Bundaberg – weekly fishing report

Inshore Fishing

The inshore fishing right in close to our coastline has been incredible during the small weather windows we have had! The mouth of the Burnett right out along the leads and south along the coast towards Bargara has been absolutely riddled with baitfish. These massive schools of bait have brought with them plenty of mac tuna, all types of mackerel and the odd school of longtail tuna.

If you are targeting tuna using lures, ensure the lure you’re using looks identical to the bait they are feeding on. Team member Josh has found best success using the Arma Anchovy metal slug’s in either the 18g or 25g versions. Casting them out past the busting up tuna and using a simple fast wind retrieve back to the boat has been killer.

 

The mackerel have been in great numbers so trolling some deep diving hardbody lures or some whole garfish around the bait balls has worked a treat. Flasha spoons are also a deadly way to catch a feed of mackerel when you locate good numbers of fish.

Some good sized snapper and mulloway have started to move in close and have been caught around the reefs which are holding a good amount of bait. Sounding over patches of reef and looking for the big balls of bait with some good fish sitting off the back of them is a great sign that the snapper and mulloway are around.

Offshore

With the cracking weather we had last Thursday we saw some anglers head out wide chasing a feed of quality fish. Those who found good patches of ground isolated from any other surrounding reef structures were rewarded. Dropping big flesh baits like mullet fillet or whole squid in 40m resulted in some cracking sized red emperor, spangled emperor, red throat, nannygai, and plenty of cobia.

The shallower patches of reef in about 10 to 25m of water held great numbers of coral trout, grassy sweetlip and venus tuskfish. Smaller baits like whole pilchards and mullet strips worked really well on these fish and they seemed to chew really hard around the tide changes.

The local wrecks have seen some monster cobia continuing to be caught with big flesh baits being very effective on the larger fish. Plenty of the smaller cobia have ate jigs and soft plastics when jigged erratically through the water column, the big cobia have also taken a liking to this technique at times as well.

Burnett River

The Burnett is having another really solid week of fishing, the deeper holes at the mouth of the river and the holes around fairymead have seen good numbers of blue salmon starting to school up. Hopping some soft vibes from about 70mm up to 120mm has got the bite from these fish.

The flats throughout the Burnett have seen the bream right up in the shallows feeding during the high tide, some good sized flathead and grunter have also been doing the same. These fish all love fresh yabbies or small hardbody lures slowly wound off the flat imitating a fleeing yabbie or small baitfish.

Some jack are still being caught however the bigger models have definitely been harder to find. Snag bashing with hardbody lures or a live bait sent deep into the big lay downs has got the bites with a few barra mixed in as well. The full moon last Wednesday really got the mud crabs on the move, those who placed their pots full of fish frames like whole mullet or chicken got the best results, some cracking bucks were caught.

Great numbers of prawns are still being found, throwing for these during the bottom of the tide is always your best chance at getting a feed.

Elliott River

The Elliott has been fishing red hot, this time of year always sees this river fishing well with grunter, bream, flathead, queenfish, dart and tailor being common catches as the water cools. These fish have been caught relatively close together with the sand flats and drop offs being a hot spot for these predator’s.

Tailor, dart and queenfish have generally been closer to the mouth of the river especially on an incoming tide as the bait is pushed up river. The bigger flathead have been up on the shallow flats during the middle of the day warming up in the warmer water. Throwing a bigger soft plastic or hardbody than usual has got the bite as these flatties have been feeding on big whiting and sprat.

The summer whiting were on the chew last week with the big tides around the full moon getting these fish on the chew! Drifting fresh yabbies over the top of the sand bars during the incoming tide definitely got the bites.

Baffle Creek

The Baffle is fishing well, those who have found good numbers of fish have used a slightly smaller bait and worked their lures slower to give the predatory fish more opportunity to strike. Two key changes which have made all the difference this week has been to get your lure or bait in the strike zone for as long as possible and to make it look as natural as possible.

Anglers who have done these two things have got onto some really nice fish. The flathead, bream, whiting and grunter have been on the shallow flats feeding mainly on yabbies. Drifting the flats whilst flicking some small soft plastics has been a deadly technique, having a bait out whilst doing this is also a great idea.

The mud crabs were on the move with the big tides last week and good reports of them still being around have continued throughout this week, placing your pots up the creeks has got the best results. Some good quality jacks are still around, fishing into the night with live baits or whole dead baits has definitely got the best results.

Kolan River

The Kolan is fishing well with the shallow flats and drop offs in the cleaner water towards the mouth holding some quality fish. We have seen fresh yabbies doing the trick on the sand flats on species like flathead, bream, whiting, and big grunter!

The incoming tide and the start of the run out have been the prime times to target these fish. Flicking some small soft plastics and hardbodies has also paid off big time. The mouth of the river has seen good numbers of queenfish and numerous types of trevally on the move as they follow schools of bait being pushed up river. Twitching some small soft plastics around structure which is getting hit with the current has been the most effective way to target these pelagic fish.

If bait fishing is more your thing anchor up current of the structure you want to fish and float out a whole unweighted sprat. Plenty of prawns and crabs are around at the moment. Up on the shallow mud banks and flats is where a lot of the small river prawns are being caught and up the creeks has been where the better numbers of bucks have been found.

Lake Monduran

Lake Monduran is fishing really well with plenty of metre plus fishing being caught over the last week. These big  barra are reacting really well to erratically twitched hardbody lures with long pauses. The Samaki Redic DS80’s have been the standout lure and are fast becoming the go to lure on the dam for a lot of anglers.

The South arm of B has had some really good numbers of fish in it this week, along with Jacks and even down the bottom of the dam in Wiggle Bay. Fishing hard around the bite times is what has helped anglers get a few bites in a short period of time and get some barra on the deck. The shallow points and flats is where a lot of the fish are being caught, the 3-4m mark is the sweet spot at the moment.

 

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

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