Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore fishing
The inshore reefs have been producing plenty of action over the past week with spanish mackerel, grunter and snapper being the standout fish caught. With the few good days of weather earlier this week we got some great reports from those who managed to sneak out for a fish.
The spanish have been hanging out on most of the inshore reefs with the Artificial off the Elliot being one of the hot spots. Trolling gar and hardbody lures around the wrecks looking for the big shows of bait fish and focusing on that little area should get you into the spanish mackerel action!
Remember, early mornings and late afternoons is the best time to target them. The Artificial has also been a great place to get you into some grunter and snapper action! Using soft vibes or 5” soft plastic’s has been a deadly technique if you are into the lure game. If not, using squid and prawns will surely get you hooked into some quality fish. Definitely don’t forget to take some squid jigs, there’s been some cracking sized squid still getting around in the shallows just off our coastline.
Offshore fishing
Those who managed to get out earlier this week were sure rewarded with some cracking fish coming from places like the gutters and ground towards Lady Elliott island. Although the fish were biting the sharks seemed to be out in numbers and we have heard of plenty of anglers struggling to get fish past them.
Big trout, grass sweetlip, venus tusk fish, cod and red emperor were on the chew with some of these fish making it to the boat. Using big flesh baits like fresh hussar fillet or mullet fillet has sure got the bites from these fish. Finding isolated structure away from main sections of reef is where the more quality fish are being found especially when there is a good amount of bait around.
Floating out a whole pilchard is also a good way to pick up any big spanish or school mackerel that happen to be passing through the area. Be sure to make the most out of the tide change, we all know just how red hot the fishing can get during the one hour either side of the tide!
Burnett River
The Burnett has been producing some top quality fish with big bream, grunter and flathead being the standout’s! Whole prawns and sprat rigged with a light ball sinker fished along any of the rock walls in the Burnett has got the bite from the bream and grunter! For the people chasing flathead the hot spots has been any of the sandy drop offs throughout the river.
Again, whole sprat and prawns have been the two go to baits for the flatties. Good numbers of blue salmon are still being found in the town reach area, these fish have been feeding around the low tide. Throwing some Samaki soft vibes at these fish an hour either side of the low tide should give you a good chance at getting some to bite.
Elliott River
The Elliott River sure is fishing red hot at the moment with a great mix of summer and winter species on the chew! This time of year is usually a good opportunity to start chasing species like mangrove jack and barra before a lot of other anglers.
Those throwing the cast net and catching some fresh bait have been doing well when fishing on rock bars and deeper holes in this river. Good numbers of cod and jack are starting to be caught and the barra have been showing themselves in these same areas. The flats fishing is still really good with once again those using fresh baits certainly getting the better results.
For the lure enthusiasts flicking small soft plastics along the flats and drop offs has seen good numbers of flathead, bream, grunter and even some good sized summer whiting being caught. 3 to 4 inch curl tail soft plastics have been the go to lure in this system, rigging them on a 1/8th or a 1/4 oz jig head depending on the depth of water you are fishing will help keep the lure looking natural and get you more bites!
Baffle Creek
Baffle Creek is having a really good week of fishing and with the water temp on the rise we have seen good numbers of jack and barra on the chew. Fishing any of the rock bars and the snags at the mouth of the river system has seen good numbers of fish being caught.
Whole prawns and live bait like poddy mullet have definitely been the go to baits for these fish. The flats fishing in this river system has also been really good, solid grunter and flathead have been caught on the flats and drop offs on soft plastics and vibes. With the tides growing into the upcoming full moon putting the pots in over the weekend should see some good quality bucks caught.
Kolan River
The standout fish in the Kolan at the moment has been the Blue Salmon! Great numbers of these fish have been found in the middle stretch of this river system in any of the deep holes. Soft vibes worked through the schools of fish has no doubt been the go to method to get a bite from these fish.
The rock bars and fallen trees has also seen good numbers of jack being caught now that the water temp is on the rise. Floating whole prawns into the structure has got the bite from these jack with by-catch of cod and flathead.
Some prawns have also been on the muddy flats upriver in the murky water, driving past the flats and watching for the prawns flicking in the wake is a good way to find these prawns. The crabbing has also started to heat up with the tides increasing with the build up to next weeks full moon. Throwing the pots in up the creeks this weekend should result in a few nice sized bucks.
Local Beaches
The beach fishing surrounding Bundaberg has been red hot this week, plenty of anglers are catching quality fish using super simple methods! The absolute go to technique to catch a feed of whiting, bream and flathead off our beaches at the moment is a running ball sinker rig using fresh yabbies or beach worms as bait!
Rules Beach, Coonarr Beach and Woodgate Beach are all fishing very well with some solid tailor and mackerel presenting themselves as well. Small metal lures or whole pilchards have got these pelagic fish to bite. Keep an eye out for birds working, bait flicking or surface strikes from predatory fish as these are all dead giveaways that there is some pelagic fish around and feeding.
Lake Gregory
The bass in Lake Gregory have sure come on the chew with the water temp rising causing the bass to be on the move and feeding. Anglers targeting the weed drop offs with suspending jerk baits have had great success with fish going above 50cm. Letting the hardbody sit and suspend in between twitches really has been the key to getting these bass to bite.
The Rapala Shad Rap Elite hardbodies are almost in a league of their own at the moment, the big bass just absolutely love them and they match the hatch perfectly. Good numbers of fish are still being found schooled up off the points and around the bait however the bigger bass are definitely being caught around the weed towers and drop offs. With some consistent weather forecasted we should continue to see the edge bite get more aggressive and these bass even fatter than they currently are.
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran is sure heating up with some absolute cracking fish over the metre mark being caught consistently by some anglers. The sunny days where winds are somewhat consistent have definitely been the days to be fishing the dam with the barra more inclined to bite during these conditions.
There is loads of fish in the bays at the moment, finding these barra definitely isn’t hard but getting one to bite is a different story. The early morning sessions have seemed to get some good bites from the bigger barra especially when this coincides with a tide change or a moon set. Fishing a point inside a wind blown bay that has fish moving through the area is a great way to approach the dam at the moment.
Suspending hardbody lures with long pauses in between twitches or slow wound Shads soft plastics have been the two types of lures getting these barra to bite. Plenty of small rat barra are up in the shallows and during the day when the sun is high they have been tucked right up in the shadows from overhanging trees or lily pads. Throwing shallow diving hardbodies in this structure and aggressively twitching them back to the boat should result in a few barra hitting the deck.
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
