Bush ‘n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore/Offshore Fishing
This week has provided us with some better conditions for fishing and those who were able to take advantage and head out have been rewarded. This Saturday morning is also looking like a nice chance to venture out the front, make sure to check the latest weather forecast as this time of year the Northerly Winds are renowned for coming through earlier than expected.
The inshore ground has seen good sized trout, grass sweetlip, stripeys and plenty of school mackerel being caught along the coast, even at the common marks. Big schools of quality sized grunter have also been found along the coast with the lure fishos having the best luck when targeting these fish.
Hopping soft vibes or jerk tail soft plastics off the bottom is a great way to target these grunter. The pelagic action has still been red hot as well, great numbers of big queenfish have been caught on the pressure edges along the coast and massive numbers of school mackerel have been found around the bait as well. Flasha spoons are the go to lure for chasing the mackerel at the moment and for the queenfish a Halco popper works really well when the bait is sitting high in the water column.
In the periods of good weather over the last few weeks we have seen the offshore reefs fish incredibly well. In particular huge cobia and red emperor have been the two standout species. The big schools of cobia have been in no short supply however reefs and wrecks holding the best numbers have been the Herolds Patch, Northern Gutter, the Barjon and the Althea.
These fish love big slabs of mullet or whole squid and cuttlefish but soft plastics and jigs are also a really effective way to target them. Most of the big reds have come from isolated structure with good shows of bait and the best way to target them has been with fresh flesh baits or slow pitched jigs. Plenty of other tasty reef fish like sweetlip, trout, red throat and hussar have been caught in these areas as well. Sometimes when fishing these isolated patches of structure, the tide turn is key so make sure to maximise your fishing during the 1 hour either side of the tide.
Burnett River
The Burnett has cleaned up really well over the last few weeks and this weeks big tides due to the full moon again helped to bring plenty of salinity up river. We are still seeing really good numbers of barra around Tofts Rocks, Town Reach and at the mouth of the river along the rock walls.
Prawn soft plastics and 4 to 5inch paddle tail soft plastics have been the undoing of most of these barra being caught. Fishing them around a tide change has been best as well as fishing during the night if you can.
Drifting mullet fillet and whole sprat along the rocks in this river has found some great sized bream, grunter and cod especially during the run out tide. Some nice mangrove jack have also been caught towards the mouth with live bait being the most effective bait so far.
Kolan River
The Kolan has been fishing well this week especially for bread and butter species towards the mouth of the river. Fishing the sand flats and drop offs with soft plastics has got some good sized grunter and flathead to bite especially around the top of the tide.
Drifting whole sprat along the flats is also a really effective way to target these fish and this has been working well. Nice sized bream and whiting have also been in good numbers on the shallow flats during the incoming tide. Fresh yabbies or beach worms have been the go to bait for these fish, using very light ball sinkers and fluorocarbon leader when fishing the shallows will help you to get more bites.
Better numbers of barra are starting to be found throughout this system in certain areas that usually hold them. These fish have been very finicky so far with the tide changes proving to be your best chance at getting one to bite on a lure. For now, live bait or even a dead poddy mullet or sprat will give you a much better chance at getting one to bite. The crabbing in this river has also been red hot with the full moon this week getting them on the move!
Elliott River
The Elliott is still fishing well particularly for those heading up this river system with the incoming tide and fishing back out with the run out tide. Good quality cod and jack have been caught as well as bread and butter species like bream, flathead and plenty of grunter.
If you are chasing jack, cod and even grunter try fishing the rocky structures and deep holes with whole prawns and sprat. Some good numbers of barra have been found up this river in the deep holes and along the snaggy banks. These fish have been very timid so be sure to be stealthy when sounding for them and live baits have definitely been the baits working best.
If you are chasing these barra on lures fish them during a tide change and make sure to use a smaller presentation lure with even as light as a 40lb fluorocarbon leader to get the bite. Flicking the sand bars with small soft plastics will also manage a great feed of fish with trevally and queenfish being regular catches at the moment. The crabbing up the back of this system has been really good as well, the full moon this week no doubt got these crabs on the move.
Baffle Creek
This week has seen the Baffle fish well due to the big tides helping to push clean water back into this system and up the creeks. Fishing the early morning incoming tide on the sand flats and yabbie beds has resulted in some nice sized whiting, bream and flathead caught.
Using fresh yabbies or beach worms as bait has by far got the best results when paired with a light sinker and leader. Along the drop offs and deeper holes has seen really nice sized grunter on the chew during the run out tide on mullet fillet and whole sprat.
Good numbers of barra are also being sounded up towards the mouth of the system along the rock bars and around fallen trees. Securing some live bait and fishing these barra during the run out tide and particularly around the low tide change has been best. Quality mangrove jack are starting to make their way up the creeks again as these areas have began to clean up, prawn lures cast right up against the structure have got some cracking bites from these fish.
Lake Gregory
Although the water in Lake Gregory is still dirty at the moment we have seen it produce some good numbers of bass especially around the edges. Covering ground has been key, this helps to put your lure in front of as many bass as possible which has resulted in more bites!
Slow rolling paddle tail soft plastics along the weed has got some nice fish to bite even during the middle of the day. Topwater lures in the early morning have been very effective, the Chasebait Drunken Mullet Jnr has been the lure of choice along with a Daiwa Kicker Curley frog.
If you are fishing when the sun is higher and a soft plastic isn’t getting any love, try a shallow diving hardbody twitched above the weed. Implementing some twitches and pauses will help to trigger a reaction bite from one of these fish.
Lake Monduran
The barra in the lake are in absolute top shape at the moment and although these fish are proving to be tough to get a bite from, some anglers have well and truly figured out a pattern. Live scoping fish sitting in the top 2m of the water column in the main channels and river beds has worked well again this week.
Suspending jerkbaits have been getting really good reactions from these fish, very subtle twitches have been working best. A technique that is not common practice on the lake is using glide baits, a few keen anglers have been using them with some really good results these last few weeks.
As mentioned last week there is still great numbers of barra in the main basin, trolling lures deep has continued to get these fish to bite. Low and slow is the key for trolling at the moment, working your lure around the 3.5km/h mark and ensuring it gets down between 3m and 5m has got these less pressured fish to bite.
Big soft plastics and swimbaits like the Irukandji Sicario plastics or DTF’s have been dynamite on these Monduran barra time and time again.
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
