Inshore/Offshore
The last few weeks has seen some great periods of weather which has enabled us to head both inshore and offshore.
Launching from Turkey Beach or 1770 and fishing the Bunker Group has been getting the best results for those chasing bottom fish, these reefs sure are in top shape at the moment!
On the bigger tides fishing the shallower reefs with whole pilchards or soft plastics and soft vibe lures has seen plenty of trout and red throat caught.
If you’re mark is quite small having the ability to spot lock right on top of it is a game changer, however if you are fishing a fair bit of ground make sure to drift as you are constantly covering ground and finding new fish and even new marks!
For those fishing out of Bundy the word on the street has been the spanish mackerel and what a season it has been so far.
Plenty of 10-25kg fish are being caught all along our coast from trolling, live baiting and anglers casting stickbaits are even getting some epic ariel strikes too.
We have seen these spanish be most active around the bigger tides, so when you’re on the water make sure to work current lines and headlands that create pressure edges which are prime locations to find these spanish.
A few snapper have started to move in with the majority of these fish being caught towards Burnett Heads, fishing the late afternoon and into the night has been yielding the best results.
This weekend is looking like another solid opportunity to head out, fingers crossed the forecast holds!
Burnett River
The Burnett is fishing really well, the standout fish has got to be the big bream and grunter!
These two fish have been caught either along the rock walls or on top of the shallow sand flats.
Fishing the rock walls with mullet and chook gut is a great way to target these species, slowly drifting your bait down with a light ball sinker is the way to go.
If you are fishing the flats live yabbies and whole dead sprat is our preferred baits and the bream and grunter have been loving them!
Those catching some of these monster bream on lures have been mainly using small curl tail soft plastics and yabbie presentation lures.
Using a very light jig head and letting the lure drift naturally across the flats or rock walls is a must to get these bream to bite.
On the prawning front there sure has been plenty around with multiple locations in the river producing some nice sized prawns.
Strathdees, the Port and even out at the Leads have all had solid numbers of prawns found in them depending on the conditions.
Kolan River
The Kolan river has been fishing really well this week especially with the bigger tides pushing a lot of bait around the river.
The predatory fish have been actively feeding and with the big afternoon tides this weekend it will definitely be worth fishing any pressure edges as these are the perfect places for predatory fish to ambush bait getting pushed right towards them.
The sand flats and yabbie beds have been producing some cracking fish again this week, yabbies would have to be one of the best fresh baits that you can get for a large variety of species.
One of the stand out species that love yabbies is the the humble whiting and there sure has been plenty around in the Kolan at the moment.
Dusting off the yabbie pump and pumping for yabbies at the low tide is a great way to secure some fresh bait, if you can’t make the tide to do this come in and grab some beach worms as they have been dynamite on the whiting.
If you are fishing the Kolan this weekend fishing the afternoon run in tide will be a great time to target these whiting with some nice bream, grunter and flathead being likely by-catch as well.
Also, don’t forget to drop the pots in if you like a feed of fresh mud crab, the Kolan has sure been producing some nice bucks this week with the building tides!
Elliott River
The shallow flats in the Elliott have been full of baitfish and the flathead, bream and grunter haven’t been far away.
The incoming tide has been the best tide to be fishing this river, the predatory fish have been pushing up with the tide in search of an easy feed.
100mm to 120mm curl tail soft plastics hopped along the sand flats and drop offs has got the bite.
The old faithful Bloodworm Squidgie Wrigglers are doing their fair share of damage on these fish, they are definitely one of the first lures we tie on for flats fishing!
The deeper holes in this river have seen good numbers of grunter and cod caught with whole sprat and prawns being most anglers go to baits.
A simple running ball sinker rig using a 15-20lb leader is working well at the moment.
The mouth of this system has continued to see some solid dart, trevally and queenfish caught for those using soft plastics hopped around the rocky outcrop with most of the action happening during the afternoon run in tide.
The upper stretchers of this river system has seen good sized crabs being caught, plenty of undersized bucks are around but those filtering through these have been rewarded with a few crackers.
Baffle Creek
Baffle Creek has yet again had a solid week of fishing, following on from last weeks report we have continued to see good sized whiting, grunter, flathead and bream being caught.
The hot spots for these fish has been the sand flats and yabbie beds throughout the river.
Fresh yabbies and beach worms have definitely been the two standout baits however a strip of mullet fillet or a whole prawn drifted across the flats with the tide has got some good quality fish to bite.
Those who are into their lure fishing should try flicking small curl tail and prawn imitation soft plastics along the flats during the incoming tide.
Targeting any shallow banks that are getting hit with current are prime spots to target feeding fish.
A few jack have even been caught on a mix of live baits and mullet fillet. Fishing big fallen trees or rock bars during the run out tide has seen the best results.
With the big night time tides this weekend it will be the perfect time to place the pots in for a fresh feed of mud crab.
Deeper banks have been producing the better numbers of crab so trying in these areas should find some quality bucks.
Lake Gregory
The bass are definitely starting to come on the chew in Lake Gregory this week!
The cooler weather has these bass schooled up in roughly 20ft to 30ft of water.
Firstly, finding the bass is key, having a good quality sounder to locate the better numbers of fish is a game changer.
Once you have found a school of fish either use your electric motor to stay on top of these fish or slowly drift over the school with the wind.
If the bass are sitting on or close to the bottom small metal spoons and jigs have been the standout lures to be using.
A slow wind with a few pauses is a very simple yet effective retrieve. If the bass are a bit higher up in the water column a small paddle tail or jerk tail soft plastic can be what gets these bass to bite when you get the jig head weight just right so the lure stays in the strike zone.
We are coming into a great time to be fishing Lake Gregory so be sure to get out and have a crack at getting one!
Lake Monduran
This week has again seen the dam produce some epic fishing for those putting in the time.
Fishing well into the night has got the best results for most anglers.
Those utilizing live scope have no doubt been landing these barra with the most consistency.
Hard Body lures are definitely the baits getting the bites at the moment with the Samaki Redic DS80’s and Jackall Squirrel 79SP’s doing the damage on a lot of big barra.
Focusing your time fishing areas of the dam which have had consistent wind blown into them in the days leading up to your fishing trip has generally seen better results.
For the most part the barra being caught are coming from those scoping deep water channels with them targeting fish sitting in the top 4m of the water column.
This is where live scope is a must as it is all about intercepting these fish with pin point accuracy and watching how they react.
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
