Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore Fishing
This week has seen some cooler mornings and some clear water which 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 as well.
Trolling garfish or hardbody lures is very effective 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 grass 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.
Offshore
Last weekend saw plenty of boats head out wide in search of an esky filling feed of tasty demersal fish. The common reefs like the Herolds Patch, Warregoes, Northern Gutter and the 5 Degree all fished very well with plenty of venus tusk fish, grass sweetlip and spangled emperor being caught as well as some solid trout and some stud cobia!
Fishing the pressure edged side of the reefs and finding good amounts of bait has been key. Whole squid and pilchards rigged on a set of 6/0 or 7/0 gang hooks have been the baits getting the best results. If you are into lure fishing the Nomad Squidtrex and Samaki 127mm live prawns have been killer.
Remember to do plenty of drifts when you are fishing offshore, you will cover plenty more ground and you never know what you might drift over. Don’t be afraid to drift well away from the main sections of reef as well, this is where you can find some isolated rocks holding those big reds!
Burnett River
The Burnett has been producing some top quality fish with big bream, grunter and flathead being the standout’s! Whole prawns and sprat rigged with a light ball sinker fished along any of the rock walls in the Burnett has got the bite from the bream and grunter!
For the people chasing flathead the hot spots has been any of the sandy drop offs throughout the river. Again, whole sprat and prawns have been the two go to baits for the flatties. Good numbers of blue salmon are still being found in the town reach area, these fish have been feeding around the low tide. Throwing some Samaki soft vibes at these fish an hour either side of the low tide should give you a good chance at getting some to bite.
Kolan River
The Kolan has been producing some very nice flathead and bream over the past week. The flathead have been smashing 3” Zman Minnowz slow rolled over yabbie banks and gravel bars! Fishing these areas during the start of the run in tide has been best as the flatties have been pushing into the shallows with the tide. The bream have been loving crab imitation lures and small grubs hopped out of shallow rock bars and mangroves.
If you prefer bait fishing it’s hard to beat using prawns and mullet gut for bait, remember to use very small sinkers to present the bait as naturally as possible. Good sized grunter are also being caught up river past Booyan Bridge during a run out tide along the rock bars and in the deep holes on fresh whole sprat. Again don’t forget to drop the pots in, there’s been some ripper muddy’s being caught in the Kolan this week!
Elliott River
The Elliott River sure is fishing red hot at the moment with a great mix of summer and winter species on the chew! Those throwing the cast net and catching some fresh bait have been doing well when fishing on rock bars and deeper holes in this river. Good numbers of cod and jack are starting to be caught in these areas towards the bottom of the run out tide.
The flats fishing is still really good with once again those using fresh baits certainly getting the better results. For the lure enthusiasts flicking small soft plastics along the flats and drop offs has seen good numbers of flathead, bream, grunter and even some good sized summer whiting being caught. 3 to 4 inch curl tail soft plastics have been the go to lure in this system, rigging them on a 1/8th or a 1/4 oz jig head depending on the depth of water you are fishing will help keep the lure looking natural and get you more bites!
Baffle Creek
The Baffle has continued to fish well this week especially around the bottom of the tide. Focusing on fishing structure such as rock bars, fallen trees and mangrove roots at the bottom of the tide is a great way to find congregated fish as their options are more limited compared to at the top of the tide.
Using whole sprat and strips of mullet fillet in these areas has seen plenty of bream, grunter, trevally and some flathead caught. Hopping from spot to spot in this system has been important lately, many anglers are catching a couple of fish at one spot before it goes quiet and they have to move. For the lure fisho’s covering ground has been key, small soft plastics like a Daiwa Bait Junkie 3.2inch minnow has been a great all rounder in this system.
Ensure your lure is coming into regular contact with the bottom and implementing some long pauses in your retrieve will help convince some fish to bite if the fishing is a little slow. Some good numbers of crab have also been caught in the main sections of the river, leaving your pots in overnight has seen the best 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
