Red-hot fishing at Bundaberg

June 15, 2017

Wow! We have certainly seen some red-hot fishing this past week around the Bundaberg area, with both offshore and the estuaries fishing really well.

Most of the gutters out to the islands produced coral trout, red emperor, sweetlip and big parrot. Some cobia and spanish mackerel have also been caught in these areas.

The inshore reefs such as Ryans and the Cochrane Artificial have also fished really well. Evening tides seem to be best with plenty of snapper and big grunter all being caught. Day time on these reefs has produced plenty of tuna and school mackerel.

The mouth of the Burnett River has also produced these school mackerel along with good numbers of winter whiting. Most of the rock walls are starting to hold good numbers of big bream, and it looks like we are going to have a cracker bream season. Most of the sand flats are producing plenty of sand whiting and a few flathead. Some of the gravel beds are fishing well with a few quality grunter and big blue salmon being caught. Live baiting or using Vibe-style lures has been working best.

Some of the deeper holes have been producing some banana prawns, so dust off the cast net and have a go. Please remember the current Fisheries bag limit on prawns, which is a 10 litre bucket for each person who is able to throw a cast net.

Don’t forget – the annual VMR Family Fishing Classic is coming up fast and will be held at Burnett Heads on the 23rd, 24th and 25h of June. This year there is over $70,000 in prizes to be won, including three boats. Information can be found on the website at www.vmrbundabergfamilyfishingclassic where you can register and pay up until the 21st of June, or drop into Tackle World Bundaberg, again up until 21st. After this date you can register and pay at the VMR Base at Burnett Heads. You don’t have to catch a fish to be eligible to win a lucky draw prize – you just need to register and be present for the draws during the weekend.

Till next time,

Tim Mulhall