Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore Fishing
Our inshore reefs are continuing to fish really well and provide plenty of variety for those heading out during the good weather we have had. Finding the bait has been key, most of our inshore marks are holding great amounts of bait and with that has been plenty of school mackerel, grunter, sweetlip and even some quality snapper, trout and spanish.
Trolling garfish or hardbody lures works well especially if you are trying to locate the bait to find where the mackerel are. If you find an area in which the mackerel are schooled up, dropping down a Flasha spoon and winding it back in as fast as you can is one of the easiest ways to catch a mackerel, even the big spanish love this technique.
Targeting the grunter, snapper and sweetlip with jerktail soft plastics has proved to be very effective, but of course a well presented squid, prawn or even strip bait will get the bites too. The trout have preferred soft vibes or prawn imitation lures hopped along the bottom, but again finding the bait is key for the inshore fishing.
Offshore
It’s certainly no secret that the offshore fishing has been red hot! Ground North towards Lady Musgrave island has fished extremely well for big reds, nannygai and venus tusk fish as well as the usual emperors, sweetlip and hussar. Fishing whole squid, pilchards or flesh baits on a set of gang hooks has by far been the best way to present your baits to these fish.
Securing some live bait is also well worth the time and effort if you are heading out. For those fishing the gutters and wrecks East from Burnett Heads plenty of spanish, cobia and trevally have been around in big schools. As always with these pelagic’s they absolutely love soft plastics and jigs worked erratically through the water column. The spanish have also not been able to resist a live bait floated out or even a trolled bait.
Burnett River
The Burnett is fishing great this week with some really good numbers of blue salmon continuing to be caught in the town reach and plenty of flathead, bream and grunter around the rock bars. Fishing for the blue salmon with soft vibes has worked really well, the change of tide is usually a good opportunity to target these fish, but keep an eye on the sounder as these fish move quick.
Plenty of quality sized bream up to 43cm have been caught along the rock bars in the river, slow rolling paddle tail soft plastics or small hardbody lures are the go to techniques especially for these big bream. Floating out mullet fillet or whole sprat also works well if you prefer using bait. Some cracking flathead are still around in good numbers along the various sand bars and drop offs, soft plastics and soft vibes has worked great on these fish but of course these flatties can’t resist a well presented bait.
Kolan River
The Kolan is currently fishing very well at the moment, there is heaps of bait all throughout the river which has the predatory fish on the chew! Flathead and grunter have been caught in sections of the river with drop offs and a good amount of current. Using bigger chunks of mullet or whole sprat has worked great on these fish, towards the mouth on the shallow flats we have seen fresh yabbies being a dynamite bait to be using for bream, grunter, whiting and some quality flathead.
The incoming tide has seen the schools of bait being pushed up river and some big queenfish and trevally have been in pursuit. Fishing parts of the river which have plenty of current being pushed onto them has worked well. Be sure to drop the pots in if you are fishing this system as some good numbers of legal bucks are being caught.
Elliott River
This system is fishing well and providing plenty of variety for those giving it a red hot crack! The sand flats in this river have held some great numbers of flatties with most being around the 50cm mark. Casting soft plastics over the shallow sand flats and along the drop offs has worked well for these fish. Good numbers of whiting are also being caught with fresh yabbies being the go to bait.
Fishing over shallow yabbies beds as the tide covers them is a great way to get into the whiting action! The incoming tide has seen some good sized queenfish entering this river, floating out whole sprat along the drop offs around the mouth of the river has caught a few of these fish. The deep holes have held some blue salmon, cod and even some mangrove jack. Soft vibes hopped through the deeper holes are great for this style of fishing. If you prefer bait fishing a whole sprat has been getting plenty of bites this week!
Baffle Creek
Baffle Creek sure is fishing well again this week! With holidays in full swing we have seen plenty of people head out on the water and despite the couple of overcast days some great fish have been caught. In particular some cracking grunter and flathead are being caught all throughout this system on a range of techniques. Whole sprat have been a standout bait for these two fish, casting along sandy drop offs and rock bars has worked well during a run out tide.
If you are into lure fishing hopping soft plastics over the shallow sand flats and around the drop offs will put you in with a really good shot at finding a few flatties and grunter. Some good sized whiting have been more active this week, pumping fresh yabbies is the go to way to get these fish to bite. The start of the run in tide as usual is the best time to target these fish. It is also well worth throwing the pots in for an overnight soak at the moment!
Lake Gregory
The bass at Gregory are starting to fire back up with some cracking sessions being had. The key is to find the schools of fish before you start casting, using your sounder to locate the bass and then dropping plastics, vibes or blades into the school. This exact technique is what is helping people land double digits of bass in such a short session. If you have found the fish and aren’t having any luck, a simple lure change can be all you need to start getting the bites! Be ready for a saratoga to jump on your line too, these fish have been feeding around the bass and some crackers have been caught as a welcomed surprise to most!
Lake Monduran
The barra in the dam are definitely on the chew, it just goes to show even with the dropping water temp these big barra can still bite their heads off! No doubt it isn’t easy, but it’s certainly worth a crack if you are thinking of fishing the dam. The night time bite has been the most consistent this week, fishing areas of the dam which have had constant wind blow has proved beneficial as the slightly warmer water and bait has been in these areas.
Slow rolling soft plastics or big swimbaits have got some great bites from metre plus fish. Samaki Redic DS80’s are also still catching some solid fish for those who prefer to be using a hardbody. The early morning and late afternoon bite times have also seen some good barra landed during these bite windows. Keep and eye on the Kolan River tide times because the change in tide is often a cracking little opportunity to nail a few barra in the dam.
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
