Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
BUNDABERG OFFSHORE
Around the Bundaberg area, it looks like we are in for a cracker weekend of weather! With the smaller tides the deep should be fishing awesome all day. Using big flesh baits on Elkat ganged hooks should stir up the big reds. Remember to stay patient through all the smaller hussar bites and wait for that big red load-up before setting the hooks. I’d be fishing the shallows with a lot of soft plastics this weekend. There is an exciting new range of soft plastics and stick baits now available, so check them out before going on your weekend adventures! Also, don’t forget to always check the updated forecast before heading out.
BUNDABERG INSHORE
The inshore reefs should be producing some ripper snapper and grunter this weekend. Slowly drifting over patches such as the Four Mile off Elliott Heads while jigging lightly-weighted soft plastics on sunrise and sunset will get you good results. Sometimes anchoring will shut the fish down, so definitely keep that in mind. Also when you’re on the drift, you’re covering more ground and the snapper can hold on sand edges at times, so it doesn’t pay to only do small short drifts on the top of the reef.
THE BURNETT RIVER
The blue salmon have finally started to chew on all stages of the tide. The lures doing the most damage are 20g soft vibes. Definitely mix up your retrieve because some days they bite on the weirdest retrieve techniques. Not to forget about the monster flathead that have been caught. Most of these fish have been caught on live sprat and 5” soft plastics. Also, don’t forget to throw the crab pots in because there’s still some winter chocolates around.
THE KOLAN RIVER AND BAFFLE CREEK
There’s been plenty of queenfish and trevally action at the mouth of both these systems. Throwing surface lures at nervous scattering baitfish on the surface is as fun as it gets. Pumping yabbies at low tide and fishing the incoming tide has been producing some cracker whiting up to 40cm as well. It will be well worth fishing the rock bars for bream at the top of the high tide as well. Prawns and small strips of mullet fillets have been the standout baits.
LAKE MONDURAN
Lake Monduran is still producing the barra. Some very solid high 80cm models are being caught. Fishing the shallow weed beds is definitely the way to go to get some action. Slow-rolling Jackall Squirrels has been the standout technique this week. Don’t forget to fish the wind-blown points, and the afternoons are still the best bite times.
‘Til next time,
Keep it real
Mitch Beyer
