Bush ‘n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore/Offshore Fishing
How good was that weather window over the Easter long weekend! We could not have asked for better fishing weather and they were chewing! Plenty of boats headed out with Turkey Beach and Agnes Waters boat ramp absolutely packed. We saw the reefs at the bottom end of the Bunker Group such as Fitzroy, Lamont and Boult produce cracking numbers of trout and red throat emperor in the shallows.
Whole pilchards on gang hooks as well as soft plastics and vibes hopped along the bottom were deadly on these fish. Fishing isolated bommies out in deeper water around these reefs also produced some stunning fish, and with the neap tides getting to the bottom in 30-50m of water proved easy even with light ball sinkers. Some of the bigger trout were caught on these marks along with nannygai, spangled emperor, maori cod and some nice venus tusk fish. Whole squid, pilchards and flesh baits all worked really well on these fish.
For those who fished off Bundy the ground east around the gutters seemed to be teaming with sharks with most anglers really struggling to get away from them. If this is the case the only thing worth doing is moving on, eventually you will find ground away from them! The Warrego’s and the Herald’s fished superb despite the small tides with nice numbers of trout caught on top of these reefs and on the edges.
Whole yakka, slimey mackerel or pilchards were the standout baits for these trout. The ground between the Herald Patches and the tip of Fraser also seemed to be on fire with the neap tides, this ground produced plenty of red emperor and big venus tusk fish over the weekend. Big flesh baits seemed to be the go as you can wait for the reds to come in despite plenty of hussar picking at the bait. The early morning tide change was the hottest bite for these reds, however due to the neap tides these fish were caught all throughout the day for those fishing the right ground.
Anglers chasing pelagic fish such as long tail tuna have had plenty of luck with these longies being super thick along the coast but particularly off of Elliott Heads. Casting soft plastics and small metal lures have been most effective and some anglers have even managed to land a few on topwater stickbaits and poppers. The spanish have also been around in really good numbers at a few common spots with trolling whole garfish, bonito or even school mackerel working great. Early morning has been the key bite time for these spano’s as they have been higher up in the water column and more inclined to feed.
Burnett River
The Burnett has had a fantastic couple of weeks of fishing with plenty of families fishing this system during the school holidays. Despite the dirty water we have seen great numbers of big bream caught around the rock walls, pylons and fallen trees with small soft plastics or whole prawns and mullet working great on these fish.
School sized GT have also been caught in these same areas making for some great fun, Kirby’s Wall, the Bridges in town and the rock walls around Fairymead boat ramp have been hot spots for these fish. Some monster jack have also been caught in these same areas with live poddy mullet or strips of mullet fillet being the go to baits. Fishing into the night has seen the best results on these fish especially if you can time it with the run out tide. The mouth of river is still a great place to be fishing along the rocks walls and for the lure anglers hopping soft vibes and soft plastics along the base of the rock walls has picked up some monster flathead and the odd grunter this week.
Kolan River
The Kolan has had another great week of fishing! Towards the mouth on the shallow flats has continued to see the bread and butter species on the chew with fresh yabbies being a dynamite bait to be using for these bream, grunter, whiting and some quality flathead. Fishing the shallow flats at the mouth during the incoming tide has been the best time to do so, make sure to pump some yabbies at the low tide and fish the shallow flats as they fill up with water.
Beach worms have also been a cracking bait to be using in these areas. The incoming tide has also seen 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. The crabbing in this system has been producing some great quality bucks so this long weekend make sure you place the pots in if you can!
Elliott River
The sand flats have been producing some cracking fish in the Elliott again this week, fresh yabbies would have to be one of the best baits that you can get for a large variety of species. One of the stand out species that love yabbies is the the humble whiting and there sure has been plenty around in the Elliott at the moment.
The incoming tide is the go to time to target these whiting so dusting off the yabbie pump and pumping for yabbies at the low tide then fishing the incoming tide is the way to go. Beach worms are another great option for these whiting, but expect by-catch of bream, grunter and flathead to name a few. Some good sized jack have also been showing themselves up the creeks of the Elliott, any rocky structures have definitely been holding good numbers of these fish.
Live poddy mullet, mullet strips and whole prawns are the baits working best. Fishing for these species around the low tide change has been when they have been on the chew. Also, don’t forget to throw the pots in as there has been some great sized muddy’s caught this week!
Baffle Creek
The Baffle is fishing and crabbing well again this week. We have seen plenty of nice sized whiting on the chew during the incoming tide along the shallow sand flats especially those with yabbie beds. Fresh yabbies and beach worms have been working great on these whiting with some nice sized bream and flathead also being caught.
For those specifically chasing flatties the better numbers have been caught along the sandy drop offs on small paddle tail soft plastics during the run out tide, but you can definitely get a bite from a flathead at any part of the day! As this system continues to clean up we have seen more jacks caught up Oyster Creek. Soft plastics skipped into the structure has been working best with Samaki Live Shrimps and MMD Fat Skippers being the standout lures. The crabs have also been in great numbers all throughout the Baffle so this long weekend should be a great time to chase a few crabs with the building tides!
Lake Gregory
Lake Gregory has had another fantastic week of fishing with plenty of quality bass caught in the shallows and out of some deeper water about 10-15ft deep. Throwing surface lures early in the morning and late in the afternoon has been the most effective technique with plenty of action to keep you entertained.
If you are fishing the lake whilst the sun is up a lightly weighted and slow rolled paddle tail soft plastic has worked best when fishing these shallow weed beds. Another good option to try is a shallow diving hardbody lure which dives just above the weed, these can work great when the bass are a bit shut down. For those catching fish in the slightly deeper areas a small blade or again a slow rolled paddle tail soft plastic has worked really well. For this style of fishing a sounder is super helpful as you are able to find the better numbers of bass.
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has continued to produce another week of good fishing with the majority of fish being over the magic metre mark, however good numbers around 80cm have also been prevalent proving to be great fun. For those fishing shallow points or working banks with plenty of overhanging trees or lily pads providing shade there has been good numbers of smaller fish tucked up in the shady pockets. Samaki Redic DS80’s slowly twitched and paused in between the lily’s is a great way to target these smaller barra.
For those chasing the bigger fish working river channels with live scope is doing the damage. Again, Samaki Redic DS80’s have been a standout but leading into the night Zerek Live Mullet’s and Molix 140 Shads have proved effective. 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. The main basin does still have some quality fish in it, however they are certainly very finicky and have spooked easily. Targeting these barra during the night has seen better, more consistent results.
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
