Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
Inshore/Offshore fishing
With the weather looking half decent this weekend the inshore reefs and mouths of the rivers should come alive. The grey mackerel (not to be confused with spanish mackerel, a very similar looking fish) have been about in great numbers. Team member Josh has been doing very well on the grey mackerel with reports of them being in numerous schools along the dirty water line around the mouth of the Burnett.
These grey’s have been smashing baitfish and sometimes becoming fully airborne in their pursuit for a feed. The best way to target pelagic’s when feeding on small bait is to through small metal lures like any of the Arma lures in the 18-25g retrieved at a fast speed otherwise they will not be interested, you may get a follow but they just will not commit.
The inshore reefs are holding good numbers of grunter, snapper and grassy’s with schools of golden trevally and queenfish patrolling around the inshore wrecks and reefs of the Elliott. Some good ways to target the tasty reefies is to drop down a pilchard or squid on a running ball sinker and a 5/0 Mustad Tarpon or Big Gun. This way you can feel the bites a lot easier. Another way is to slow jig smaller curl tail soft plastics around the 3 inch size or use a Mustad Mini Ink Vader.
Saturday is looking like the pick of the days however keep a close eye as the weather is unpredictable. If you’re lucky enough to get out, there should be a few red emperor, trout, tusky’s, cobia, red throat emperor and hussar about just to name a few. Grabbing a handful of jigs and plastics is never a bad idea, a few of the standouts lately have been the Samaki Golden Carrot’s or Zerek 127mm Live Shrimp rigged with a 7/0 jig head. The metal jigs like the Cast and Mustad range are our go to when the current is a bit too strong for the plastics. If you’re more into bait fishing you absolutely can’t go past a box of pilchard and squid, two baits which constantly get cracking results.
Burnett River
The Burnett is fishing well this week, the drop in water temp has the bream, grunter and blue salmon well and truly on the chew. Fishing around the rock walls at the mouth of the river has seen good sized bream and grunter caught on prawns and whole sprat. Some cracking flatties have also been on the chew with the majority of these fish being around the 45 to 55cm mark which make for great eating.
The deeper holes throughout the river are holding good numbers of blue salmon. Throwing down some soft vibes has got the bite especially during the incoming tide. The shallow flats throughout the river have seen some solid whiting still being caught, fresh yabbies are definitely the bait working best on these fish. Slowly drifting over the sand flats with a few baits out is a good way to cover ground and find the feeding fish.
Elliott River
The flats fishing in the Elliott has been red hot! With the shallow sand bars holding plenty of bait the flathead, bream, whiting, grunter, trevally, queenfish and tailor have all been feeding throughout this river system. These fish are all after the bait, the incoming tide has been pushing these schools of bait right into the shallows and the predatory fish have been up there and feeding aggressively.
Topwater lures retrieved across the flat into some deeper water have been smashed by trevally, queenfish and some solid flathead as well. As the water runs off the flat a lot of the fish have been in the deeper water waiting for the bait to get forced off the flat. Try anchoring in the deeper water surrounding the sand flats and wait for the tide to move all the fish to you, this method has worked great this week.
Baffle Creek
Baffle Creek is fishing, crabbing and prawning really well! The jack and cod have still been feeding in this river around heavy structure. Live baits or even a simple flesh bait like a strip of mullet fillet has got these fish to bite. The sand flats and drop offs around the mouth of the river have seen good sized flathead, bream, grunter and queenfish being caught.
The flathead and queenfish have been caught on hardbody lures slowly wound off the sand flats as well as a 120mm curl tail soft plastic such as the 120mm Squidgie Wriggler in the bloodworm colour. The grunter haven’t been far away with some good sized fish getting up to the 60cm mark being caught on the shallow sand flats during the incoming tide.
Kolan River
The mouth of the Kolan is holding some quality fish at the moment and is certainly fishing really well. The fallen trees at the mouth have held plenty of bait and the queenfish and trevally have been hanging around these trees during the incoming tide smashing the balls of bait. A soft vibe hopped around the outskirts of the trees has picked up a few cracking flatties as well.
The sand flats and drop offs have been the go to place for bream, whiting and grunter. Fresh yabbies or beach worms have been the bait doing the most damage, floating these out and letting them drift along the flat has worked well. Fishing these flats during the incoming tide has also been the go to time as the fish get up and feed whilst there is water covering the flats.
Local Beaches
Our beaches have fired up this week and with some better weather we have seen more people head out along our coast. Regardless of which beach you are fishing the deep gutters in close to the shore have fished very well. Fresh bait like yabbies or beach worms have worked great however small strips of mullet fillet has certainly got the bites on the bream, dart, flatties and grunter as well. Throwing some small metal lures around the breaking waves has resulted in good sized tailor and trevally being caught as well.
Lake Monduran
The cooler weather we have had has brought the water temp down in the dam and the barra have definitely become more lethargic and less willing to feed. Slowing down your retrieve has been the single most thing that has gotten anglers more bites out of these stubborn barra.
Fishing the usual wind blown points and bays has been where the barra have been however finding good numbers of fish on your sounder has been the go to if possible. The Samaki Redic DS80 has been the lure getting these fish to bite but be sure to use long pauses to ensure the barra have plenty of opportunity to get an easy meal.
Lake Gregory
The majority of bass in Lake Gregory have definitely moved into deeper water and have began to school up. Sounding around the dam looking for good sized schools of bass and either spot locking using your electric motor or doing a few drifts has been working well. Casting small soft plastics like the Slider grubs or small vibes such as the Fishcraft Dirty Doctor hard vibes has got the bites. If you are sitting on fish and they won’t bite try mixing it up with new lures and colours until you get one in the boat.
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
