Fishing report: Good time for rivers and lakes

8 September 2023

Inshore/Offshore

This time of year can be tough with the northerlies starting as this always chops the sea up which can make it hard to get a decent weather window to get out.

For the spearos the northerlies also mean dirty water so it is usually a battle to find some decent visibility along our coast once the northerlies kick in.

When the wind is howling it is always a great idea to get stuck in to some maintenance as there is nothing worse than a break down on the water or a bearing failure on your way to the ramp and watching everyone post photos of the day's catch.

Ensure your outboard is up to date on its servicing, replace or re pack your wheel bearings and have a general once over of all of your gear to make sure it's ready for the next weather window.

This weekend will be the weekend to get those jobs done but as always keep an eye on the weather reports as they are always changing.

For those who have persisted and been able to get out, they have sure found a few quality jew fish and big grunter in the inshore reefs and gravel patches along with some good sized grassys and snapper.

Some of the better methods to catch these fish are with whole squid and ganged pilchards.

Four inch curl tail soft plastics have also been working really well and have accounted for some big snapper so far this season.

This time of year you should also be able to find a few schools of bait being harassed by school mackerel, queenfish and tuna so if you feel like getting your arms stretched keep your eye out for schools of bait erupting and tuna launching out the water after them.

If you want to have a crack at catching one of the mackerel, tuna or queenfish try casting metal slugs around the 20-30g mark for best results or have a go at throwing a small Halco Popper into the school of bait and watch as they erupt the surface chasing your lure down.

One of the fishing styles that gets over looked a lot is land-based game fishing also known as LBG fishing.

Along our coastline there are so many good spots to try and land some solid pelagic fish off the rocks.

If you jump onto Google maps and use the satellite imagery you will be able to see good rocky out crops where it meets deeper water and these are great spots to try.

A 7 to 8ft rod and a reel to match with a fast retrieval rate and 12kg or more of drag is perfect for this style of fishing.

Finding areas with good current, structure and bait is the perfect combination to get yourself into some cracking fish from the shore.

Casting stickbaits out and retrieving them with a slow sweeping action from the rod is a perfect way to imitate a wounded and fleeing baitfish.

This method has accounted for plenty of spanish and school mackerel as well as queenfish, tuna and trevally along our coast.

Burnett River

The Burnett has had another great week of fishing, with the water temp on the rise we have seen more of the summer species being caught and plenty of bait getting around as well.

Good numbers of barra are being found on the rock bars and around the bridges, these fish have been in schools of up to 15 to 20!

Although there is plenty of barra around, getting these fish to bite has still been difficult.

Those anglers who have managed to get some of the fish to eat have found that 4 to 5 inch paddle tail soft plastics slow wound through the school of fish has been the way to go.

Fishing for these barra in the early mornings and late afternoons has been a good time to chase them, when these periods of low light coincide with a tide change is often when we see great numbers of these barra caught.

Good sized jack are also being caught in these same areas as well as up the creeks amongst fallen trees and mangrove roots.

Live bait has been working great on these big jack so be sure to have yourself a quality cast net to secure some fresh livies.

Elliott River

The Elliott River sure is fishing red hot at the moment with a great mix of summer and winter species on the chew!

In the deep holes and up the creeks is where these summer species have been caught.

Good numbers of jack, barra and cod have all been found in these places and have preferred live baits or whole prawns.

For the lure fisho's prawn imitation soft plastics like the Pro Lure Clone Prawns or the Shads Tuff Prawn, which we have just landed a big shipment of, have been doing the damage.

Towards the mouth of this system has still seen some great flats fishing on bream, whiting and flathead.

The incoming tide has been the best time to be on the water especially if you are using fresh yabbies or beach worms as bait.

Up the creeks has also seen good numbers of crabs being caught so be sure to throw the pots in overnight as you never know your luck.

Baffle Creek

The Baffle is fishing great, good reports of flathead, bream and whiting feeding during the incoming tide on the shallow flats has kept the whole family entertained.

Pumping yabbies at the bottom of the tide is great fun for the kids and they are one of the best baits you can get your hands on.

After you have a good amount of yabbies, fishing the incoming tide over the shallow sand flats is a sure way to get amongst the action.

Some big grunter have been around in this system also, these guys pull so hard and are always a welcomed sight when flats fishing.

The jack, barra and cod have been more active this week also.

The rock bars in this river have been the hot spots for these species, live baits and whole prawns have been getting the bite also.

These fish have been feeding during the run out tide, anchoring on the pressure edge side of the rock bar and drifting your baits back onto it is a good way to present your baits naturally with the current.

Kolan River

The Kolan River is continuing to fish well and with the water temp on the rise we have seen good numbers of jack, barra and cod being caught.

These summer species have been found in areas of high structure like fallen trees, rock bars and other submerged structures throughout the river.

The bottom half of the run out tide has been the ideal time to be targeting these fish, whole sprat and prawns have got the bite.

Finding some poddy mullet with the cast net is also a great option at the moment, rigging these whole mullet with a single hook through the back of the bait so it can still swim is a deadly technique.

There has been some good pelagic action happening in this system too, the incoming tide has been bringing some big queenfish and trevally into this river chasing bait fish.

Floating out whole sprat or flicking small soft plastics around structures getting hit with current is sure to find a few of these fish.

The flats fishing has also been red hot! Drifting the flats whilst flicking lures has seen some great quality flathead and grunter being caught as well as some solid bream.

Lake Gregory

The fishing in Lake Gregory has sure been red hot!

The bass are definitely feeding well even in the middle of the day and with good sized fish being landed all throughout the dam as well.

These fish have been super fat and have been putting up some great fights on the light gear!

Slow rolling paddle tail soft plastics like the Original Sliders grub or Zman 3 inch MinnowZ in natural colours has been working very well this week.

Targeting areas of the dam which the wind is blowing into has worked great as the warmer water and the majority of baitfish will be in these areas.

Low light periods have also seen some great fish caught on topwater lures, the Daiwa Slippery Dog is a key favourite as it's action is irresistible.

Some saratoga have also showed themselves this week, subtle surface lures like an Atomic Cicada will sure get these fish to bite.

Lake Monduran

Lake Monduran has had another great week of fishing with good numbers of barra caught along with some absolute giants hitting the deck!

The big barra are definitely on the chew at the moment however finding the bait and warmer water is the key.

Fishing areas of the dam which have had plenty of wind exposure in the days prior to when you are fishing will get your lure in front of the more actively feeding fish.

Finding fish passing through a point is where a lot of anglers have been finding their success. Casting hardbody lures into the shallows and twitching them into the deeper water with long pauses has done the damage.

Slow rolled Shads soft plastics are also very effective at the moment, when fishing these plastics use as light of a jig head as you can.

This will help the lure look as natural as possible and hopefully give you a little edge to get one of these massive barra to bite!

From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg.