Elliott River
The Elliott is still producing some quality fish with the sand flats in this system fishing red hot!
The flathead and grunter have been up in the shallows during the incoming tide and on the run out tide they have been along the drop offs.
Getting up onto the shallow flats during the incoming tide is a great time to be throwing soft plastic and hard body lures.
If you are targeting a flathead throwing a bigger lure than you may usually throw has been working great in this system lately as a lot of these fish seem to be feeding on the summer whiting and bigger mullet at the moment.
During the run out tide fishing the sand drop offs has yielded better results as these fish retreat into deeper water, in this case hopping soft vibes along the bottom has picked up some quality fish.
For those using bait a whole sprat is a great bait for these big flathead with grunter and big bream being likely encounters as well.
The deeper holes up river have seen good numbers of fish schooled up with small jewfish, grunter and the odd blue salmon being caught.
Small soft vibes hopped through the holes has got the bites along with strips of mullet fillet or a whole sprat.
Plenty of good sized crabs are also on the move in this system, placing the pots in for an overnight soak has got the best results but even a few hours whilst you are fishing has been working great.
Baffle Creek
The Baffle is having a ripper few weeks of fishing and crabbing and although the water temp is cooling down some of the summer species are still on the chew!
Cod and jack are being caught in this system around heavy structures like rock bars or big fallen trees.
Live baits have been working a treat but whole prawns or strips of mullet have also done well.
Using a lighter leader and sinker to get the bait to look more natural has been the key to getting the bites from these summer species.
The turn of the tide during the middle of the day when the water temp is at its warmest has been the best time to chase these fish.
The flats fishing in this river has been up there with some of the best it has been all year. Flathead, grunter, bream, queenfish and trevally are all being caught in the shallows feeding on bait and yabbies.
If you are fishing the run in tide be sure to be casting lures or bait right into the shallows, if you are fishing the run out tide fish the slightly deeper edges and drop offs.
The crabs have also been on the move, plenty of small bucks are around but for those persisting some very good quality bucks have been caught.
Inshore/Offshore
Last weekend saw a good opportunity to head out the front and our inshore reefs were a firm favourite among those anglers who headed out!
Despite the water being dirty from the strong SE winds we have been experiencing, the spanish have come in close and great numbers are being caught around Burnett Heads.
Trolling metal spoons or whole garfish and bonito are definitely getting the best results, finding a good patch of fish using your sounder and spinning Flasha spoons is also a good way to get one to bite if they are sitting deeper.
The majority of these fish are around the 10-15kg mark but as the water cleans up and we get more Westerly winds we should see some bigger spanish push in as well.
South off Elliott Heads has still seen schools of longtail quite prolifically smashing bait balls from all angles.
Casting small metal slugs is the best way to catch these guys with the key being to match the hatch and being able to cast a long way.
A few whispers of early seasoned snapper entering the bay has us eager to see what the next few weeks entails, fingers crossed we get another ripper snapper season this winter!
Burnett River
The standout fish in the Burnett again this week has been the humble bream!
These fish sure are aggressive at the moment with a lot of these fish being caught on small soft plastics, hard body lures and even topwater lures.
Fishing around structure has been the key to catching these fish consistently, targeting rock walls, pylons, jetty’s and fallen trees are all great places to find these bream.
If you prefer bait fishing a lightly weighted whole sprat or strip of mullet fillet are always great options.
If you are targeting these fish ensure to be using a light fluorocarbon leader as it is basically invisible under the water.
Some really good sized flathead have been caught towards the mouth of this system along the rock walls in the deeper water.
Hopping soft plastics and soft vibes along the base of the rock walls has worked really well.
Plenty of cod and grunter have also come as by-catch which for most are a welcomed addition.
Up the top of the Burnett has still seen the odd jack being caught even with the cooler mornings and afternoons, fishing around the rocky structures seems to be getting the best results at the moment.
Kolan River
The Kolan is fishing well with the shallow flats and drop offs in the cleaner water towards the mouth holding some quality fish.
We have seen fresh yabbies doing the trick on the sand flats with species like flathead, bream, whiting, and big grunter being caught consistently!
The incoming tide and the start of the run out tide have been the prime times to target these fish.
Flicking small soft plastics and hardbodies along these shallow flats has worked great for the lure anglers.
The snags at the mouth of the river have also seen some really nice sized bream caught by floating whole sprat or mullet fillet into the snags with the current.
The odd jack and cod are also being caught in these areas so be prepared for one of those to eat your bait intended for a humble bream!
This system has also seen good numbers of queenfish and GT on the move as they follow schools of bait being pushed up river.
Twitching soft plastics around structure which is getting hit with the 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 or lightly weighted sprat depending on the current.
Lake Gregory
Whilst the transitional period on the lake can be a tricky time to be fishing it due to there being no clear and consistent pattern, we are seeing some quality fish being caught.
Fishing the schools of bass sitting in around 20ft to 30ft of water has been yielding the best results as of late.
Jigs like the Oceans Legacy Roven jigs or a Palms Slow Blatt jig have been two really good options to get these bass to bite.
A simple slow wind with a pause to let the jig fall back to the bottom is a good technique however mixing your retrieves up with some hops off the bottom can trigger a reaction bite.
Fishing the edges of the lake during low light periods has managed the odd bass but it does seems that the edge bite is fading away.
Bring on the winter season on the lake, it’s always the best time to fishing it!
Lake Monduran
Contrarian to what most people think, winter time at Lake Monduran can produce some cracking sessions and that is exactly what we are seeing right now.
This week has continued to see some really nice barra caught consistently with the majority of these fish being between 1m and 1.15m. T
he night time on the dam at the moment has been the best time to be fishing it with these barra responding a lot better to lures and they have been much less spooky!
Those who have their live scope setup dialed in have had the best results, getting your lure on their nose and seeing exactly how they react is a game changer!
Most of the fish being caught by those with live scope have come from fishing the main river channels, jerkbait lures like the Samaki Redic DS80 or DS100 have been really good options however a slow rolled Molix 140 shad has got some good bites this week also.
The shallow points have still had plenty of fishing rolling past them with anglers doing quite well who have put the time into fishing the shallows.
In this territory a suspending hard body lure is very effective and be sure to be extremely stealthy!
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
