Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore Fishing
With the recent spells of good weather providing plenty of opportunities for anglers to get out we have sure seen some amazing fish being landed. The great thing about our inshore reefs and wrecks is that you don’t need a big boat to get into the action!
There has been some really good numbers of jewfish, stripeys and cod caught at the common marks. Finding the bait is key and positioning yourself down current if you are throwing lures is a must. Floating out whole squid or pilchards has also got some good results especially on the jewfish which have been getting caught.
Plenty of bait has been around and with this has also been massive amounts of school mackerel. These schoolies can sure be a pest when targeting bottom fish and constantly getting snipped, however if you are chasing a feed of mackerel they are delicious on the smoker! Trolling or casting metal spoons has been slaying these fish at the moment.
For the spearo’s this time of year is what they live for! Clean water and plenty of fish including big spanish coming right in close. These spanish have been hard to get a bite from on the line however the divers have done really well on them so far. Some absolute crackers have been landed, simply drifting common ground has picked up some good fish. However as always berley trails and flasha’s have attracted some of the better fish and has also helped to get them to present a shot.
the Elliott River.
Offshore
No doubt we are all itching to get back out wide after a few weeks of average weather. This Friday afternoon and Saturday are looking pretty good so far and it is certainly do-able however keeping an eye on the weather is a good idea, as we know it can change quick.
In the last lot of weather windows we did see the gutters fishing really well, soft plastics in particular slayed the coral trout and even some cracking sweetlip. Samaki 127mm Live Shrimp soft plastics rigged with a 1oz Daiwa Bait Junkie jig head was the stand out lure.
Plenty of big cobia have also been caught in these areas, look for drop offs and big ledges holding bait, pair this with current and you can bet your bottom dollar the cobia won’t be far away. Big flesh baits work really well on the cobia but they aren’t too picky, they also can’t resist a lure dropped past their nose.
The flat country has also been fishing great with big large mouth nannygai, red emperor and some solid trout being caught in these areas. When fishing these spots you don’t need much ground to find good fish, a little rise or a tiny bit of fern on the bottom is all you need to find some great quality fish. Obviously if you find an isolated bommie in 40m of water it is well worth fishing it too!
Burnett River
The Burnett River is still fishing red hot! The bream and grunter have absolutely been on the chew over the last week. Most of these fish are being caught around the bridges in Town but also along the rocks at Kirby’s Wall and right at the mouth along the Northern and Southern Walls. Floating out whole sprat and prawns have got these fish to bite consistently.
Small soft plastics hopped around the structure has also worked great with plenty of by-catch as well which has mainly been small cod and trevally. Some very big flathead over 75cm are also being caught out of the deep holes.
Soft plastics or soft vibes have been the best way to target these fish but whole sprat and prawns are also getting some good flatties too. Now that the tides are increasing it is well worth dropping the pots in for an overnight soak, this weekend should see plenty of solid bucks being caught.
Kolan River
The Kolan has continued to produce some cracking grunter, flathead and bream this week with the go to technique definitely being fishing the sand flats and drop offs with a mix of mullet fillet and fresh yabbies. These fish have been on the chew all throughout the tide however the start of the incoming has seen more bites especially on the shallow flats and yabbie beds.
Small topwater lures worked along the shallows during the incoming tide has got some awesome whiting and bream action as well as the odd flathead having a go as well. If you are fishing the Kolan having a look upriver around the rock bars or up Yanny creek is definitely a good idea as plenty of cod and big grunter have been getting caught at these spots during a run out tide.
Mullet fillet or whole sprat has worked great during the run out tide in the dirtier water. As with the Burnett the crabbing has picked up with the bigger tides, be sure to drop the pots in for a good chance at some fresh mud crab for tea!
Elliott River
This weeks cold snap has seen the Elliott River respond really well with some good sized tailor and dart being caught around the mouth of this system. Hopping small soft plastics like the Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.95 Flick along the rocks or even in the channel has picked up a few of these fish.
Good sized queenfish have also been on the move in this river especially during the incoming tide, whole sprat floated out with either no weight or a small ball sinker has worked really well when these fish are passing through.
Plenty of flathead between 40 and 50cm in length are being caught all throughout the river too. Targeting the deep holes and drop offs during the run out tide has seen the best results. Fresh yabbies have been working great however they have come with a fair amount of by-catch. If you want to just target flathead whole sprat or soft plastics has helped to eliminate the by-catch of bream and trevally.
Baffle Creek
The Baffle is fishing really well for bread and butter species such as flathead, bream, whiting and grunter. Plenty of school sized bream have been all through this system and have been feeding aggressively. Fresh yabbies have slayed the bream, if you are into lure fishing small curl tail soft plastics are doing the damage.
The flathead have been caught on the sand bars with either yabbie beds, drop offs or sand undulations creating some sort of structure for these fish to ambush their prey. The run out tide has been the best time to target flathead in this system however you can sure catch a flathead here at any time of the day. Hopping soft plastics or twitching shallow diving hardbody lures over the shallow flats has got some good numbers of fish to bite.
Whole sprat has also worked really well when fished with a lightly weighted ball sinker and let to slowly drift over the sand bars with the tide. Fishing the gravel beds up river have found good numbers of grunter, once again a simple whole sprat has got some good numbers of these fish.
Lake Gregory
Lake Gregory is continuing to fish really well and the cool change has certainly kept these fish schooled up in the deeper water. Finding these bass is about as easy as it gets at the moment, a simple sounder and you will be laughing! Once you have found the fish it is only a matter of finding out what they want to feed on. Switching up lures is a great way to try and get a bite and figure out exactly what they want to eat.
Starting by throwing small metal blades or Atomic Semi Hardz lures into the schools should get you a few bass. If they don’t work try playing with colours and sizes or even slow roll some small paddle tail soft plastics. Plenty of fish up to the low 50cm range have been getting caught so there is certainly plenty of big fish around at the moment.
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
