Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore fishing
Our Inshore fishing has been red hot lately with plenty of pelagic fish and tasty reefies on the chew! The one fish which has been everywhere lately has been the school mackerel, these fish have been at all the common reefs and wrecks off the coastline, wherever the bait is these fish will surely be there.
Trolling hardbody lures and garfish is one very good way to locate these fish, another method proving to be extremely effective is dropping 50g Flasha spoons to the bottom and winding them back up as fast as you can. Some good sized trout, cod and stripeys have been getting caught on bait and lures as well. Finding structure with bait around it is a really good start when trying to find these bottom fish.
Whole squid or cuttlefish has been the best bait to be using as well as fresh flesh baits. If you are into your lure fishing the Samaki 127mm Live Prawns will definitely get the bite as well as a 5 to 7 inch jerk tail soft plastic.
Offshore fishing
Our Offshore grounds have definitely been producing some very good quality fish again this week. We had some really good days of weather earlier in the week and we saw plenty of people head out wide and they surely got onto some cracking fish. Big trout, red throat, cobia and sweetlip were the fish caught most with some lucky people getting onto some huge red emperor once again.
Big flesh baits and whole squid or cuttlefish has been the baits getting these reefies to bite. Due to the big tides earlier in the week a size 10 ball sinker was a good option to keep your baits in the strike zone.
The most important thing when you are trying to finding the fish out wide is to find the bait, often times the majority of bait will be on the pressure edged side of the reef so these areas are always worth a look to begin with. The go to reefs at the moment are definitely the Gutters, Warrego’s and the Herolds Patch, these areas have been producing some very good quality fish.
Burnett and Kolan River
With the recent rain both the Burnett and the Kolan are running fresh. This has obviously pushed a lot of fish towards the mouth of these systems and although this isn’t ideal for the short term in the long term these small floods are necessary and will only make the fishing even better once the rivers salt up again.
Good sized grunter have been around in great numbers in both of these systems so fishing the structures at the mouth of the rivers will be your best shot. Drifting out mullet fillet in the dirty water because it is a stronger smelling bait will be a good way to target these fish. Fishing the dirty water line is also a really good way to find predatory fish as a lot of bait usually sits around this area.
Hopping soft vibes and soft plastics along this dirty water line is a great way to target trevally, grunter, flathead and even barra or jewfish at times. Fishing the incoming tide as the cleaner, salty water pushes back into the system will bring a lot of the fish in with it and this is where fishing the dirty water line where the salt meets the fresh can be so effective.
Elliott River
Due to the Elliott being a much smaller system compared to the Burnett and Kolan this river has not been effected as much and it has been crabbing, prawning and fishing great! The prawns have been in the deep holes during the run out tide and up on the shallow mud flats around the top of the tide.
The mud crabs have been on the move with people getting them all throughout the river system, having plenty of bait in your pots is a great idea with chicken and fresh fish frames working best. The jack fishing in this river has been really good this week especially earlier in the week right after the rain.
Fishing the deeper holes with whole prawns or mullet fillet has got the bites. For those chasing these jack with lures big paddle tail soft plastics are doing the damage in the dirty water because the big paddle tail throws out a lot of vibration and the jack can detect it easily. At the mouth of the Elliot some really good sized trevally and queenfish have been around, drifting whole sprat or flicking the sand flats with small paddle tail soft plastics is sure to get one of these guys interested.
Baffle Creek
The Baffle has copped a fair amount of rain and due to how long this system is we have seen some flow coming down stream. Although this has fired up the jack and grunter in this dirty water especially around the mouth of this system.
The fallen trees at the mouth have been the prime spots to target these fish, chunks and strips of mullet have been the go to bait but also whole sprat has been working really well. Queenfish and trevally are also getting around especially during the incoming tide, once again fishing the fallen trees and even the dirty water line at the mouth of this system will be your best shot.
Lake Gregory
With the Burnett flooding the water in the Lake is now really dirty however the fishing has still been red hot for those who have adapted to the conditions. Using lures that throw out a large silhouette in the water have no doubt been the most effective lures so far in this dirty water. Dark colours and wider profiled lures like the Rapala Shad Rap Elite or a Zman 3inch minnow are great options at the moment.
Fishing the edges of the dam by either slow rolling paddle tail soft plastics or twitching hardbodies along the weed edges has definitely been the most effective way to get a bite from the bass this week. Be sure to cover plenty of ground and once you get a bite focus more on that area as there is likely to be other bass close by.
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has been fishing well however it has not come easy due to the very inconsistent weather we have had with the rain and overcast days making things a little tougher than they could be. Fishing during the rain or when it is overcast can definitely make these big barra a bit more lethargic so swapping between lures and using a very slow retrieve is your best chance at getting a bite when you are on a large school of fish.
SDA Bay, Bird Bay and the south arm of B Bay have been loaded with barra and a lot of the fish being caught are coming from these locations. These barra have seen a lot of boat traffic so being stealthy about how you approach a spot is crucial. The Main Basin has also started to fill up with some better numbers of fish this week, trolling big soft plastics and swimbaits has been the most effective.
At the moment we have seen hardbody lures get most of the bites pretty much all day and as the sun sets on the dam big plastics or swimbaits have been the lures of choice. Samaki Redic DS8O’s and MS90’s have been the standout hardbody lures and Berkley Shimma Pro Rigs are a great swimbait option which are ready straight out of the packet.
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
