Inshore/Offshore
That howling SE wind has sure put a stop to the cracking run of weather we have had since Easter.
Although the inshore and offshore fishing has been off the cards this week, the weeks prior have seen them fish incredibly well.
Now that we are coming into the season for our offshore fishing, it is the perfect time to get up to scratch with all of your maintenance so when the weather comes good again you are ready to turn key and go!
In the next lot of good weather we will no doubt be keeping a close eye on our inshore grounds with the mass amount of long tail tuna that have entered the bay.
So far, casting small metal slugs and soft plastics with fast, erratic retrieves has worked best for these tuna.
Some keen topwater enthusiasts have been throwing floating and sinking stickbaits with good results as well.
Of course the spanish will be high up on a lot of anglers lists as these fish were starting to be caught in good numbers along our coast, even off the rocks!
Trolling around whole garfish or bonito worked great for these spanish particularly in the early mornings and late afternoons.
For those more interested in their offshore fishing, the trout and red throat action up in the shallows on reefs North of Bundy has been red hot.
Whole pilchards rigged on gang hooks and bright coloured soft plastics hopped along the bottom have been doing the damage.
So fingers crossed we get another good run of weather soon!
Burnett River
The Burnett has continued to clean up really well and there is one fish in particular that has well and truly come on the chew…the humble bream!
These fish have been in really good numbers and plenty of quality sized ones are being caught.
It sure is shaping up to be a cracking bream season, possibly the best we have had in a very long time.
These fish are being caught all throughout the river, but targeting structure is the key. Any of the rock walls and rock bars in this system are hot spots for these bream, along with pontoons, pylons and fallen trees.
Mullet fillet, whole prawns and whole sprat are all really good options, using a light ball sinker is also a great way to get yourself more bites.
If you are into lure fishing small curl tail soft plastics have been the standout soft plastic to be using, and again using as light of a weight as possible will help to present your soft plastic naturally and get more fish to commit to your lure.
Some cracking sized flathead and grunter have also been around in this system with targeting sandy drop offs and the base of the rock walls being great places to find these fish.
Soft vibes and paddle tail soft plastics hopped along the bottom or standard baits like whole prawns, sprat or mullet fillet have been getting the bites from these fish.
Kolan River
The Kolan has fished well this week despite the very unfavorable conditions, the shallow flats and drop offs throughout this system have sure been holding some quality fish.
We have seen fresh yabbies doing the trick on the sand flats on species like flathead, bream, whiting, and big grunter!
The high tide has been the prime time to target these fish up on the shallows so this weekend is looking like a great opportunity to target them early in the morning.
Flicking small soft plastics and hardbodies has also paid off big time on these fish, in particular the flathead have been loving a shallow diving hardbody.
The mouth of the river has seen good numbers of queenfish and numerous types of trevally on the move as they follow schools of bait being pushed up river.
Twitching soft plastics around structure that is getting hit with current has been the most effective way to target these pelagic fish.
If bait fishing is more your thing anchor up current of the structure you want to fish and float out a whole unweighted sprat.
Up river along with up Yandaran Creek has seen some late seasoned mangrove jack caught for those live baiting during the run out tide.
Rocky structures seem to be housing the best results however big fallen trees are also well worth a try for these jack.
Elliott River
The Elliott has been fishing red hot which certainly isn’t uncommon for this system during the transitional period between summer and winter.
The strong SE wind has made it difficult to fish the mouth of this system however that is where a lot of the pelagic action has been happening.
Along the sand flats and around the rocky headland at the mouth has still had plenty of pelagic fish around with trevally and queenfish hammering baitfish during all parts of the tide.
Topwater lures have been extremely effective on these pelagic fish during early mornings or late afternoons.
The sand flats and sandy drop offs throughout this system have also produced nice numbers of flathead for the lure anglers.
3 to 4 inch paddle tail soft plastics in natural colours have been the standout presentation to be using in the clean water.
Fishing the deeper areas up river during the run out tide has continued to be a good technique with cod, grunter and even some quality jack caught on mullet fillet, whole sprat and live baits.
If you prefer your lure fishing hopping a prawn imitation soft plastics along the bottom of these deeps holes can be deadly.
Plenty of action has been happening on the crabbing front with heaps of bucks getting around.
Finding some legal bucks has been tougher this week however working your pots to find the better quality crabs has found some with a cracking feed.
Baffle Creek
The Baffle has fished well even with the strong SE wind which has made things slightly tougher than usual however there is still some cracking fish to be caught.
A few really good quality late seasoned jacks have been caught along the mangrove lined banks and rock bars, fishing for these jack during the run out tide has no doubt been the best time to be targeting them.
The method working best on these jacks has been live poddy mullet as well as strips of mullet fillet.
If you prefer lure fishing slow rolling 4 inch paddle tail soft plastics or hopping prawn imitation soft plastics has worked really well.
Plenty of cod are also being caught by those targeting jack however some really nice sized cod between 40 and 50cm are being caught which for most are a welcomed by-catch.
Some great sized bream have also been all throughout this system, targeting structures like rock bars and big fallen trees has worked best.
Whole prawns and sprat have been the two baits doing the most damage on these fish and using a very light ball sinker has got more bites.
The flathead and grunter have also been in good numbers around Winfield and further up river along the various rock bars.
The run out tide has seen better numbers of these fish caught.
Hopping soft plastics has by far been the best way to catch these fish as you can cover plenty of ground.
Lake Gregory
Unfortunately the howling SE wind has shut the bass down in the lake with anglers reporting a very tough bite.
It is going to take a few weeks to see what this weather does and how this affects the lake however it does seem that a lot of these bass are moving into deeper water.
As we are currently in a transitional period these bass will definitely look to start schooling up now that the water temp has continued to drop.
The edges will continue to produce some bass with topwater being an option during low light periods, however targeting the schools of fish in the deep is likely to house more reward.
Slow rolling small soft plastics through these schools of bass is always a good option along with hopping blades and vibes like a Jackall TN60.
Slow rolling metal spoons can also be a cracking way to nail a few bass, simply cast it out, let it hit the bottom then slow wind with 2 to 4 pauses to let the spoon go back to the bottom depending on where the fish are sitting.
Lake Monduran
Mondy has continued to fish well despite the dropping water temp and the very strong SE wind.
Great numbers of fish are still up in the shallows, targeting these fish with suspending hard body lures has been the standout technique getting the bites.
Ensuring your lure sits dead still in the water column is the key to getting the bite on the pause.
Fishing into the night has also seen some very promising signs of things to come for those live scoping these big barra in the river channels.
Again, hard body lures have done the damage for those scoping out in the deep.
During winter we see the activity level on the dam drop dramatically and a lot of the seasoned anglers prefer the cooler season as these fish often become less spooky.
As most experienced Mondy anglers know winter can also house some of the best jerkbait bites as these fish love a paused hard body when the water temp is a bite cooler.
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
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