Bundaberg – weekly fishing report

The massive tides we had last week has helped drastically to push plenty of salt up river and has seen the Burnett start to fish a lot better. As some of you may know last Saturday the 1st of February saw the saltwater barra season open and some keen anglers gave it a good crack.

It’s safe the say that the Burnett has plenty of barra in it at the moment however getting one to bite has proved challenging so far. Fishing around the tide changes will help to improve your chance at a bite from one of these fish, however the most important thing is to just keep on casting! This week has also seen some nice grunter and flathead caught around Kirby’s Wall on the sand flats and drop offs on whole sprat and strips of mullet fillet.

Fishing the North Wall has continued to see nice bream and cod caught as well as the occasional mangrove jack. For those targeting these jack slow rolled soft plastics along the rock walls has been the most effective technique, almost getting parallel to the rock walls and bringing your lure along the wall has worked best.

The Kolan is fishing great and in particular this system has had a great run of big grunter this week. These fish are being caught all throughout the river however they have been most active in the dirtier water during the run out tide. Whole sprat, strips of mullet fillet and whole prawns have all got the bite from these fish.

Targeting either rock bars or sandy drop offs has had the best results. For the lure fishos soft vibes like a Samaki Vibelicious is one of the best grunter lures you can throw. Some big flathead around the 60cm mark have been caught in the deeper holes during the run out tide, similar to the grunter these fish have loved either a whole sprat, mullet fillet or a whole prawn.

Some nice sized mangrove jack have also been quite prevalent around the rocky structures with live bait being by far the most effective bait. Fishing the run out tide for these jack has seen best results and don’t be afraid to move on quite quickly even when live baiting to cover ground. The Kolan has also been crabbing really well so it is still well worth dropping the pots in for a soak!

The Elliott is fishing great at the moment with the standout species being the summer whiting and the mighty mud crabs! Those pumping yabbies at low tide then fishing the incoming tide over the shallow sand bars and weed beds have absolutely slayed the whiting. Using a running ball sinker rig with 6lb leader and pink/red beads and tubing has been the go to way to get these finicky fish to bite.

Great numbers of flathead have also been caught in the same areas as these whiting so having some whole sprat drifting out over the sand bars is definitely a good idea to pick up some of the flatties which are cruising over the flats with the incoming tide. The deeper holes throughout the Elliott River are producing good numbers of grunter and this is where the big flathead have been caught too.

Soft vibes hopped along the bottom have been picking these fish up consistently. The crabs have been on the move in this river so be sure to throw the pots in this weekend for a tasty feed of mud crab! The best results has come from those working their pots or dillies to find where the crabs are, however simply putting your pots in for a few hours whilst you fish has seen good results as well.

The massive tides last week helped to clean this system up and we are seeing the fishing improve further up river because of this. Fishing the sand flats around Winfield and down towards the mouth of the river has seen some nice bream and flathead caught especially during the incoming tide.

Fishing with fresh yabbies has seen best results with some really good sized whiting being caught in the shallows as well. We have also seen some cracking grunter being caught along the rocks bars and in the deep holes particularly during the run out tide when the water is dirtier.

With barra season now open more and more anglers will start targeting these fish, and there is a few spots holding good numbers of them at the moment. Sounding along the numerous rock bars and big fallen trees in this system are go to places for these barra to school up. Live prawns and mullet are always great baits for these barra, remember to fish for them around the turn of a tide for your best chance at one being willing to bite.

Lake Monduran sure is fishing well with plenty of metre barra hitting the deck for those putting in the hours. Fishing the dam at night time has seen the best results whether trolling or casting. Anglers with live scope well and truly have the advantage at the moment as precision is key. Ensuring your lure tracks right in front of a barra’s face is what more often than not triggers a bite.

Not only that, live scope enables you to see how each fish reacts to certain lures, which helps you to predict what they are more likely to eat. In saying that, trolling is certainly still producing great numbers of fish and maybe it can be attributed to the shear amount of area you can cover with your lure sitting in the strike zone the whole time.

Big soft plastics and swimbaits are the go to when trolling, working your lures between 3km/h to 3.5km/h seems to still be the sweet spot. For those casting the shallow windblown points and bays a lot of the fish being caught have ate a suspended hardbody lure. A Samaki Redic DS80 is hard to beat and is a lure that is quickly becoming a must have when fishing this dam.