutters as well as in the white wash surrounding these gutters.

Lake Monduran

Lake Monduran is continuing to fish well this week even with the recent rain! Although the dam has surpassed 100% capacity we aren’t losing any of the barra and the water level is already on the way down.

Majority of the fish caught have been smaller however the big barra are being caught more regularly. This could be a great sign for the next few weeks as the barra feed up before the winter season. In order to land these bigger barra the key has been to be using your electronics to not only find the fish, but to also not spook them.

Using your electric motor to find schools of barra is crucial and even using it on some of its lowest speeds as these big barra can be spooked so easily. Once you have found the barra the lures working best have been Jackall Squirrel’s retrieved with a long pause in between twitches and also a super slow rolled Berkley Shimma Pro Rig.

Making the most of the bite times has worked great, keep an eye on the tide changes for the saltwater section of the Kolan River as this is a very well known indicator for when the barra will come on the chew.

Lake Gregory Fishing

Lake Gregory has still fished well considering the water is quite murky after the rain we just had. The fish have been responding to lures quite well, the go to lure in this murky water has to be a hardbody lure like the Rapala Shad Rap Elite! Fishing sections of the dam that have been getting plenty of wind pushed into them has been the go as these areas have slightly warmer water and the majority of the bait.

Twitching hardbody lures along the weed edges has worked really well when mixing in some 5 to 10 second pauses in between twitches. If you are finding schools of bass hanging in slightly deeper water, try using a small paddle tail soft plastic and slowly wind it directly through the school. This technique has worked great on the schooled fish when they are a little more hesitant to bite.

 

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 L.I.F.E – Local Independent Fishing Experts

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