Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore fishing
The inshore reefs have been fishing very well with pelagic’s such as spanish mackerel and school mackerel being the standout fish being caught. Trolling gar and hard body lures first light in the mornings has definitely been the standout technique to get the bite from the spanish mackerel. With the schoolies fast retrieving 50g Flasha spoons vertically off the bottom has been killing it.
Also be sure to have a go on the bottom for a late seasoned snapper or grunter. Using 20g soft vibes and 5” soft plastic’s has been doing the trick with some good sized cod and stripey’s around as well. Make sure to find the bait, this has been the key to finding the quality fish.
Offshore fishing
The offshore fishing has also been turning it on for us in the small weather windows we have had! Plenty of red emperor, coral trout and grassy sweet lip have been getting caught. Using pilchards and live bait has been doing the trick for the trouty’s and grassy sweetlip. Big flesh baits has been doing the trick for the reds with mullet and tuna fillets being the go to.
If you’re more into lure fishing using prawn imitation lures such as Samaki Golden Carrots has been doing the trick. Remember to always make the most out of the tide changes out there, one hour either side of the tide surely can put some fish on your deck. Fingers crossed the weather plays the game this weekend and we can send it out wide in chase of these species.
Burnett River
The Burnett is fishing well again this week for those who have found areas away from the weed that has been in the river. Great numbers of grunter have been caught, plenty of smaller fish around 30cm have been most common but we’ve heard of some fish getting up around the 60cm mark being caught. These fish have been in areas with a bit of current so sand bars and drop offs and well as the rock walls during a run out tide are great places to try.
Whole sprat and prawns have worked really well, and any small curl tail soft plastics will sure get them to bite. Some very nice sized jacks have come on the chew around the rock walls this week, live baits and strips of mullet fillet have been the go to baits. For those chasing the flatties there has been some great fish caught. Prawn imitation soft plastics like the Shads Lures Tuff Prawn have been doing the damage on these fish.
Some very large barra are still around in the Burnett but these fish have been hard to get bites from. Using a variety of different lures and baits as well as fishing for them during a tide change is your best bet. As always a quality sounder will improve your chances of getting into the barra action.
Elliott River
The Elliott River is fishing very well at the moment. This river is offering some great variety and the summer species like cod, jack and barra have come on the chew. For those chasing a feed the sand bars and yabbie beds in this river are great places to soak a bait especially during the incoming tide.
Good numbers of flathead are around as well as some quality bream and grunter. The jack and cod have come from the fallen trees and mangroves up the creeks and we have seen these fish chew during the run out tide on baits such as mullet fillet, prawns and sprat.
The barra have been hard to get a bite from but there is good numbers around. Having a quality sounder to locate these fish is a game changer, the barra have been on the sand flats around areas with either a deep hole or some structure close by. Fishing for these around the tide changes has been most effective, team member Jake managed to get a few bites from these fish over the week but unfortunately couldn’t get the hooks to stick. Soft vibes like a Samaki Vibelicious hopped through the deep holes has also seen some small jewfish caught.
Baffle Creek
Although the Baffle has had quite a lot of snot weed in it the fishing has been really good. Good sized flathead and grunter have been on the sand flats especially towards the mouth of the river, these fish have been right up in the shallows during the run in tide and on the drop offs as the tide runs out. Small hardbody lures like a Daiwa Double Clutch and curl tail soft plastics twitched over the flats have got the bite from these fish. The snags at the mouth of the river have also seen some big trevally and queenfish schools hanging around them during the incoming tide.
Small soft plastics like Zman 3 inch Minnows hopped around the trees has been very effective. The creeks and rock bars have definitely seen some jack starting to be caught more regularly. Live baits have been by far the most effective way to target these fish at the moment. Those fishing into the night have had the best results, baits like poddy mullet, prawns and even dead whole sprat have been ideal.
Kolan River
The Kolan is having another great week of fishing. Plenty of big barra are getting around this system in places like the deep holes and at any of the rocky structures up the river. The snags at the mouth of the river have also held good numbers of barra but they have been very hard to present a bait or a lure to as they are so far in the structure. Schools of barra sitting up the river have been the fish that have bit more consistently so these fish are definitely the ones you want to target. For now live baits like whole prawns will be a great option to get these barra to bite, fishing the tide changes is definitely going to improve your chances as well.
For the lure fisho’s a Samaki soft vibe or a Zerek Cherabin are great options. Good numbers of flathead, grunter, trevally and queenfish have been around this week. Fishing the top of the incoming tide over the sand flats and the drop offs as the tide begins to run out are a great way to find these species. The snags at the mouth of the river have been holding plenty of bait and the pelagic fish have been feeding on them as the tide runs. Flicking soft plastics around the edges of the structure has worked well on these pelagic fish.
Lake Gregory
Lake Gregory is fishing really well again this week with multiple bass nudging the 50cm mark being caught. Fishing the edges of the dam with topwater lures in the low light periods has definitely seen some incredible surface strikes from these bass whilst they are in the shallows and feeding! Whilst the sun is high up and there’s not many shadows being cast over the dam the fish have been moving deeper so targeting the drop offs and weed towers with small paddle tail soft plastics has been very effective.
Hardbody lures have also been extremely effective at getting these bass to bite as well. Letting the hardbody pause in the water column in between twitches should see it get absolutely smashed by one of the Lake Gregory bass. Darker coloured lures have got more bites recently, this is due to the lure throwing a bigger silhouette in the water which makes spotting and targeting this lure a lot easier for the fish.
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has absolutely been turning it on lately and this week is no different. Some monster barra well over the magic metre mark are being caught all throughout the dam. These fish have been feeding hard during the bite windows, these short bite times can change your session on the dam drastically. Being on fish during these bite windows is definitely a great idea to capitalize on the opportunity and get some fish in the boat. Lucky Craft 78XD pointers and Jackall Squirrel 79SP’s have been the two jerk baits getting most of the bites.
Swimbait lures like the Molix 120’s or Berkley Shimma Pro Rigs have also accounted for some very big fish this week. With the Tackle World Bundaberg Lake Monduran Family Fishing Classic on this weekend we are no doubt going to see some monster barra caught! Fishing areas of the dam that have been getting hit by the wind will be key, South Arm of B as well as Hearts Bay, Insane Bay and White Rock have all had great numbers of fish caught out of them this week. Remember to keep the noise down as much as you possibly can, these barra are easily shut down by excessive noise.
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
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