Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore fishing
With some windy conditions this week it has sure made it difficult for anglers to head out and chase some of our common species along the inshore reefs. Saturday and Sunday both have minimal swell around the 0.4m mark however winds up to 15knots are expected most of Saturday dropping out to 10knots for the majority of Sunday. These conditions should see a good opportunity for those who are keen to head out to our Inshore marks and chase a few mulloway, spanish mackerel, tuna, trout and tusk fish!
When the conditions have allowed we have seen these species being consistently caught along most of our coastline. The mulloway are being found in natural structure hugging the bottom underneath bait balls and the spanish and tuna have been around the pressure edges created as the current hits some form of structure. Throwing Samaki soft vibes to the bottom and hopping them back to the boat is an easy way to attract a mulloway and get the bite. Trolling deep diving hardbody lures has been really effective on the spanish mackerel. If you are bottom fishing it’s a great idea to float out a whole pilchard to pick up any mackerel that are cruising through.
Offshore fishing
The offshore reefs have really turned it on over the past month when the weather as allowed us to head out! This time of year Bundy is usually red hot fishing because of all the bait that is stacked on our reefs. The number of big red emperor and trout being caught at the moment is ridiculous with some great by catch as well. Reds over 10kg are being caught consistently with the biggest over 16kg so far. Big flesh baits and live baits were the standout baits for these reds.
The big trout have also been loving flesh baits but a whole yakka sure is a trout lollipop! Whole pilchards are also working well with good sized venus tuskfish, sweetlip and red throat emperor being caught at most places. Remember to always make the most out of the tide changes, fishing your favourite spot one hour either side of the tide surely can get your arms stretched and the esky filled!
Burnett River
The Burnett is fishing really well, the standout fish has got to be the big bream and grunter! These two fish have been caught either along the rock walls or on top of the shallow sand flats. Fishing the rock walls with mullet and chook gut is a great way to target these species, slowly drifting your bait down with a light ball sinker is the way to go. If you are fishing the flats live yabbies and whole dead sprat is our preferred baits and the bream and grunter have been loving them!
Those catching some of these monster bream on lures have been mainly using small curl tail soft plastics and yabbie presentation lures. Using a very light jig head and letting the lure drift naturally across the flats or rock walls is a must to get these bream to bite. The blue salmon have shown up in good numbers around town reach and fairymead, these fish have been chewing during the incoming tide and have loved soft vibes like the Daiwa Steez Soft Shell Vibe. With the big night time tides this week we have seen good numbers of crab caught when leaving your pots in overnight. Be sure to be using plenty of bait in your pots as this has given the best results.
Elliott River
The shallow flats in the Elliott have been full of baitfish and the flathead, bream and grunter haven’t been far away. The incoming tide has for sure been the best tide to be fishing this river, the predatory fish have been pushing up with the tide in search of an easy feed. 100 to 120mm curl tail soft plastics hopped along the sand flats and drop offs has got the bite. The old faithful Bloodworm coloured Squidgie Wrigglers are doing their fair share of damage on these fish, they are definitely one of the first lures we tie on for flats fishing!
The deeper holes in this river has seen good numbers of grunter, cod and the odd jack. Whole sprat and prawns have been most anglers go to baits and they have certainly been getting the bite. A simple running ball sinker rig using a 15-20lb leader is working well at the moment, those hooking into some jack have gone up to a 30lb leader and have still managed to get the bites. The upper stretchers of this river system has seen good sized crabs being caught, the numbers aren’t as good but the quality of these crabs has made up for it. Once again, leaving your pots in overnight has been the go.
Baffle Creek
The Baffle has been producing some very nice whiting and bream over the past week! Pumping yabbies early in the mornings this weekend and fishing the incoming tide over the yabbie banks should get you into a feed of whiting. If you miss out on pumping yabbies at low tide our beach worms are the next best bait!
The bream have been loving small curl tail soft plastic’s worked over rock bars and out of mangrove roots. If you’re more into bait fishing using mullet gut or prawns is always a great way to get the bream to chew. Also, don’t forget to drop the pots in, the mud crabs that have been getting caught have been of really good quality!
Kolan River
The standout two fish from the Kolan over the past week has definitely been grunter and flathead! The grunter have been taking a liking to soft plastic’s and soft vibes, if you prefer your bait fishing using live or dead sprat will surely get you into the grunter action.
The standout spots have definitely been the small gravel bars that are holding bait along with the sandy drop offs. The flathead have been hanging out on the shallow sand bars, slow retrieving 3” Zman Minnowz over the sand has been a killer technique! Also, a few anglers have been trolling Daiwa Double Clutch hardbody lures and are having very good results. Slowly trolling them along the drop offs has been the go! Again, don’t forget to drop the crab pots in for a tasty feed of mud crabs.
Local Beaches
Our beaches have sure been fishing well again this week, those who are having a crack are being rewarded with good sized summer whiting and yellow fin bream. These fish are great fun on the light gear and are great eating for those chasing a feed. Fresh yabbies are definitely the go to bait however beach worms are getting the job done as well.
The incoming tide has been when these fish are feeding the most but you can still get into the action regardless of what tide you are fishing!
Lake Gregory
Lake Gregory has been producing some quality bass with plenty around the mid 40cm mark. Most of these fish are schooled up throughout the dam so having a sounder to find these schools of fish is ideal. Similar to last week slow rolling small paddle tail soft plastics has been really effective on these schooled up fish. Deep diving hardbodies like the Rapala Shad Rap Elite has been a cracker of a lure to get the fish to bite when they are a bit more timid.
Getting this lure down to the depth where the fish are then twitching and pausing the lure through the school is a deadly technique. This method works best when the schooled up bass are higher up in the water column, if the fish are down deeper a metal blade lure is sure to get them to bite. Likely areas to look for these schooled up fish are off the points in the deeper water, casting along the drop offs has also worked well if you can’t find any bass on your sounder, or even if you don’t have one at all.
Catch a Catty Comp
CATCH OF THE WEEK
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From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
Live the Tackle World L.I.F.E – Local Independent Fishing Experts
