There’s been plenty of action on the water over the Easter school holidays with a decent amount and huge variety of fish caught in local waterways.
Inshore/Offshore
With these slightly cooler mornings the snapper are starting to show up along with some solid grunter around the inshore reefs and rocky coastlines.
Some good spots to look for grunter and snapper is the artificial off Elliott Heads, 2 mile off Bargara and along the rocks off Elliott Heads for the land based fishos.
There has been a lot of school and Spanish mackerel around the inshore reefs so be sure to troll some hardbody lures and whole gar for these fish.
This weekends weather is looking pretty good for now, if you are planning on heading out this weekend be sure to check the latest weather forecast.
This time of year with the cooler mornings we should start to see some of the winter species begin to fire up out wide!
The big reds and nannygai are already starting to be caught more regularly. Big flesh baits like fresh hussar fillets or whole squid have worked great on these big red fish.
We have continued to see quality trout being caught around the reefs towards Lady Elliot Island along with the usual parrot fish, grassy sweetlip and a few different types of cod.
Most of these species have eaten whole pilchards or smaller flesh baits like a mullet fillet.
Burnett River
The crabbing and prawning in the Burnett has been red hot this week!
The prawns have been towards the mouth of the river in the deep holes, using a top pocket cast net has been the way to go.
The Burnett has also continued to fish really well, there is currently heaps of bait all throughout the river and plenty of fish are on the chew.
Fishing around the rock bars has seen mangrove jack, cod and barra being caught, big mullet fillets or live baits have worked best on these fish.
Some quality sized grunter and flathead are being caught at the mouth of the river with small soft plastics being a great way to target these fish, the Squidgie Wrigglers have been absolutely dynamite.
Hopping these plastics over sand bars and drop offs has been where these fish are being caught!
Elliott River
The Elliott River is fishing really well, those who know a few spots which are less well known have been managing to pull some great quality fish out of this river.
The upper stretches have proved to be crabbing and prawning really well, the deeper holes in the creeks is the way to go.
Having a quality sounder to find the prawns is also super handy and helps to locate the better numbers of prawns.
The sand flats in this river have held some great numbers of flatties with most being around the 50cm mark.
Some solid whiting are also being caught with fresh yabbies being the go to bait.
The incoming tide has seen some good sized queenfish entering this river, floating out some whole sprat along the drop offs around the mouth of the river has caught a few of these fish.
A few of the rock bars have held some big jacks and solid barra so throwing down a livie is a great way to find a few of these sought after species.
Baffle Creek
Baffle Creek has been firing up lately with plenty of jack on the chew!
Most anglers have had the best luck when fishing rock bars or sections of creek with plenty of structure and sending down some fresh live baits.
These jacks have preferred live prawns or poddy mullet.
A lot of estuary and rock cod are being caught whilst chasing these jack but they are a welcome bycatch for those wanting to fill the esky.
Around the mouth has seen the sand flats fishing really well for flathead, grunter and queenfish.
The incoming tide has been the best time to chase these fish, getting up onto the shallow flats and casting some 3 to 4 inch soft plastics has worked a treat.
The crabbing in this river has been really good as well, the big bucks have been on the move so throwing a few pots out whilst having a fish for the day is definitely worth a shot.
Kolan River
The Kolan is currently fishing very well at the moment, there is heaps of bait all throughout the river which has the predatory fish on the chew!
Flathead and grunter have been caught in sections of the river with drop offs and a good amount of current.
Using bigger chunks of mullet or whole sprat has worked great on these fish, towards the mouth in the clearer water we have seen fresh yabbies doing best when fished in the shallower water.
The incoming tide has seen the schools of bait being pushed up river and some big queenfish and trevally have been in pursuit.
Fishing parts of the river which have plenty of current being pushed onto them has worked well.
The rock bars and deep holes in this river have produced some great mangrove jack especially for those using live baits.
Whole poddy mullet and sprat have been the baits getting the job done, however definitely try some mullet fillet as well.
Plenty of prawns and crabs are around at the moment, the middle sections of this river seem to be holding the best numbers for now.
Up on the shallow mud banks and flats is where a lot of the small river prawns are being caught.
Local beaches
Our local beaches have had a great week of fishing once again with the majority of anglers hooking up to some solid whiting, dart, bream and flathead.
Fresh is best when it comes to bait for whiting so pumping some yabbies before heading out for a fish has paid off big time for most anglers.
Throwing on some red plastic beads or tubing onto your leader has also worked a treat.
Some good quality flathead and dart have still been caught in gutters close to the shoreline.
The flathead have been caught on larger baits like strips of mullet or chunks of pilchard, using a running ball sinker rig has also worked a treat.
Having a rod or two rigged up with some small metal slugs has been a good idea as some solid queenfish and trevally have been caught around the entry/exit of gutters as well as in the white wash surrounding these gutters.
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has had a good week of fishing with plenty of barra hitting the deck.
Majority of these fish have been around 60cm in length however they are great fun in between the bigger fish and helps keep you on your toes.
The bigger barra are definitely showing themselves more with a lot of missed opportunities coming from the dam this week on 1m+ fish.
The big barra have been found in the shallows and passing through wind blown points.
Jackall Squirrel's in the timber and Shads soft plastic's in the weed have worked best.
Fishing sections of the dam which have had the majority of the wind blow from previous days has been crucial.
Using the app ‘Windy' is a great tool for identifying areas of the dam which should have more bait and slightly warmer water which can be the difference in getting a few fish on board.
With the weather starting to cool off nicely these bigger barra are going to start to feed up in time for winter.
Be sure to slow your retrieve down and make it very easy for a big barra to eat your lure.
Lake Gregory
The bass are moving deeper at Lake Gregory!
Bigger schools of fish are being found hanging off the wind-blown points and banks.
Throwing some small vibes and soft plastics into these schools of fish has managed to get the bites.
Some anglers have still caught some solid fish around the edges of the dam using hardbody lures like the Rapala Shad Rap Elite when twitching them aggressively to get the bite.
The early morning's and late afternoon's has proved to be the best time to target these fish that are still in the shallows.
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
