Bundaberg – weekly fishing report

Inshore Fishing

Our Inshore fishing has been red hot and the good weather has meant even the smaller boats are getting out and stuck into plenty of quality fish. The standout fish being caught are the school mackerel, snapper, grunter and jewfish! The mackerel are all along our coastline and to find these fish you should be fishing areas that have plenty of bait. If you can find a patch of rubbly and patchy ground that is littered with baitfish these schoolies will not be far away.

Dropping down metal spoons and winding them back up as fast as you can is the most effective way to catch these fish once you have found them. Trolling hardbody lures or metal spoon lures using a paravane is a great way to find good numbers of these fish whilst sounding for ground. The snapper, grunter and jewfish have been caught in similar areas with the 2 mile reef off Bargara and the Artificial reef off Elliott Heads being the two standout reefs holding good numbers of these fish.

Sounding around the structure to find fish is a good way to put you ahead of most, as these fish aren’t always sitting on the structure but more so around bait. Soft vibes like a Nomad 110mm Squidtrex or a Samaki 125mm/30g Vibelicious are deadly lures for all of these fish, but a nicely presented curl tail soft plastic will also get the bites!

Offshore

The offshore fishing has been on fire lately and for those who have been heading wide to reefs like the Warrego’s, Herolds Patch or North to Lamont, Boult and Sykes plenty of coral trout, red throat, sweetlip, tusk fish and red emperor have hit the deck. The trout have been right in the shallows, fishing these shallow flats and edges using soft plastics hopped along the bottom or sinking stick baits has worked best. Fishing the deeper drop offs with soft vibes, jigs and again soft plastics has slayed the trout sitting in this deeper water also.

For those bait fishing plenty of trout, red throat, tusk fish, hussar and cobia have been caught on large flesh baits and whole squid or cuttlefish. Fishing the pressure edged side of the reef as always has worked best as this is where the majority of the action takes place.

Those chasing big red emperor have done best fishing isolated structure situated away from main sections of reef, or better yet, in the middle of nowhere. These reefs in the middle of nowhere hold great numbers and variety of fish, and of course rarely get touched making for some insane fishing! Dropping down big flesh baits, live baits or squid are the go to options and all have their time and place. Rigging your bait on a set of gang hooks or even a bait rig like a Berserker Meathead Bait Rig ensures the bait is presented naturally. Remember, when fishing these deep isolated patches of ground the tide change can be the best time to be fishing it, make sure to fish hard during the hour either side of a tide change!

 

 

Burnett River

As mentioned last week the Burnett is starting to fish better as some salinity comes back into this system with the help of some big tides. The mouth of the river is fishing really well again this week with big cod and bream being caught tight to the rock walls and along any other forms of structure. Some cracking flathead and grunter are also being caught fishing along the base of the rock wall where the rock meets the sand.

Floating out whole sprat, mullet fillet or whole prawns are great options to put you in with a chance at all of these fish. If you are into lure fishing casting small curl tail or jerk tail soft plastics up into the shallows has got some of the bream to bite. If you are chasing flathead, grunter or even cod hopping a paddle tail soft plastic or a soft vibe along the wall with the current is the way to go.

Some good numbers of barra are also starting to show themselves around the town area, although it is still very hard to get a bite from these fish there has been a handful caught. Slow rolling big soft plastics or swimbaits has managed a few bites so far.

 

Kolan River

The Kolan is continuing to produce some great variety of fish for those fishing this system. Some really nice bream and grunter have come from up river past Booyan Bridge and up Yandaran Creek along the numerous rock bars. Whole sprat and mullet fillet has worked great on both of these species. Around the mouth of this system along the shallow sand flats and drop offs has seen plenty of good sized flathead around 40 to 55cm in length being caught.

Soft plastics and hardbody lures twitched along the flats and out over the drop offs have got great numbers of these flatties to bite. If you prefer bait fishing whole sprat and even fresh yabbies have been doing the damage! There is even a few early season mangrove jack being caught around heavy structures, a well presented live bait or a slow wound paddle tail soft plastic is sure to entice one of these jacks to bite sooner or later.

The run out tide has seen the majority of these jacks being caught with some good cod by-catch thrown in there as well. The crabs have also been on the move in this system so if you get a chance definitely take the time to throw in a few pots.

 

Elliott River

The Elliott River sure is producing some great fish again this week with big flathead, grunter and cod being the standout fish getting caught. Fishing the deep holes in this system with mullet fillet, whole prawns and whole sprat has been very effective. Soft vibes have also worked well on these fish, natural colours have been best in this system. The shallow sand flats at the mouth of this river have been producing very good numbers of flathead around 50cm in length and these fish have been caught mainly on fresh yabbies and fresh sprat slowly floated across the flats.

If you are chasing the bigger flathead try fishing the deep holes and banks during the run out tide, there has been some ripper flatties caught in this deeper water. Good numbers of queenfish and trevally have also been found at the mouth of the river and up river in areas of high current. Chasing these fish with erratically twitched soft plastics and hardbody lures around the pressure edges and also casting lures at any bait flickers and bust ups is really effective.

 

Baffle Creek

The Baffle is having another quality week of fishing, in particular this river is seeing a great run of big grunter, bream and some cracking flathead. Fishing the sand flats and creeks towards the mouth of the river has worked really well and most anglers have strung together a nice mixed bag of species. If you are chasing the grunter and bream that have been on the chew, whole sprat fished along mangrove lined creeks and rock bars during a run out tide is sure to see some of these fish.

The big flathead have come from the deep holes and drop offs with soft plastics and soft vibes coming into their own to get these big girls to bite. Plenty of trevally have also been getting around this system in the dirty water up river, finding schools of bait and fishing the pressure edged side of rock bars and islands up river and up the creeks should see these fish not far away. We are also starting to see better numbers of mangrove jack come on the chew, for now live bait, whole sprat and mullet fillet are all really good options. Some good numbers of crabs are also on the move so be sure to put the pots in a for a chance at a feed of fresh mud crab!

Lake Monduran

Lake Monduran has had another good week of fishing, although the bite has been tough there has been some ripper fish caught. There has been great numbers of fish caught in the South Arm of B as well as in Hearts Bay and Insane Bay. Mixing up your lures and retrieve has gone a long way in tempting a barra to bite. Jerkbaits, soft plastics, and swimbaits are all getting the bites at the moment so it is important to rotate between these styles of lures including sizes and colours.

These barra are in the shallows so targeting the shallow points with a mix of timber and weed especially if they are close to the main channel is an awesome place to start. The Samaki Redic DS80’s are definitely the standout lure at the moment for those fishing the shallow points. Anglers using live scope have had more success targeting individual fish and are doing so with slow rolled soft plastics and swimbaits. The Berkley Shimma Pro Rigs and the Cast prodigy soft plastics are a great lure for this style of fishing.

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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