Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
BUNDABERG INSHORE & OFFSHORE Bundaberg fishing report
The inshore reefs have been producing some very nice grunter and late season spanish mackerel over the past week! The grunter have mostly been caught on 20g soft vibes and 5” soft plastics. Using a slow hop off the bottom, making sure the lure stays in the strike zone, has been key. If you’re more into using bait, you can’t beat using prawns or squid. A well-presented bait on a simple running-ball sinker rig is more than enough to give you a great chance of hooking some of the big grunter that have been around. The spanish have been loving trolled garfish and hard-body lures in the early morning and late afternoon. We have some rigs in stock that troll gar like a charm!
The offshore fishing last weekend was red hot! Plenty of trophy reef fish were caught, with red emperor and coral trout being the standouts. For the reds, big flesh bait such as mullet fillets have been the go. With trout, using pilchard as bait and prawn imitation lures work best. Remember to fish the bite times one hour either side of a tide, it will be super important this weekend because of the big tides. Fingers crossed the weather plays the game! Remember to always check the latest weather report before heading out.
THE BURNETT RIVER
With the big full moon tides this week, there should definitely be plenty of salt pushed back into the river. There were already some very nice bream, grunter and flathead caught towards the north wall at the mouth earlier this week. Most of these fish have been getting caught on 3” paddle tail soft plastics, with the Z-Man Minnowz being one of the favourites. With the hope of the salt moving up the river, blue salmon should be making an appearance too, so be sure to have a go for them. Using your sounder to find where the salmon are is a must, try the deeper holes as the saltier water will sit on the bottom. With the big tides this weekend, don’t forget to drop a few crab pots in because they always produce a few cracking bucks.
THE KOLAN RIVER AND BAFFLE CREEK
The Kolan River and Baffle Creek have both been producing some very nice whiting, flathead and grunter over the past week. With the full moon this weekend, I think whiting will be on the chew in the late afternoon with the incoming tide. Beachworms and fresh yabbies are definitely the go-to bait, drifting shallow flats with patchy weed beds has been working a treat. If grunter are more your thing, try some deeper water with more current – flicking a Samaki Vibelicious will give you a good chance of encountering some solid grunter this time of year. The standout technique at the moment for catching flathead is definitely trolling around Zerek Tango shads on the edges of sandbars and gravel pits. There have also been a few early season mangrove jack being caught as well, so be sure to throw some hard-body lures over your favourite rock bars the next time you go fishing. Again, don’t forget to drop the crab pots in with these big tides. Bundaberg fishing report
CATCH OF THE WEEK
LAKE MONDURAN
Lake Monduran has been liking some of the warmer days we’ve been experiencing over the past week, with a few really nice barramundi being caught. Most of the bites have been in the late afternoon, once the sun has warmed up the shallow points and bays during the day. The reliable Jackall Squirrel has still been the stand-out lure to get the bite. A good quality sounder is a game changer when it comes to finding the elusive barramundi. Spending a few hours sounding around finding barra will give you a much better chance of getting fish into the boat. Most of the fish have been looking for warmer water in the shallows, so using the sidescan to find them patrolling a certain point will help you get your lure in front of their faces. Remember to always fish with confidence. You never know when that 1m plus barra will hit your lure! Bundaberg fishing report
Until next time, keep it real.
Mitch Beyer
Tackle World Bundaberg
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
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