Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore/Offshore
The school mackerel have been in very good numbers over the past couple of weeks. Fast retrieving spoons vertically off the bottom has been getting plenty of bites from the Mac but if you’re more into bait fishing, using pilchards can be a killer technique as well. There’s also been some nice grunter and late seasoned snapper around so be sure to try for them along our inshore reefs. Working a 20g soft vibe off the bottom can be a very effective way to get these two species to bite.
The offshore fishing off Bundy has been red hot lately with plenty of coral trout, sweetlip, tusk fish and red emperor being caught. Most of the trout have been caught on pilchards and the reds have been loving big mullet fillets. Remember to make the most out of the change of tides, fish hard one hour either side of the top and bottom of the tide. There’s also been some small Marlin being caught on most of the known local reefs so be sure to have a troll for them.
Burnett River
With the water starting to clear, the river is starting to fire again. The grunter, whiting and flathead have been the main target species. The grunter have been on the chew around the mouth of the river and on any rubble or gravel bottoms as well as deeper holes. Quality flathead have been caught all throughout the river with large strips of mullet fillet or whole prawns working quite well. Along shallow sandflats with patchy weed is where most anglers have had good success when chasing whiting this week. The go to bait has been fresh yabbies and beach worms. There has also been reports of good prawns caught in the river; the mouth of the river has seen better numbers of prawns so far. Using a quality top pocket cast net has made all the difference to get these prawns into the boat.
Elliott River
The Elliott has been producing some very nice whiting and flathead. Most people have been pumping yabbies at low tide and fishing the incoming tide over the shallow sandbars. Also, using beach worms has been doing the job as well to get a tasty feed of whiting. Slow rolling paddle tail soft plastics over the sand bars and mud flats has been doing the trick to get the flathead to bite. If you’re more into bait fishing you can’t beat using a sprat as bait.
Baffle Creek & Kolan River
With these big tides we would recommend having a go at the mangrove jacks up the back of the creeks that shoot off the Baffle and Kolan River systems. Try using 3-4 inch soft plastics skipped under the over hanging mangroves and trees or casting live bait into likely jack haunts.
There has been some solid queenfish up to the metre mark being caught in Baffle Creek on topwater lures and baits. Flathead, bream, whiting, and grunter, to name a few, will all be on the hunt around the many sand flats throughout the river. If you’re lucky enough to land a beauty, don’t forget to send a photo of you holding your trophy fish to our email info@tackleworldbundy.com.au for your chance to win Catch of the Week and a $50 gift card.
Miara has been producing plenty of whiting and flathead with the odd sicklefish catching people by surprise with their solid runs and the way they use the current with their broad body making you think they are a lot bigger than they are. Also, don’t forget to throw the crab pots in because there has been some solid muddies caught of late and some whispers of prawns, but you have to drop in store for those secret spots.
Local Beaches
The whiting have been firing with the northerly winds warming up the water and getting them on the chew. When looking for gutters to fish, keep in mind that the whiting like the water that is stirred up because it gives them cover from the birds and also makes the food easier to find for them as they can blend in. There has also been some good size dart and flathead caught in the same gutters as well. Using yabbies or beach worms have been the ideal bait, and using a running ball sinker rig to allow the bait to drift naturally in the water column.
Lake Gregory
The bass are continuing to feed aggressively in Lake Gregory this week however it has taken a few extra casts to find where these fish are. Drifting wind-blown points and banks has worked well and once you find one bass there has been numerous others in close proximity. Using small hardbody lures twitched over the top of shallow weed banks or along drop offs has been the best technique this week. Using very aggressive twitches mixed with long pauses has got these bass to eat even when conditions haven’t been the best. Using an 8lb or a 10lb fluorocarbon leader has been enough to get these bass out from the weed but still get plenty of bites. Small soft plastics has also worked great when the bass are deep in the weed, running a weed-less hook and getting your lure deep into the structure has got the bite.
Lake Monduran
This week’s inconsistent winds has made the dam a little tough when compared to last week’s brilliant fishing. Plenty of big barra have still been caught all over the dam with a lot of the feeding fish being in sections of the dam that get wind from numerous directions. Hardbody lures have been the go these last two weeks with a lot more fish being caught on them. The key with these lures is to use small, sharp twitches followed by a long pause – sometimes up to around 10 seconds long. This will make the lure act like an injured baitfish and the long pause allows the barra to have an easy feeding opportunity. When using hardbodies, it is really important that the terminal tackle they come equipped with is able to handle a big barra. There is nothing worse than losing a monster fish due to a bent treble or a broken split ring. A great form of preventative maintenance is making sure to upgrade the split rings on your lures and trebles if they don’t look up to scratch. When targeting barra sitting in and around trees, using an 80lb fluorocarbon leader is ideal as this will give you a bit of protection if the fish runs you around a few trees. Similar to last week, maximizing your efforts around the Kolan River’s tide change has been working well. Lots of anglers have caught numerous barra in a span of 20 minutes either side of this bite time.
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 LIFE – Local Independent Fishing Experts
