Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has continued to deliver some top-quality barra fishing this week, especially for those willing to put in the hours and adapt to the conditions.
While the bigger fish are mostly being caught late into the night, there’s also been plenty of smaller barra active during the day.
These fish have been caught on shallow, wind-blown points, especially in areas with solid structure like weed beds and lily pads.
In these areas shallow diving hard bodies and lightly weighted paddle tail soft plastics have been very effective.
When it comes to the larger fish, the deep water bite is still where most of the action is.
Anglers using Live Scope have a clear advantage, with many fish being located suspended in the top 4 meters of the deeper channels.
Accurate casting and lure presentation are key, and hard bodies like the Samaki Redic DS80 and Jackall Squirrel 79SP continue to get results.
However, if the fish are spooking or reacting negatively to hard bodies, switching things up has made a big difference.
Slow rolling larger soft plastics and swimbaits like the Molix 140 Shad or the Irukandji Sicario DTF Minnow has often tempted the more cautious barra into striking, especially when a subtler presentation is needed.
Wind direction in the lead-up to your trip to the lake remains a crucial factor, focusing your time on banks, bays or channels that have had consistent wind blowing into them will increase your chances of finding active fish.
Precision, patience, time on the water and reading fish behaviour in real time (with the help of Live Scope) continues to be the winning formula for the anglers landing these Mondy barra consistently.
Inshore/Offshore
After the last few weeks of cooler mornings and afternoons it is evident that the winter season is upon us!
There isn’t a better time to be fishing our inshore waters with light South-West to South-East winds housing plenty of opportunities for us keen anglers.
With the inshore water temperature dropping to about the 19 degree mark we have seen a really nice run of snapper being caught at our common reefs and wrecks.
Fishing for these fish in the early mornings and late afternoons has been working best.
Finding the bait has helped pin point where these snapper are, and you will often see the arches hanging around the bait on your sounder when they are feeding.
Jerk tail or curl tail soft plastics are the go to when targeting these snapper however fresh squid and pilchards are also good options.
The pelagic action along our coast has also been holding up well with some really nice spanish mackerel still being caught and speared along our coastline.
For those who have headed wide the reefs off 1770 have been in top shape.
Plenty of red throat and trout have been feeding in the shallows on whole pilchards and whole squid rigged on gang hooks with fishing the pressure edged side of the reefs getting the best results.
Plenty of cobia are still around with just about any wreck holding great numbers of these fish, big flesh baits like mullet fillet or whole squid and cuttlefish are great cobia baits.
Burnett River
The fishing on the Burnett this week has still been red hot especially towards the mouth of the river along the rock walls!
Plenty of big bream are being caught along these rock walls on lures and bait.
If you are into lure fishing a slow rolled small hardbody lure or a lightly weighted small curl tail soft plastic is deadly.
If you prefer using bait, strips of mullet fillet or whole sprat have been getting these bream to bite.
Some solid cod have also been caught as by-catch whilst targeting these fish, most of them have been undersize however to catch a cod between 45cm and 50cm has not been uncommon.
Targeting the base of the rock walls has seen big grunter and flathead caught particularly for the lure anglers using natural coloured soft plastics and soft vibes.
The blue salmon have finally showed up with a lot of these fish being caught in the town reach area around the bridges.
The schools of salmon have not been huge and the quality of fish is yet to improve but catching a few around the 50cm to 55cm mark is still great fun.
There has been some bigger models around with a few anglers landing some to around 70cm, for now soft vibes and metal blade lures are getting the bites.
Kolan River
The flats fishing action in the Kolan River is red hot right now!
Flathead are biting aggressively in the shallows, especially on the incoming tide.
Anglers casting soft plastics and small hard body lures across these flats are having plenty of success.
If you’re into bait fishing, fresh yabbies and whole sprat have been absolutely deadly.
There’s also been a steady stream of quality bream and whiting coming off the flats, proving to be perfect for the table.
Grunter have been showing up along the sandy drop-offs during the run out tide, with soft vibes proving effective for those throwing lures.
For bait fishers, mullet fillet and whole sprat are great options to tempt these fish.
Meanwhile, the creeks are still producing some cracking mud crabs despite the smaller tides.
With the new moon next Wednesday this weekend and next week should see plenty more crab on the move so be sure to place the pots in if you fancy a feed of fresh mud crab!
Elliott River
The Elliott River has been fishing consistently well, with solid numbers of whiting, bream, and grunter keeping anglers busy.
Targeting the shallow sandbars on the incoming tide using fresh yabbies has proven highly effective for whiting, with the bonus of the occasional grunter mixed in.
For the lure enthusiasts, hopping curl tail soft plastics along the drop-offs and across the sand flats has been a reliable way to hook into both grunter and flathead.
Around the mouth of the river, queenfish have been seen cruising through, especially on the bigger tides.
Floating out whole sprat or casting soft plastics and hard body lures around the current lines and structure has given some anglers a shot at these speedsters.
Off the rocky headland at the river mouth, there’s also been some good action with dart being caught particularly during the run-in tide.
Those fishing with small metal slugs or lightly weighted baits have found success.
Interestingly, the odd barramundi has also been landed around the tide changes, mainly by anglers soaking live baits in the deeper holes and along rock ledges, so it’s worth bringing the heavy gear just in case.
Crabbing has been excellent too, with a healthy number of legal bucks still being pulled from the system.
As the tides begin to increase leading into next weeks new moon it’s a perfect time to throw the pots in for the weekend and chase a feed of mud crab.
Baffle Creek
The Baffle has been delivering some top-notch fishing and crabbing lately, with both the fish and muddies on the go despite the cooler water temps.
Surprisingly, a few of the summer favourites like mangrove jack and estuary cod are still active, especially around the rock bars and big fallen trees.
Live bait has been the go-to for most, but strips of mullet and whole prawns are also getting solid results.
Downsizing your leader and using a lighter sinker to present your bait more naturally has made a noticeable difference when chasing these fish as they aren’t feeding as aggressively as they do throughout the warmer months.
Meanwhile, the flats fishing has been nothing short of sensational, arguably up there with the best it’s been all year!
Flathead, bream, grunter, queenfish and trevally have all been found pushing into the shallows to hunt yabbies and small baitfish.
On the incoming tide, casting lures or soaking baits right up on the shallow flats has been producing, while the run-out tide has seen fish holding along the deeper edges and drop-offs, so be sure to adjust your tactics accordingly.
The crabbing has also been solid.
There are a lot of smaller bucks in the system at the moment, but those putting in the effort and setting their pots in the right spots have been rewarded with some cracking bucks.
Lake Gregory
If you’re heading to the lake right now, the key to finding success is all about fishing deep and fishing smart.
With winter now in full swing, bass have begun to school up, and anglers who know how to target them are seeing great results.
The most effective method has been working lures low and slow.
Metal spoons retrieved with a steady, slow roll are getting plenty of bites, while hopping soft and metal vibes have got some nice reaction bites from the bass needing a bit of convincing.
It’s important to pay attention to your sounder, once you locate a school, stay persistent and ensure to be working your lures through the school consistently.
Don’t be discouraged by the smaller fish, you’ll likely have to sift through a few before landing the better models.
Anglers who stick with it are being rewarded, with some cracking bass pushing the 50cm mark coming aboard.
Winter might slow the surface action, but for those dialled in on their technique, the deep bite is absolutely firing.
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
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