VMR Family Fishing Classic reels in some winners

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Kayden Stoddart  with a mangrove Jack he caught at the VMR Fishing Classic.
Kayden Stoddart with a mangrove Jack he caught at the VMR Fishing Classic.

A big thank you to everyone who fished the annual Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) Bundaberg Family Fishing Classic last weekend.

Even though the weather was not perfect, plenty of quality fish were caught, producing lots of fun for the whole family.

Bundaberg offshore

Although the offshore forecast was not ideal some diehard anglers still managed to weigh in some awesome fish and fill every category on the VMR Family Fishing Classic offshore leader board.

Some of the standout fish were a cobia over 31kg and coral trout and parrot fish over 5kg.

Bundaberg inshore

The winning snapper of the VMR Fishing Classic was caught on one of the many inshore reefs off Bargara, which also produced some fantastic grunter.

Good numbers of school mackerel are still right along our coastline and trolling a metal spoon on a paravane has been one of the most productive methods of catching these speedsters.

Burnett River

Jack Bartholdt with a 95cm blue salmon he caught in the Burnett River.
Jack Bartholdt with a 95cm blue salmon he caught in the Burnett River.

It seemed like the Burnett River was the place to be last weekend.

The quality and size of the estuary species that the Burnett continues to produce is amazing.

In many opinions, the fish of the competition was a whiting that measured 43cm – an absolute cracker!

With the addition this year of the second weigh station under the Traffic Bridge in the Town Reach, plenty of big bream and grunter continued to be weighed in live.

Kolan River and Baffle Creek

With the school holidays now in full swing, both the Kolan River and Baffle Creek have been kept busy.

With the new moon on Wednesday last week, the bigger tides have fired up a few mud crabs, as well as some big summer whiting around the many sand bars.

Both of these systems generally fish well for flathead, with Gulp Soft Plastics being my personal favourites to entice a bite.

Lake Monduran

Even though it’s now winter, Lake Monduran is still producing the goods.

Afternoon sessions have definitely been better.

As the water temperature increases so does the mood of the barra, making them much more likely to take your lure. Standout lures have been the Rapala Shadow Raps and the good old Jackall Squirrels.

The Lake Monduran Holiday Park is looking amazing and I can’t think of a better place to set up camp for a few days over the school holidays.

Fish with confidence
Dale Smith
Tackleworld Bundaberg