Last week was a good one for fishing, with this weekend shaping up to bring more of the same.
Bundaberg offshore
For the boaters who took the opportunity to get offshore from Bundaberg over the past week, there has been really good reports of red emperor, coral trout, parrot and heaps of grass sweetlip being caught out wide. This weekend looks like it’s shaping up to be another good one for those boats wanting to chase a few red fish. Remember to check your local weather forecast before heading out.
Bundaberg inshore
For the smaller tinnies that want to poke their nose out the front for a fish, there have been reports of good-sized grunter on the inshore reefs such as the Two Mile and the Cochrane Artificial Reef. If you’re wanting to chase a few schoolies, try casting a slug or Flasha lure around the mouth of the Burnett. A lot of fish are on the small side, but there are plenty around.
Burnett River
The Burnett at the moment is fishing very well for bream and flathead. Using good sized baits or casting 3” to 5” soft plastics will pick you up a good feed. Blue salmon have also been a trophy fish to catch. Casting soft vibe lures has been the gun approach. Firstly, find the fish then cast up-current sinking it to the bottom and working it back to the boat with a rip-and-hop technique. For those keen bream fishermen, try anchoring in your favourite hole, berley up and bring the fish to you. Best baits are prawns, mullet, chook gut, mullet gut and white bait. If wanting to try your hand at lure fishing for them, using a lightly-weighted jig head with a 2” to 3” soft plastic cast over the flats or along the rock walls should pick up a feed, remembering to cast up-current.
Baffle Creek and the Kolan River
Both the Baffle and the Kolan systems have been holding good numbers of flathead. Casting soft plastics around the flats in the Baffle has been producing most fish due to the abundance of weed moving in the system, preventing anglers from being able to troll. Trolling hard body lures in the Kolan has been the easiest way to get a feed of flatties. Use a lure that will bump into the bottom and you will improve your catch rate. Pumping yabbies at low tide and fishing the in-coming tide over the sand flats will get you a good feed of whiting.
Lake Monduran
With the cold weather and light winds, the water in Monduran has been so clear and fishing has been tough. A few fish in the 70cm to 80cm range have been reported. Let’s hope for warmer temperatures in the coming month so we can all get back out there and hopefully get one of those metre sized fish that are in there.
Snapper and pearl perch seasonal closure
The Queensland seasonal closure for snapper and pearl perch came into effect from 12.01am on the 15th July and will run until 11.59pm on 15th of August. During this time the snapper and pearl perch will be “no-take” species to protect the fish during spawning and to help rebuild stocks. More information can be found on the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries website here.
Till next time
Keep on casting
Shane Anderson
- Last week’s report: Grunter in good numbers inshore
