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 been full of life the past couple of weeks! Plenty of pelagic’s have been getting caught with mackerel, tuna and golden trevally being the main two species. The standout areas have definitely been the artificial reef off the Elliot and the 2mile off Bargara.
Fishing these area’s with 50g Flasha spoons vertically fast retrieved off the bottom surely will get you into the mackerel action and hopping soft plastics around the bait will be sure to find a few trevally and queenfish. Be sure to set a live bait or float a pilchard out the back as well.
There’s been plenty of birds working on the surface with the amount of bait around at the moment and there has been mackerel and tuna spread all through them. Motoring up within casting distance and cutting your outboard and throwing in slugs and soft plastic’s should definitely get you into some arm stretching fish as well!
Offshore fishing
The offshore fishing has been off its head at the moment! Last weekend saw some cracking fish caught on a range of techniques on the offshore reefs. Big trout, red emperor, sweetlip, tusk fish, cobia and red throat emperor were on the chew.
Whole squid and flesh baits were great options for those targeting these bottom fish. A lot of the action came in the mornings as this was the bigger tide for the day, fishing the pressure edges during this morning tide got the best results.
In the afternoon the bite was a little slower as the fish spread out with the small tide movement. The Gutters, Warregos and the Herolds all fished well, finding areas of the reef that had a lot of bait definitely worked best as the majority of fish were in these areas and they were feeding!
Burnett River
The Burnett has still been fishing well and there is plenty of grunter around the rocky structures and bridges in the Town Reach area as well as the North Wall. These fish have ate whole prawns and small soft plastics or soft vibes. The rock bars and bridges have also produced some great quality flathead, cod and jack this week.
Whole prawns or sprat have been the baits doing the damage on these fish, rigging them up with a 15 to 20lb fluorocarbon leader around the rocks has been getting the bites. Finding schools of bait hanging around the rocks is a really good place to start as these predatory fish will usually be close by.
Great numbers of crab have been found in the main sections of the river with whole mullet or fish frames being the ideal baits to be using. Good numbers of prawns are also being found up the creeks along the shallow mud banks.
Kolan River
The Kolan has been fishing great and the jacks are well and truly fired up! We have seen some very good sized fish and great numbers of them caught during the run out tide at any of the rock bars, bridges and in the deep holes.
Live baits, whole sprat or prawn imitation soft plastics have been getting these fish to bite. Fishing the bottom half of the run out tide at the moment has been the prime time to be targeting the jack.
The flats fishing at the mouth of this system has also seen good sized queenfish and trevally caught around the snags and schools of bait. Flicking small soft plastics has by far been the most effective way to target these species.
Floating out whole sprat rigged with a very small sinker of even no weight at all has got some great results as well. Some big flathead and grunter are still around too, fishing the edges of the shallow flats during the run out tide has been the best way to target these fish. Either whole sprat and prawns or once again small soft plastics has done the trick.
Elliott River
The Elliott River is fishing very well at the moment. This river is offering some great variety with species like cod, jack and big grunter coming on the chew. These fish have been caught mainly from the deep holes and rock bars on whole prawns and sprat or soft plastics rigged weed less to get into the structure. The sand bars and yabbie beds in this river are also great places to soak a bait especially during the incoming tide.
Good numbers of flathead are around as well as some quality bream and grunter. As the tide runs off these flats flicking the drop offs will put you in with a great shot at some cracking flathead and grunter as they chase the bait coming off with the tide. This river is also crabbing and prawning really well, heading up the river with the incoming tide has been the go as you can get right up the back of this system and into the action!
Baffle Creek
The standout two fish for the Baffle over the past week has definitely been mangrove jack and grunter. The mangrove jack have been smashing paddle tail soft plastic’s and prawn imitation lures worked over shallow rock bars and out of mangrove roots.
If you are more into bait fishing using live or dead poddy mullet and sprat surely is a killer bait to get into the jack action. The best bite times for them is definitely first light in the mornings, last light in the afternoons and into the night.
There has been plenty of grunter caught all throughout the system but the mouth seems to be the hottest spot. Slow rolling paddle tail soft plastic’s over the shallow sand bars preferably spots that have yabbie beds or small timber structures on them. The first of the run out tide and the first of the incoming tide is the preferred tides to chase them but you will definitely get a bite from a grunter at any time of the day.
There’s also been some cracking whiting being caught so be sure to have the whiting rods packed to fish the incoming tide. Just like the other rivers the Baffle is also crabbing really well so be sure to put the pots in for an overnight soak if you can!
Lake Gregory
Lake Gregory is fishing really well again this week with multiple bass nudging the 50cm mark being caught. Fishing the edges of the dam with topwater lures in the low light periods has definitely seen some great results. Using topwater lures always gets some insane surface strikes and this is what makes this style of fishing so addictive!
As the sun gets higher in the sky the fish have been moving deeper so small paddle tail soft plastics and small suspending hardbody lures have worked great. When fishing hardbody lures for these bass ensure to give the lure enough time to sit still after a couple of erratic twitches, this is when the bass usually bite!
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran surely has been producing some cracking barra over the past week. Plenty of barramundi that have been caught have been over the magic metre mark! With the rain we’ve been experiencing and getting to this time of year plenty of the barra are in the Main Basin and around the surrounding bays like Bird Bay and SDA Bay so you don’t have to travel far from the ramp at all.
For those who have found good numbers of fish sitting in the deeper water in the Main Basin trolling large paddle tail soft plastic’s and deep diving hardbody lures has been the go. The standout lures to troll has been Barra Classics and Molix 140 Shads. If you want to stick to casting follow the wind to the wind blown points and bays. The Jackall Squirrels and Samaki Redics are still getting plenty of the bites in the shallower water! Remember to always fish with confidence up there, you never know when that trophy fish will jump onto your line.
CATCH OF THE WEEK
If you would like your catch photos published to be in the running for a $50 gift card every week, email your details and photos of local catches only to accounts@tackleworldbundy.com.au
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
Live the Tackle World L.I.F.E – Local Independent Fishing Experts
