Inshore/offshore
Last weekend again saw some glamour weather and plenty of keen anglers took the opportunity to head wide whilst it was so flat!
With the big tides we saw the shallower reefs North off Bundy and Agnes/1770 fish extremely well.
Trout and red throat emperor at these shallow reefs were chewing hard on whole pilchards, whole squid and fresh flesh baits.
Hopping soft plastics, vibes and jigs off the bottom in this shallower water proved extremely effective as well.
For those who fished deep the big tides sure made things tough with the amount of run in certain sections.
Capitalising on the change of tide which was around lunch time on both days was the key window to filling that esky.
Plenty of pelagic action was happening due to the big tides and the spanish and cobia were the main targets for most.
The cobia were eating just about anything when you found them, looking for big bommies or ledges are great places to find cobia, but of course a wreck is almost guaranteed to have a school of cobia on it at the moment.
As for the spanish, most of these fish have been caught right along our coast.
Trolling whole gar and bonito has been working really well, for the lure enthusiasts topwater stick baits and poppers are deadly at the moment.
Burnett River
The Burnett sure is alive with fish and prawns at the moment!
Great numbers of prawn have been found in the common sports with Strathdees, the Port and in the Leads at Burnett Heads all producing good quality prawn over the last few weeks.
The mouth of the river along the rock walls is still producing some cracking bream with plenty over 35cm! Lightly weighted whole sprat and prawns have been smashing the bream when fished close to the structure.
Up River along the various sand bars has been seeing some nice flathead caught during the incoming tide as the shallow water provides them some warmth.
Despite the cooling water temperature plenty of barra have been found in the town reach area, although these fish have been tricky to get a bite from them fishing around the turn of the tide is key.
Slow rolled prawn imitation soft plastics has got the odd barra to bite.
Kolan River
The Kolan is continuing to fishing really well, the last few weeks has seen this river producing quality fish for most anglers whether bait fishing, lure fishing or even on the crabbing front.
Good sized flathead, bream and grunter are being caught on the sand flats towards the mouth of the river.
There hasn’t been a specific tide getting more bites but it has been more about knowing where the fish will be depending on the tide.
If it’s the incoming tide the fish have been in the shallower water pushing up with the tide, and during the run out they have been in the deeper water and along the drop offs surrounding the flats waiting for the bait to be forced into the deeper water as the tide drops.
Whole prawns, whole sprat or fresh yabbies have all been getting good results, small soft vibe lures have worked really well for the lure anglers.
Those after a good feed of crab should be placing there pots up the creeks in shallower sections, reports have shown that this week the crabs have moved shallower so be sure to give this a go.
Elliott River
Last weekend was a great time to be fishing the Elliott with the deeper holes up river seeing good numbers of fish schooled up with grunter, trevally and some blue salmon being caught.
Small soft vibes hopped through these holes has got the bites along with whole sprat and prawns.
The flats fishing has also been red hot! A lot of flathead, bream and whiting have been found in the shallow water or along drop offs and have sure been on the chew.
Throwing some whole sprat or small strips of mullet fillets onto the sand flats or along the drop offs has picked up some of these fish.
If you are chasing the humble whiting beach worms or fresh yabbies are the go to bait.
Around the mouth of the river has started to see some solid dart caught as well as queenfish and trevally.
The occasional school mackerel has also been entering this system particularly on the incoming tide, there isn’t a lure one of these schoolies wouldn’t eat but something shiny always gets more bites.
Baffle Creek
Following on from last weeks report the Baffle sure is fishing great at the moment and last weekend was no exception!
Flathead, bream, whiting and grunter, commonly referred to as ‘bread and butter’ species have been the target for most.
Fishing the shallow sand flats around Winfield and at the Mouth of the river has seen plenty of these fish caught.
Getting your hands on fresh yabbies has been well worth the effort however beach worms have also been a firm favourite amongst these fish.
For those interested in lure fishing, small soft plastics and hard body lures can be extremely effective when fished along these shallow flats.
Covering ground is key so make sure you are constantly moving and fanning your casts.
Oyster Creek is starting to clean up and despite the cooler weather some nice mangrove jack have been caught, live bait has been by far the best way to get one of these jacks to bite.
Fishing rocky structures or big fallen trees during the run out tide has been working well with some nice cod by-catch as well.
Lake Gregory
The last few weeks has seen this lake undergo a seasonal change as these bass started to head deeper and school up.
Fishing the schools of fish has no doubt proved most effective for those who have fished the lake.
Using a quality sounder to locate these bass is a great way to limit wasted casts in areas where the fish simply aren’t there.
As we see each winter season on the Lake metal jigs and spoons become extremely effective and we have already seen just that.
The Palms Slow Blatt jigs along with the Oceans Legacy Roven jigs have been dynamite at getting these bass to bite even when they are shut down.
Fingers crossed we get another ripper winter season the the lake just like last year!
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has continued to fish extremely well with some insane sessions being had for those who are putting in the time on the water!
Like mentioned in previous reports fishing into the night has been when these barra have been more inclined to feed.
Suspending hard body lures are continuing to get really good reactions from these big barra.
Focusing your attention on areas of the lake which have had plenty of wind blown onto them during the week prior are usually good places to start.
If you are fishing the lake throughout the day the shallow points with overhanging trees or lily pads providing shade have been hot spots for some smaller rat barra.
Casting your lure right up into the shallows and working it out from between the lily pads has got these fish to bite.
Although not the magic meter barra these fish are great fun especially if you are new to fishing the lake!
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
