Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
We are starting to see a transition as the days start to cool down. Species like bream and snapper are starting to be caught in good numbers on the inshore reefs and the local rivers. It looks like it could be another awesome snapper season with fish up to 80cm already caught just offshore from Bundy’s coastline. Anywhere you can locate any solid structure on the bottom will hold fish and is definitely worth a look.
The prime time to target the snapper is early morning and late afternoon. Popular baits have been whole pilchards, squid and mullet strips, either rigged unweighted or with just enough sinker to present your baits correctly, depending upon how much run there is. There are also quite a few mackerel patrolling the same areas as the snapper, so it might be a good idea to fish a little heavier than you would normally.
The Burnett River is still a little dirty but is fishing well. Good numbers of king and blue salmon are back in the river with live prawns and sprat accounting for some nice fish around the metre mark. Lots of flathead and grunter are also taking baits, but soft plastics are also very effective lately.
Lake Monduran should fish well with good weather predicted for this weekend. Over the past month the amount of barra we are seeing on our Humminbird side-imaging units is amazing. It really gives you confidence to keep casting when you can see the barra cruising through, then all you need to do is work out what lures will entice a strike from these fantastic Australian sportsfish. The gun lures over the past week have still been the 100mm Smash Minnows from Jackall. Targeting the shallows over the coming weeks should result in landing a barra, so get up to Monduran and have a try before the weather cools right down.
Fish with confidence,
Dale Smith
