Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore fishing
The inshore reefs have produced plenty of great opportunities over the last few weeks even for the smaller boats. The pelagic fish have been out and about in big schools and smashing bait right along the coastline. Common reefs like the 2mile off Bargara, Artificial off Elliott Heads and the 4 Mile south of Elliott Heads have all held a great amount of bait and this is where the pelagic fish have been.
The most common fish caught have been school mackerel, mac tuna, golden trevally, as well as the odd long tail tuna, grey mackerel and some big spanish mackerel. The rocky headlands from Bargara south to Elliott Heads have also been great places to target these fish, again finding the bait is key.
Flasha metal spoons have been the go to lure for the mackerel either fast wound or trolled using a paravane. Using an 80lb fluorocarbon leader has worked great as you will get plenty more bites compared to running a wire trace. When targeting the schools of tuna that have been in great numbers along our coast it pays to have a few different sized metal slugs has you need to match your bait to what they are feeding on. At the moment the Samaki 20 gram Torpedo metal slugs have been working great at matching the small bait these tuna have been feeding on.
Offshore fishing
We had a few cracking days of weather recently and we have definitely seen plenty of people take full advantage of these weather windows whilst most have had some time off. Big spanish mackerel have been in great numbers out wide, the 5 Degree has been producing most of these big fish and trolling hardbodies or garfish has worked well.
The Southern and Northern Gutters have had great shows of bait and fish with plenty of big hookups however the sharks have been a real issue. Whole squid or big slabs of flesh baits have been the go for sweetlip, trout and red emperor in these areas.
Reefs like the Herolds Patches, Warregos, Boult and Lamont have produced a heap of trout and red throat. Fishing the pressure edged side of the reef with whole pilchards and squid has been really effective at these reefs.
Burnett River
Over the holiday period we have seen the Burnett produce some really good fishing for a lot of families. Whether you are after a feed of our bread and butter species like bream, whiting or flathead or if you are chasing mangrove jack, queenfish or grunter the Burnett has been fishing very well.
With the amount of rain we have been getting the prawning and crabbing has also been top tier which had a lot of families eating some top quality sea food over the holidays. The rock bars in the river have been the best places to try and get a good feed of fish as of late.
Big bream, grunter and flathead have been the three most commonly caught species and whole sprat or strips of mullet have got these fish to bite. Kirby’s Wall, Talon Bridge or Tofts Rocks are all great areas to try. These same areas have definitely had good numbers of jack caught from them so be prepared for a few of them, if you throw out some livies you should be in with a good chance especially on the run out tide.
Kolan River
The Kolan River has been fishing really well especially for big jack and estuary cod all throughout the river. Fishing the fallen trees at the mouth of the river, Booyan Bridge up river or any of the rock bars up Yanny Creek has been working great.
Live baits fished into the night have got the best results. The bream, grunter and flathead have also been on the chew at the mouth of this river system along the shallow flats and drop offs. Fresh yabbies are worth their weight in gold for this style of fishing but small strips of mullet fillet or chook gut has been working well.
Over the holidays we saw this river absolutely turn it on for the crabbers, once the word got out this river was full of pots however a lot of people managed to get a great quality feed. Figuring out exactly where the crabs are can be difficult but once you found them they were thick, deep holes directly after a shallow flat were prime locations.
Elliott River
Similar to our other rivers we saw the Elliott produce some really good fishing, crabbing and even prawning at times over the holiday period. The shallow sand bars and yabbie banks in the Elliott were the go to spots for flathead, bream and whiting with fresh yabbies, beach worms or chook gut getting the bites on the incoming tide.
If you were on the water during the run out tide chasing these fish along the drop offs was very effective as these fish moved into deeper water waiting for the bait to get pushed off the shallow flats. Plenty of people got into some good jack and cod action up river by fishing the rock bars and the mangrove lined banks with either live bait or whole prawns and mullet fillet.
The run out tide has definitely been the go to time to be chasing these fish and don’t be afraid to try a few spots until you find some feeding fish.
Baffle Creek
Each year during the holiday periods we see Baffle Creek become a hot spot for a lot of families due to the amount of camping options this creek has. With the amount of people fishing the river the boat noise can definitely impact the fishing and make it a little harder to get the fish to bite.
This year we found those who got up early or stayed out late and fished hard during the times when not a lot of people were on the water had the best results. Fishing the rock bars leading into the night with mullet fillets or whole prawns worked really well and got some big grunter, jack and cod to bite. Most people fished the sand bars and drop offs chasing fish like flathead, grunter, bream and whiting.
Although a lot of people caught these fish the best results were hands down from those using fresh yabbies or beach worms paired with a light fluorocarbon leader. Some good quality crabs were also on the move with the amount of rain this system had, placing your pots in the deeper sections of river either up creeks in deep holes or along the steep banks in the main river worked really well.
Lake Gregory
Lake Gregory is fishing really well at the moment, focusing on fishing the edges of the dam during the low light periods with topwater lures has been the key! Small unweighted topwater frog lures like the Daiwa Bait Junkie Kikker is very effective as you can hop them over the weed, and lily pads without fouling your lure up in the structure.
Some good Saratoga have been feeding in areas of the dam where the leaf litter is hitting the water, these toga love to sit underneath this and wait for any insects to fall onto the water. During the middle of the day casting at the drop offs with deep diving hardbody lures or slow rolling small paddle tail soft plastics has worked best as these bass move into deeper water.
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has been fishing well however it has not come easy due to the very inconsistent weather we have had with the rain and overcast days throwing a spanner in the works. Fishing during the rain or when it is overcast can definitely make these big barra a bit more lethargic so swapping between lures and using a very slow retrieve is your best chance at getting a bite when you are on a large school of fish.
SDA Bay, Bird Bay and the south arm of B Bay have been loaded with barra and a lot of the fish being caught are coming from these locations. These barra have seen a lot of boat traffic over the holidays so being stealthy about how you approach a spot is crucial.
At the moment we have seen hardbody lures be very effective pretty much all day and as the sun sets on the dam big plastics or swimbaits have been the lures of choice. Samaki Redic DS8O’s and MS90’s have been the standout hardbody lures and Berkley Shimma Pro Rigs are a great swimbait option which are ready straight out of the packet.
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
