Bundaberg – weekly fishing report

Inshore/Offshore fishing

The inshore reefs have been fishing well with plenty of quality sized grunter being caught on 5inch jerk shads rigged on a 1/2oz 5/0 jig head. 20gram soft vibes like the Samaki Vibelicious have also worked a treat! If bait fishing is more your thing try using fresh prawns and squid with also a few small snapper showing up.

Spanish mackerel season has now opened from the 21st of February however will once again close for another 3 weeks starting on the 1st of March. Our Inshore reefs along the coast house plenty of big spanish and these fish are best targeted by trolling dead baits such as gar or mullet as well as big hardbody lures.

The school mackerel have still fished very well with spinning Flasha spoons at a high speed through schools of bait or around the reefs doing best. There has still been a decent amount of tuna along the coast line, at times it has been tough to get a bite from these fish however small metal slugs like the Arma Anchovy range has worked a treat to get some to chew.

 

Offshore fishing has been tough this week with less than ideal weather making it hard for us fisho’s to head out wide. Whilst we sit on our hands and wait for the next good weather opportunity it is a great time to stock up on all your gear now to avoid the last minute scrambles before that next big trip.

Having a few extras of your favourite lures is always a fantastic idea as when the weather turns good the hot lures sell out quick! We have seen some quality red emperor, trout and nannygai being caught out wide lately when the weather has been good. The trout have been caught on fresh pilchards or whole yakka’s and the red’s and nannies have loved big flesh baits or whole squid.

Burnett River

After the storm and heavy downpour of rain late last week the Burnett is quite dirty with the upper sections of the river being affected the most. Those fishing with lures have got best results when using a darker coloured lure to give off a larger silhouette in this dirty water.

Paddle tail soft plastics such as the Zman 3 inch Minnowz have been the go to lure for just about anything in the river this week! Slow rolling these lures over rock bars, out of snags or over sand bars has worked a treat from jack and barra to flathead and queenfish!

For the bait anglers live bait is where it’s at for now, small poddy mullet or sprat is the ideal baits and fishing around rock bars or fallen trees is where a lot of the fish are being caught. Some quality grunter are in the river at the moment as well, down river around the mouth has seen the best numbers of these fish as they feed on the sand flats and along deep drop offs.

Plenty of crabs have been on the move as well so it is well worth a shot at trying to get a feed of mud crab. Putting your pots up in creeks and using plenty of a strong smelling bait has got the best results.

Elliott River

The Elliott River is fishing great this week, the river is full of bait at the moment and the predators are feeding! Some big queenfish, trevally and dart are being caught at the mouth of the river. Black bank and the rock bar at the mouth are the go to places for these fish.

Floating out a live sprat has worked a treat. Up river has seem some cracking flathead and grunter being caught on the various sand flats and drop offs. Small soft vibes have worked really well on these fish along with whole prawns rigged on a running ball sinker rig.

A quality aerator is a game changer when bait fishing as they keep the bait alive for hours! The Elliott has produced some solid jack this week on live baits like sprat and poddy mullet. With the rain we had last week we have seen the crabbing picking up in this river. The deeper mangrove lined edges throughout the river have been great places to throw a few pots as of late.

Baffle Creek

Baffle Creek has had a very good week of fishing. The upper sections of this system are quite murky and up the creeks are as well so the run in tide has been the go to time to be fishing this river. Some cracking flathead, whiting and grunter have been making their way up onto the shallow sand flats.

Using fresh yabbies as bait has been dynamite on the whiting and some whole sprat has got the grunter and flathead to bite. Flicking some small soft plastics bright in colour have absolutely slayed the flatties this week! Areas where there is a good amount of current paired with a solid drop off have been where these fish are being caught in the best numbers.

Most of the rock bars throughout this river have held some solid estuary cod, jack and the odd barra! Live poddy mullet sent down into the rocks has been the best way to catch these fish. Using a 40 to 60lb fluorocarbon leader has worked well to get the bite but also provide enough strength and abrasion resistance amongst the rocks.

With the rain our region got late last week we have continued to see plenty of crabs coming out of this river. Most of them have been out of slightly deeper sections of creeks as the bigger tides have got them on the move.

Kolan River

Similar to our other local rivers the Kolan has had a great week of fishing and crabbing. We have gotten plenty of reports of great numbers of prawns in this river too! Having a quality sounder to locate the prawns before starting to throw the net is a great way to do less casts for more prawns! On the crabbing front we have seen some great numbers of good sized bucks being caught.

Throwing the pots up in the creeks has been the way to go, any deep holes up the creeks have been the hot spots. For the fishing we have seen plenty of grunter and flathead being caught throughout the whole river. Whole sprat either dead or alive has been the ideal bait.

Floating out the sprat and letting it sink slowly with the tide over the sand bars or drop offs has been a killer technique. Along the rocks bars has also seen some big mangrove jack and cod caught using this exact same method.

Fishing Local Beaches

With the large tides we have had the whiting bite off the beaches has been red hot! Moore Park Beach and Woodgate Beach are the standouts for these fish with fresh yabbies, pippies or worms being the ideal baits. Fishing the last half of the incoming tide has been a perfect way to target these fish.

Finding a nice gutter in close to the shoreline is where these whiting are being caught most. Some solid dart and grunter are also being caught so definitely have a few rods in the water to maximise the amount of fish you can catch!

Lake Monduran

Fishing on the lake this week has really heated up! A lot of barra have been caught with a few anglers landing 10 or more barra in a single session. Most of these fish have been around 60cm in length however they are great fun in between bites from the big fish.

These smaller fish have been caught regularly on hardbody lures cast right in close to the lily’s and bushes in a few feet of water and twitched back to the boat. Plenty of big barra have been found throughout the dam, similar to last week these fish have not been easy to tempt a bite from but there has definitely been more hitting the deck this week!

These bigger barra have been found passing through points which have had plenty of wind blow over the last few days. Mixing between a suspending hardbody lure and a paddle tail soft plastic or swimbait has been able to get a bite from these big barra eventually. Some days they have preferred the hardbodies and other days they have bit on plastics so be sure to mix it up until you get a bite.

Lake Gregory Fishing

This week the lake has fished well with some really good quality bass being caught. Topwater lures have been quite popular over the last few weeks and low light periods such as dawn and dusk have been the ideal times to throw topwater.

Walk the dog style topwater lures have been the most effective this week as the bass are a lot more interested in a more aggressive presentation opposed to the subtle presentation of a frog imitation lure. Throughout the middle of the day anglers have had most success on small paddle tail soft plastics. Slow winding these lures over the top of the weed beds or along the drop offs have been the go.

 

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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