Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore fishing
With the full moon early next week the tides are building and the inshore reefs should be ON this weekend! There’s been some ripper fish being caught with schoolie mackerel, spanish mackerel, grunter and snapper being the standout captures.
Plenty of the schoolies and spanish have been caught on 50g flasha spoons vertically fast retrieved off the bottom, it is always a good idea to have a pilchard or live bait set out the back while fishing your metal lures. Targeting grunter and late seasoned snapper with 20g soft vibes and prawn imitation soft plastic’s is a great way to get yourself into the action.
If you are more into bait fishing using squid and prawns with a lightly weighted sinker is also an effective way to get the bite. First light in the mornings and last light in the afternoons is always a great bite time to chase them.
Offshore fishing
With the good moon phase the offshore reefs should be firing this weekend! With the larger tides in the mornings, fishing the shallower water for coral trout and red throat emperors first thing will be a cracker of an idea.
Fishing for these species in 12 meters to 25 meters is a great place to start. Using pilchards as bait or prawn imitation soft plastics is a very effective way to get the bites. If you want to fish the deeper water for your red emperor it is hard to go past using big flesh baits or live baits for them but if you are more into your lure game the Nomad Squidtrex’s surely has been getting plenty of the bites. Targeting the reds in around 40 meters of water is a great place to start. Let’s just hope the weather plays the game for us!
Burnett River
With the recent rain we have seen the Burnett fish very well up the creeks and along the rock walls with great numbers of jack, cod and grunter being caught. These fish have definitely been caught most during the run out tide and have been in areas with a good amount of current.
Whole prawns and sprat have worked great for all of these species but live bait has got the big jacks to chew! Fishing the rock walls and bridges with soft vibes or prawn imitation soft plastics has also worked very well for the lure fishos on all of these species. Towards the mouth of the river has seen some school mackerel and plenty of queenfish around the rock walls.
These fish have been around bait and will often times show themselves as they feed on the bait. Fast retrieved small metal lures or soft plastics have got these fish to bite. With the rain keep an eye around the port for some better numbers of prawns to show up too!
Elliott River
The Elliott sure is fishing great, the jacks, cod and big grunter have been on the chew in the deep holes. Whole prawns have been a great bait to use, rigging these on a running ball sinker with as light of a weight as you can has worked well.
Fishing the structure with hardbody lures like Samaki Redic DS80’s and MS90’s has worked great as well. The shallow sand flats have produced some good whiting action during the run in tide. With the full moon coming up these fish are only going to be on the chew more. Fresh yabbies are definitely the go to bait, using a very light leader and some red tubing and beads will get you the bite.
Great numbers of flathead have also been caught up in the shallows during the incoming tide, flicking around some small soft plastics in a pink or chartreuse colour has worked well. During the run out tide some soft vibes hopped along the drop offs has picked up some bigger flathead as well.
Baffle Creek
Baffle Creek has definitely fired up with the rain, the stand out fish on the chew has no doubt been the mangrove jack. The run out tide has been the go to time to be chasing these fish, the rock bars in the main sections of river have been producing great numbers and quality sized fish.
Live baits are the ideal bait at the moment, the lure fishos have had great success on hardbody lures like Jackall Squirrels and Samaki Redic’s as well as prawn imitation soft plastics. Fishing up the creeks has also produced some cracking fish, topwater lures like the Chasebaits Flexi Frog has been a great way to target these fish during the high tide when they are deep in the structure.
Targeting the deeper lay downs and scattered timber with soft plastics during the run out tide have got the bites as these jack have been sitting slightly deeper. the flats have produced good numbers of flathead and grunter, finding areas away from the weed has worked best. Small soft plastics have been working great on these fish, the Daiwa bait Junkie 3.2inch minnows have been slaying them!
Kolan River
The Kolan has been fishing great and the jacks are firing up! We have seen some very good sized fish and great numbers of them caught during the run out tide at any of the rock bars, bridges and in the deep holes.
Live baits and prawn imitation soft plastics have been the key to getting these fish to bite. With the full moon on Monday we will definitely see a lot more of these fish caught as they feed with the bigger tides. The flats fishing at the mouth of this system has also seen good sized queenfish and trevally caught around the snags and schools of bait.
Flicking small soft plastics has by far been the most effective way to target these species. Some big flathead and grunter are still around as well, fishing the edges of the shallow flats during the run out tide has been the best way to target these fish. Either whole sprat and prawns or once again small soft plastics has done the trick.
Lake Gregory
The lake has produced some great sessions this week, the overcast weather meant a lot of the fishing has been done around the edges of the dam as these bass have been up in the shallows. Topwater lures like the Chasebaits Flexi Frog or small paddle tail soft plastics rigged unweighted and slow rolled just under the surface have been dynamite!
Fishing the windblown areas of the dam has been most successful as a lot of the bait has been in these area. Once you get a couple of bites in one area focus your attention around there as people have been pulling good numbers of fish from the same area.
Lake Monduran
The fishing on the dam has still been red hot with plenty of fish between 100 and 110cm being caught. The main basin has been producing a lot of these big barra with trolling being the standout method. With the fish sitting around the 5 to 6m mark trolling 15ft diving hardbodies like Barra Classics and RMG Scorpions has worked really well.
Molix 140 and 6.5inch Berkley Shimma Pro Rigs have also been great options. Sounding up where these barra are sitting and casting big swimbaits at them has also got them to bite. The banks opposite the boat ramp have produced some great fish so far this season as well as along the buoy line.
The wind blown bays and points have definitely still produced some cracking fish up in the shallows on the points. The brand new Samaki Redic MS90’s have been slaying the barra up in the shallows, if the fish are sitting deeper try a Samaki Redic DS80. Natural coloured hardbodies have been working best at the moment, as well as natural coloured swimbaits like the Berkley Shimma Pro Rigs.
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
You need to be congratulated on a great very helpful fishing report ,I have been into local tackle store and found them the opposite. We live at Gladstone but fully intend to take our car topper tinnie to Miara in the near future. Your report just happened to come up on Google, hopefully I can catch your very helpful report in the future. Regards Phill Cooper.