Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
BUNDABERG OFFSHORE
All the rain we have been receiving around the Bundaberg area lately can only be good for the future fishing.
The bigger boats that headed offshore over the previous weekend ended up getting good feeds of red emperor, coral trout, nannygai and a lot of red throat emperor. With the sharks in big numbers on the reefs, it pays to move around a lot to try to avoid all your catch being eaten by them.
BUNDABERG INSHORE
The amount of rain that we have had during the week can only make the inshore reefs better. All the fresh pushing through the river and out the front helps with bait movement and gets all the pelagic fish coming in close to the shore. So, if you don’t mind a little bit of a shower, poke your nose out around the mouth of the Burnett to find a bit of bait movement and get a feed..
THE BURNETT RIVER
Get the crab pots in – there are good reports of good-sized bucks coming from the Burnett with plenty of jennies mixed in. Always remember to release the girls unharmed.
Barra are on the bite. If you’re not scared of the dark, get yourself some live bait and sit in the town reach around any type of structure to hook one of these iconic fish. Also, plenty of flathead are being caught in the river system by using soft plastics over drop-offs and deeper holes. Happy Rock Craws have been one of the favourites. Bull sharks have been a good sport fish in the Burnett River, and using big slabs of whole mullet will hook you up.
THE KOLAN RIVER AND BAFFLE CREEK
Both the Kolan and the Baffle have been fishing and crabbing very similar with good mud crabs coming from both systems. Mangrove jack are on the chew with live bait being the most popular. Casting surface poppers or fizzers close to structure will have you hooked up in no time. Using 3” to 4” Diesel Minnows is another good method to pull these red devils away from home. Flathead and grunter are always a good by-catch while fishing these techniques.
LENTHALLS DAM
With the little Lenthalls Dam near Maryborough on fire at the moment, reports of good-sized barramundi have been coming from it. Dale from Tackle World Bundaberg did a trip to Lenthalls last weekend and came up trumps with his first metre fish for the year. The new Spangled Perch Jackall Squirrel was the go-to lure. A Stocked Impoundment Permit is required to fish this dam. The gates open at 6.00am and close at 8.00pm.
LAKE MONDURAN
With the water temperature still on the warm side, your best option is to head out into the deeper timber casting hard body lures like the Jackall Squirrels or bigger soft plastics like the Squidgie Slick Rigs. Casting lures around the tops of trees will get you the bite. Trolling is also another option in that deeper water, and there have been good reports of fish in the 80cm range caught by trolling 10ft Classic lures.
Keep on casting
Shane Anderson
