Burnett River
The Burnett has been producing some top quality fish with big bream, grunter and flathead being the standouts!
Whole prawns and sprat rigged with a light ball sinker fished along any of the rock walls has got the bite from the bream and grunter!
For the people chasing flathead the hot spots has been any of the sandy drop offs throughout the river as well as the rock walls towards the mouth.
Again, whole sprat and prawns have been the two go to baits for the flatties.
Some late season mangrove jack are still being caught with live bait or mullet fillet being great options and fishing during the last half of the run out tide has seen the best results.
A few scattered schools of blue salmon have been found in the river, these fish have been feeding around the low tide.
Throwing Samaki soft vibes at these fish an hour either side of the low tide should give you a good chance at getting some to bite.
Inshore/Offshore
Fingers crossed the weather holds for this Saturday as it is looking like a good opportunity for us to head out and fish our inshore and offshore reefs!
Our Inshore reefs have been fishing particularly well with anglers chasing pelagic fish such as long tail tuna having plenty of luck.
These longies have been super thick all along the coast but particularly off of Elliott Heads.
Casting soft plastics and small metal lures have been most effective and some anglers have even managed to land a few on topwater stickbaits and poppers.
When chasing long tail tuna it is often important to have numerous different sized lures in your arsenal as these tuna can get very locked in to the presentation they are feeding on, and if your lure doesn’t replicate that well enough they won’t eat!
We have also heard reports that the spanish are still in close and in good numbers at some of their usual haunts.
Trolling whole garfish, bonito or even school mackerel was working great before this recent strong SE wind.
Early morning has been the key bite time for these spano’s as they have been higher up in the water column and more inclined to feed.
If Saturday ends up being a nice enough to day to head offshore we will no doubt see plenty of trout caught at the reefs North off Bundy such as the Warrego’s, Boult, Lamont, Fitzroy etc.
When fishing the shallows in these places whole pilchards or yakka are really hard to beat, the trout and red throat love them!
Hopping soft plastics along the bottom can also be super effective.
For those interested in fishing the wrecks off Bundy the cobia have been in really good numbers, these fish aren’t picky, but if there is one bait that a big cobia can’t resist it’s a big flesh bait or whole squid and cuttlefish!
Kolan River
The Kolan has continued to produce some cracking grunter, flathead and bream this week with the go to technique definitely being fishing the sand flats and drop offs with a mix of whole sprat and fresh yabbies.
These fish have been caught all throughout the tide however the start of the incoming has seen more bites especially on the shallow flats and yabbie beds.
If you are into your lure fishing small topwater lures worked along the shallows during the incoming tide has got some awesome whiting and bream action as well as the odd flathead having a go as well.
Fishing the drop offs with soft plastics and soft vibes is where the bigger grunter and flathead have been caught with some absolute stud flathead well over 60cm being caught consistently!
If you are fishing the Kolan be sure to have a look upriver as there has still been some really good sized jacks getting caught up the top.
If you can get your hands on some live bait be sure to give that a go especially if you can fish into the night!
Elliott River
The Elliott River is fishing really well at the moment particularly for the bread and butter species.
The sand flats and drop offs in this river have held some great numbers of flatties with most being around the 50cm mark.
Casting soft plastics over the shallow sand flats and along the drop offs has worked well for these fish.
Some quality grunter have also been caught in the same areas as these flathead with whole sprat and strips of mullet fillet being a very effective bait to be using.
The big tides this week has seen good numbers of whiting being caught with fresh yabbies being the go to bait.
The incoming tide has been the best time to target these whiting, as we always say, pump yabbies at the low tide then fishing the incoming tide over these same shallow flats and yabbie beds.
The upper stretches have proved to be crabbing and prawning really well, the deeper banks have crabbed well and the deeper holes up the creeks have been holding some nice prawns.
Baffle Creek
Baffle Creek is fishing great at the moment, the afternoon run out tide has been the perfect time to chase grunter and flathead along the sand bars and drop offs with soft plastics.
A simple 3 to 4 inch curl tail or paddle tail soft plastic has been slaying these fish.
Those using bait have found whole sprat to be working really well either live or dead.
Some really big bream are also on the chew with whole sprat and strips of mullet fillet working really well when fishing around the rock bars.
A handy tip for catching these bigger bream consistently is to not use too much weight, you want the bait to be as natural as possible and the fish to not be able to feel any resistance when they pick up the bait – these big bream are actually very old and smart!
The crabbing in this system is definitely looking good for the future with a lot of the bucks being caught at the moment coming in just undersize.
There is still some really good sized bucks being caught with the big tides this week helping to get these crabs finding your pots easier.
If you are fishing the baffle for a few days spreading out your pots on the first day is a great way to find where the better quality bucks are!
Lake Gregory
The inconsistent winds have unfortunately made the bite tougher than usual at the lake again this week.
Plenty of fish are being found schooled up in the deeper sections of the lake and this is where anglers who have been catching fish have been focusing their attention on.
Paying attention to where these bass are sitting in the water column is very important as this will depict the type of lure you will throw and the retrieve.
Reports coming from the lake is that these bass have mainly been schooled in roughly 20ft of water with these bass sitting in the bottom 5ft.
This has meant that blades, spoons and jigs have been the go to baits getting the bites.
Team member Josh managed to land 3 bass up to 42cm in a short session on the lake with the Palms Slow Blatt 20g jigs being the standout lure.
Low and slow is his words of advice to anyone fishing the lake at the moment.
Lake Monduran
This week has sure proved that despite the water temp cooling off these barra can still be caught consistently and big barra at that!
Fishing during the night has been by far producing the better numbers of these fish with some massive barra nudging the 120cm mark hitting the deck for some.
For those without live scope the shallow points close to the main river channels have been hotspots for these big barra.
Suspending hardbody lures that work between the 6ft and 10ft range have been dynamite on these barra at the moment.
Implementing plenty of twitches and pauses into your retrieve is what will get these barra to strike.
Looking for points that have a mix of small trees, lily pads and weed and are also right near the main river channels are always prime locations for these barra to be cruising along.
Those using live scope have sure been nailing some really nice fish with scoping the deep being the key.
Still, hardbody lures have been the standout like Samaki Redic DS80’s and Jackall Squirrel 79SP’s and 115’s.
Being extremely stealthy whilst fishing the dam has made a huge difference, especially when sounding for barra as a few loud noises can spook these fish and have them shut down and not willing to feed.
Ensuring that your electric motor is only on a low speed whilst cruising around is a good way to keep the noise to a minimum.
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
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