Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore/Offshore fishing
Looks like we will have a solid south westerly blowing over the weekend so for the guys in close it shouldn’t be too bad to get out and get into some quality inshore fishing. After that first kilometer it will definitely start to chop up and she’s going to be pretty cold especially if you’re heading to the 2 or 4 mile! There has been a few big spanish mackerel hanging around the inshore reefs so trolling one of the Halco Laser pro 190’s or throwing a pilchard out to entice one of these spanish to make your reel scream!
The night time fishing has still been producing quality grunter and snapper on quality baits like squid and pilchard. Along the coastline has still been the hotspot for the squid with some real monsters being caught on squid jigs. Another fish to target is the humble winter whiting around the mouth of the Burnett River and along the front of Burnett Heads. Good ways to target them is with Gulp Sand Worm soft plastics or fresh sand worms and yabbies, you can either drift around or anchor up at the hotspots.
The offshore weather isn’t looking very good this weekend but as always keep an eye on the latest weather updates because you could get a good window. This time of year always produces big reds, trout, nannygai and quality tusk fish offshore around the Warrigoes, Lady Elliott Island and in the gutters! Vibing Nomad Squidtrex’s has been getting some big fish to eat but you can’t go past big flesh baits, those using large strips of mullet fillet and whole squid have done really well on the large reds, nannygai and big trout.
Using smaller strips of mullet and whole pilchards has been the go for those smaller reef species like spangled and grassy emperor, tusk fish and hussar. From all reports we are hearing the men in grey suits are still patrolling and taxing your catch in most areas. If you are losing fish to sharks make sure you don’t hang around too long as the fish population only goes down and the sharks get fatter and congregate in bigger numbers. Just move on to another spot and save that one for another day in hope that the sharks have moved on or aren’t as aggressive.
Burnett River
With plenty of people on the water in the Burnett during the school holidays we sure have seen some great catches! Big bream and grunter are definitely on the chew along with some very solid flathead. The bream and grunter are being caught mainly along the rock walls in the river, Kirby’s Wall is a great place to target these species especially for the land based fishos.
Whole sprat and small pieces of squid has got the bite and be sure to use a light ball sinker as this will let the bait look as natural as possible ensuring you don’t miss any bites! The blue salmon have been thick around Fairymead, drifting or spot locking and throwing Samaki Vibelicious soft vibes and hopping them back to the boat has been working a treat.
Having a quality sounder to locate these fish is helpful as there’s no point fishing for them if they aren’t there, check out the below shot of staff member Corey’s sounder from the weekend.
Elliott River
The Elliott River sure is fishing well during the school holidays as well! Plenty of cracking sized flathead are being caught along most of the river’s sand flats and drop offs. Casting and trolling smaller hardbody lures like the Zerek Tango Shad is definitely getting plenty of bites from these flatties.
Bright colours like pink and yellow are always a go to colour for flathead. Good numbers of summer whiting are also still being caught up river on the sand bars, the incoming tide has been the best time to be fishing for them. Pumping fresh yabbies at low tide then fishing for them during the incoming tide is a good way to get into the whiting action.
Baffle Creek
The Baffle has been fishing red hot over the past week! The two standout fish has definitely been whiting and grunter. Some of the whiting that have been caught have been crackers going over 40cm! By far the most effective way to catch them is pumping yabbies at low tide and fishing the incoming tide over the shallow yabbie banks.
The standout techniques for the grunter have been working gulp soft plastic’s over gravel beds and over yabbie banks. If you’re more into bait fishing you can’t beat using live or dead sprat to get the grunter to bite. Also don’t forget to drop the crab pots in, there’s been some really good quality muddy’s being caught.
Kolan River
The Kolan has been producing some very nice flathead and bream over the past week. The flathead have been smashing 3” Zman Minnowz slow rolled over yabbie banks and gravel bars! The bream have been loving crab imitation lures and small grubs hopped out of shallow rock bars and mangroves.
If you prefer bait fishing it’s hard to beat using prawns and mullet gut for bait, remember to use very small sinkers to present the bait as naturally as possible. Again don’t forget to drop the pots in, there’s been some ripper muddy’s being caught in the Kolan this week!
Lake Gregory
Good numbers of fish are still being found in the lake with reports of fish around the 50cm mark being caught! These bigger fish have been pulled out of the schools of fish after a few smaller bass have been landed.
Slow rolling 3inch soft plastics through the school of bass has been the most consistent technique getting the results over the past week. Plain white coloured lures are working best as this colour is throwing a very good silhouette in the water which the bass are able to locate easily. If the schooled up fish aren’t biting try and throw some soft or metal vibes down and slowly hop them through the school. These lures always seem to get the bass to bite when the plastics aren’t working.
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has been producing good numbers of rat barra this week, the rain we have had has fired up the smaller fish which are sitting in the shallows. These small barra have taken a liking to soft plastic frogs slowly wound across the surface over any lily pads and weed beds.
The Zman Hard Leg Frogz are working really well on these fish especially during the overcast weather. Some good sized schools of big barra are being found throughout the dam however these fish are proving to be very lethargic and it is hard to get a bite out of them. Fishing these bigger fish during the bite times and low light periods is your best bet at converting one, try throwing a few different styles of lures until you get a bite. Remember, always fish with confidence as you never know when that metre plus barra will eat your lure!
ATTENTION
As of 1 July, these changes have been implemented to the East Coast spanish mackerel fishery:
The recreational possession limit is now one fish per person, or two fish per boat with two or more recreational fishers on board (the boat limit will not apply to licensed charter fishing trips).
The extended charter trip limit has been removed (currently allows recreational fishers to take twice the in-possession limit for charter trips longer than 48 hours).
The total allowable commercial catch has been adjusted to 165 tonnes for the 2023 fishing season. For more information, visit DAF website.
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
