Bush ‘n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore/Offshore Fishing
Earlier this week did house some gaps in the weather and those fortunate enough to capitalize on these opportunities were rewarded. With these windows being short lived the inshore fishing grounds have been the favorite for fishos due to their close proximity. We have been seeing these inshore marks continue to produce great numbers of grunter and grass sweetlip with those using mullet fillet, prawns or squid doing best.
Try fishing for these guys either early mornings or better yet late afternoons and into the night. Plenty of school and grey mackerel have been thick in the areas holding bait, Flasha spoons have been deadly on these fish at the moment either trolled or cast. For those into their sportfishing some nice sized giant trevally, golden trevally and queenfish have been patrolling the coastline with soft plastics and soft vibes hopped along the bottom working well. Similar to the mackerel, find the bait and these pelagic fish will not be far away.
Burnett River
The Burnett has been cleaning up with each set of big tides and the fish are certainly responding well to the increase in salinity. As well as this the water temp is high and this has the summer species really chewing at the moment. Great numbers of jack have been around Tofts Rocks, Talon Bridge and along Kirby’s Wall. These fish have taken a well presented live bait as well as a slow rolled soft plastic or hardbody lure. Fishing right up the backs of the creeks also saw good numbers of jack caught with the big tides firing these areas up. Plenty of barra are also getting around this system at the moment, fishing around the rock bars will put you in with a good chance at these fish. The North Wall has housed some big grunter again this week as well as plenty of cod with whole prawns and mullet fillet working well in these areas. If you are into your lure fishing slow rolling 3in to 4in soft plastics along the rock walls is a good way to pick up these grunter, cod and even a jack.
Kolan River
This week has seen some really nice bread and butter fishing from the Kolan particularly for those fishing the sand flats towards the mouth of the river. Good numbers of bream and whiting have been caught during the incoming tides, fresh yabbies have been dynamite on these fish.
For the lure fishos shallow diving hardbodies have slayed the flatties but if you are chasing the bream and whiting a small topwater lure retrieved across the shallows is deadly on these species. There has been good numbers of school sized trevally and solid grunter caught on mullet fillet, whole sprat and whole prawns in the dirtier water around Booyan bridge and up river along the rocks bars.
Amongst these fish has also been some nice mangrove jack with mullet fillet or a live poddy mullet being the undoing of the majority of these fish. Plenty of small prawns are skipping up the back of the creeks as well as along the mangrove lined banks up the top of this system. Because of this, casting prawn imitation soft plastics in tight to the structure has also resulted in good numbers of mangrove jack caught as these fish have been feeding on these small prawns.
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 like the yabbies expect by-catch of bream, grunter and flathead to name a few. Some good jack and barra 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 has fished well this week with the sand flats throughout this river producing plenty of flathead and grunter around the 50cm mark. Fresh yabbies and strips of mullet fillet are working best on these fish. Small paddle tail soft plastics are also very effective if you are into your lure fishing, slow rolling or hopping these plastics along the bottom can be deadly on these fish.
This week’s late afternoon run out tides have been a great time to be fishing the Baffle for these grunter and flatties. Some absolute stud whiting have also been caught particularly on fresh yabbies and the better quality ones have been caught at night. Up river around the various rock bars has seen some cracking jack being caught.
Live baits or prawn imitation lures like the Zerek Cherabin have been getting these big jack to bite. Similar to last week more barra are starting to show up and live bait is still the go to way to get one of these fish to bite. Securing some live bait and sitting on a school of fish around a tide change is your best bet at the moment.
Lake Gregory
The fishing at Lake Gregory certainly hasn’t been easy this week with the strong and inconsistent winds possibly playing a role in why these bass have had lock-jaw. In saying this some absolute cracking fish have still come from the lake with local gun angler Nelson Philips managing a 50cm bass during last weekend’s Bill Proctor Memorial Competition held by the Bundaberg Sportfishing Club at Lake Gregory.
With the water still very dirty fishing dark coloured, noisy and an aggressive actioned lure has been causing a strong reaction bite from these bass. Purple, blacks and dark greens have been the standout colours to be using especially in vibe or blade presentations. With the high water tempts at the moment especially during the middle of the day we have been seeing more fish being caught in deeper water either out of schools or single fish tucked along the weed edges.
Slow rolling a paddle tail soft plastic has also been getting good bites from these bass, choosing a slightly bigger lure than usual is a good idea at the moment with how dirty the water is. If you are wanting to fish topwater the time to do so is very early mornings or late afternoons when the water temp is not as hot for these fish.
Lake Monduran
The bite at Lake Monduran has been tough this week with inconsistent winds combined with some strong southerly winds possibly being a leading contributor as to why these fish have been timid. As seen with live scope all too often the key has been to get the lure on these barra’s nose, and even then more often than not the barra will refuse to commit.
Finding the right presentation has also been the key to getting a positive reaction from these fish. For those who have been fishing the dam it’s no secret that the last few weeks has really seen hardbody lures become the hot pick for these big barra. The Samaki Redic DS80’s and the Jackall Squirrel 115’s have been the two standouts. Regardless of what hardbody lure you are throwing, ensuring that it suspends or very slowly sinks is really important as this allows you to stall the lure in front of the fish’s face which has resulted in more bites. Trolling in the main basin has still been rewarding anglers with some trophy fish.
The lures doing the damage are big soft plastics or pre rigged swimbaits trolled around 3-3.5km/h. If you are planning a trip to the dam try and fish on hot, humid and sunny days as this has seen the best results. Remember, moon rises and sets along with the Kolan River tide changes are known for producing short bite windows from these barra so make sure you are fishing hard during these times!
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
