Bundaberg – weekly fishing report

Inshore reef fishing

This week has seen some cooler mornings due to a south westerly change and this has brought the spanish mackerel in close and they have been on the chew! Finding the bait has been key, most of our inshore marks are holding great amounts of bait and with that has been plenty of school mackerel and some really good sized schools of spanish as well.

Trolling garfish or hardbody lures works well especially if you are trying to locate bait and fish. If you find an area in which the mackerel are schooled up in dropping down a Flasha spoon and winding it back in as fast as you can is one of the easiest ways to catch a mackerel, even the big spanish love this technique.

Some great sized grunter and grassy sweetlip are also around on the inshore marks, fresh squid has been the go to bait for these fish. Casting curl tail and jerk tail soft plastics is also a great way to target these fish. Make sure your lure is coming in contact with the bottom regularly during your retrieve, this is crucial for getting the bites.

Burnett River

The crabbing and prawning in the Burnett has been red hot this week! The prawns have been towards the mouth of the river in the deep holes and around Strathdees. In the deep water it is ideal to be using a top pocket cast net with tape around the bottom of the net to keep it open as it sinks to the bottom.

With the big tides we have seen a lot of the better quality crabs being caught in the deeper water and once again chicken or mullet fillet have been two great baits to be using. The fishing in the Burnett has also been on fire with heaps of bait all throughout the river and plenty of fish are on the chew. Fishing around the rock bars has seen mangrove jack, cod and barra being caught, big mullet fillets or live baits have worked best on these fish.

Some quality sized grunter and flathead are being caught at the mouth of the river with small soft vibes being a great way to target these fish. Hopping these vibes along the base of the rock walls is where these fish have been sitting.

Kolan River

The Kolan is currently fishing very well at the moment, there is heaps of bait all throughout the river which has the predatory fish on the chew! Flathead and grunter have been caught in sections of the river with drop offs and a good amount of current.

Using bigger chunks of mullet or whole sprat has worked great on these fish, towards the mouth on the shallow flats we have seen fresh yabbies being a dynamite bait to be using for bream, grunter, whiting and some quality flathead. The incoming tide has seen the schools of bait being pushed up river and some big queenfish and trevally have been in pursuit. Fishing parts of the river which have plenty of current being pushed onto them has worked well.

The rock bars and deep holes in this river have produced some great mangrove jack especially for those using live baits. Whole poddy mullet and sprat have been the baits getting the job done, however definitely try some mullet fillet as well. Plenty of prawns and crabs are around at the moment, the middle sections of this river seem to be holding the best numbers for now. Up on the shallow mud banks and flats is where a lot of the small river prawns are being caught.

Elliott River

The Elliott River is fishing really well, those who know a few spots which are less well known have been managing to pull some great quality fish out of this river. The upper stretches have proved to be crabbing and prawning really well, the deeper holes up the creeks is the way to go. Having a quality sounder to find the prawns is also super handy and helps to locate the better numbers of prawns.

The sand flats in this river have held some great numbers of flatties with most being around the 50cm mark. Casting soft plastics over the shallow sand flats and along the drop offs has worked well for these fish.  Good numbers of whiting are also being caught with fresh yabbies being the go to bait.

The incoming tide has seen some good sized queenfish entering this river, floating out whole sprat along the drop offs around the mouth of the river has caught a few of these fish. The rock bars in this system have held some big jacks and solid barra so throwing down a livie is a great way to find a few of these sought after species.

Baffle Creek

Baffle creek has been producing really good fish for most who are giving it a good crack this week. Plenty of bream, whiting and flathead are being caught throughout the river but the prized fish this week has been the mangrove jack. Most anglers who have been targeting these fish have had the best luck when fishing rock bars or sections of creek with plenty of structure and sending down some fresh live baits.

These jacks have preferred live prawns or poddy mullet. A lot of estuary and rock cod are being caught whilst chasing these jack but they are a welcome bycatch for most families or those wanting a feed. Around the mouth has seen the sand flats fishing really well for flathead, grunter and some big queenfish.

The incoming tide has been the best time to chase these fish, getting up onto the shallow flats and casting some 3 to 4 inch soft plastics has worked a treat. The crabbing in this river has been really good as well, the big bucks have been on the move so throwing a few pots out whilst having a fish for the day is definitely worth a shot.

Lake Gregory

Lake Gregory is definitely still fishing really well around the edges of the dam, throwing small soft plastics and hardbodies has got some great results. Saratoga are also still being caught up in the shallows on the wind blown areas of the lake. 

With the cooler weather on the way we will definitely see these bass start to school up throughout the lake in the deeper water and along the drop offs. When this occurs a slow rolled soft plastic wound directly through the school of bass is hard to beat. 

Lake Monduran

The barra in the dam are on the chew with these cooler mornings enticing these fish to feed up before winter. The early morning and late afternoon bite times have been pretty consistent with some of the bigger barra landed during these bite windows. Keep and eye on the Kolan River tide times because the change in tide is often a cracking little opportunity to nail a few barra in the dam.

Slowly twitched and paused Samaki Redic DS80’s have got some quality fish to eat. When fishing the late afternoons and into the night we have seen the majority of the big barra coming from big soft plastics or swimbaits slow rolled.

Up in the shallows during the middle of the day has seen the smaller barra tucked up in the shade produced from overhanging trees or lily pads. Casting your lure into this shade and retrieving it back to the boat with a simple slow roll has definitely worked a treat.

 

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

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