Lake Gregory
The bass fishing at the Lake has been superb this week with stacks of fish being pulled from the deep whilst these fish are schooled up and feeding!
Fishing the late afternoon on the lake has no doubt been the prime time to be fishing it with these bass turning on in the last hour of sunlight.
Metal jigs and spoons are the go to lures, simply casting out, letting your lure hit the bottom followed by a slow roll has been enough to get smoked by one of these bass.
If you have done 10 to 20 cranks of your handle try free spooling to let your lure get back to the bottom then begin your slow wind again.
Palms Slow Blatt 20g jigs and Hot Bite Gang Banger G2 spoons have been the standout lures with team members Corey and Josh getting over 20 bass for a short afternoon session on Sunday last weekend.
If you are fishing during the middle of the day it has definitely been tough however focusing on key bite times such as moon rises or sets and the Elliott River tide changes has got some nice bites almost to the minute of the predicted bite time.
Inshore/Offshore
Earlier this week sure proved to be a cracking time to be fishing our inshore waters with some really solid weather presented to us.
We are still seeing a good run of spanish mackerel in close with trolling garfish, bonito or hard body lures working well.
Fishing the early mornings and late afternoons is usually when these spanish are higher up in the water column and are more inclined to feed however you sure can catch one of these mackies at any point during the day!
The snapper have continued to feed with the majority of these fish being caught off Elliott Heads in the late afternoon and into the night.
The lure anglers have had the most luck on these snapper with big curl tail and jerk shad soft plastics getting the bites.
If you prefer bait fishing whole pilchards or whole squid are great options, but remember if you are using berley it is very important to keep a strong trail going.
Plenty of cobia are still being caught around the wrecks off Bundy, strips of mullet fillet and whole squid or cuttlefish have all been good baits for these fish.
For the offshore anglers the last few weeks have been challenging with limited windows of opportunity due to the strong southerlies, fingers crossed we get another weather window shortly!
Burnett River
The Burnett has continued to produce some cracking fishing this week, especially down river towards the mouth and along the rock walls.
The big bream are still in great numbers, smashing both bait and lures. For those into lure fishing, slow rolling small hard body lures or lightly weighted curl tail soft plastics close to the rocks has been super effective.
Bait anglers are doing just as well using mullet strips, whole sprat and whole prawns.
Some cracking flathead have also been caught along the base of the rock walls with soft vibes being a great option, you can also expect some by-catch of cod, grunter and trevally.
Last week we mentioned that the blue salmon had started to make their way up river and we have had some cracking numbers caught this week!
Plenty of these captures have come from the Town Reach area around the bridges, and some bigger fish have even been found at Strathdees.
Soft vibes and metal blades have been the standout lures doing most of the damage on these blueys.
Kolan River
The Kolan River has been fishing really well this week especially with the bigger tides pushing a lot of bait around the system.
The sand flats and yabbie beds have been producing some cracking fish with the humble saltwater yabbie proving to be very effective.
Dusting off the yabbie pump and pumping for yabbies at the low tide is a great way to secure some fresh bait.
The afternoon incoming tide has been a great time to fish these yabbies along the shallow sand flats and yabbie beds with bream, whiting, flathead and grunter all being eager to secure themselves an easy feed.
Casting small shallow diving hard body lures has picked up some quality fish in the shallow water this week, in particular the flatties have been a sucker for this technique!
The crabbing has also been quite solid so be sure to put the pots in for a nice feed of mud crab, placing your pots in deeper areas has seemed to work best for most this week.
Despite the cooler water temp there has been the odd jack caught using live bait or strips of mullet fillet so don’t be put off from targeting these jack, fishing any of the rock bars during the run out tide will be the prime time this weekend.
Elliott River
The Elliott River has been fishing really well with plenty of whiting, bream, and grunter keeping anglers on their toes.
Working the shallow sand bars during the incoming tide with fresh yabbies or beach worms has been the go for whiting, and there’s been a few grunter showing up in the mix as a bonus!
For those throwing lures for these whiting a top water ‘walk the dog’ style lure or a small popper are definitely the most renowned lures for these finicky fish.
Following on from last weeks report we are still seeing plenty of pelagic action around the river mouth with trevally, queenfish and even schools of dart being quite prevalent in the faster flowing water in the river channel and on the ocean side of the rocky headland.
The lure anglers have no doubt had most success for these pelagic fish, erratically retrieved soft plastics and small metal lures have been working great on these fish.
The crabbing has also been firing, with a solid number of legal bucks still coming from the system.
With the big night time tides this week leaving the pots in for an overnight soak has been rewarding those doing so!
Baffle Creek
The Baffle is having another great week of fishing showing just how good the winter season can be on the baffle for our bread and butter species.
The bream have been thick in this system, they are feeding aggressively all throughout the river.
A whole sprat floated out along the sand flats and rock bars getting hit with current have not lasted long before a bream has scooped it up!
Plenty of flathead between 45cm and 55cm are still around as well, these fish aren’t schooled up close together so covering plenty of ground is needed as anglers have been picking up 1’s and 2’s of these fish sitting on sand bars and in deep holes.
Trolling hard body lures is a great way to cover ground and find where the flathead are sitting. Using a lure that dives anywhere from 1m to 2m is a good option and pink is always a go to colour.
Some nice grunter are still being caught mainly on bait with strips of mullet fillet and whole sprat being the go to baits.
Fishing for these fish up river around rock bars and in deeper holes during the last of the run out tide has seen some grunter up to 55cm being caught.
Good sized whiting are also on the chew, fishing into the night with the big incoming tides this week has been when these whiting have been on the chew.
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has continued to produce some excellent barra fishing this week, especially for those willing to put in the time and fish into the night.
These barra have been responding really well to multiple presentations but in particular jerk bait style hard bodies have been doing plenty of damage.
Anglers getting the best results are equipped with live scope and have been able to get their lures within centimetres of these barra proving to be the difference between a donut or a session you’ll be talking about for years.
While the bigger models are mostly being landed well after dark, plenty of smaller fish have been on the chew during the day.
These daytime barra have been found on shallow, wind-blown points, particularly around structure like weed beds and lily pads.
In these zones, shallow diving hard bodies and lightly weighted paddle tail soft plastics have been getting the job done.
The great thing about this style of fishing is that live scope is certainly not necessary to have some epic sessions!
Of course using side scan is a great tool to find fish stacked up on points however simply casting in areas with spindly trees, weed edges and lily pads will put you in with a really good chance at a barra especially if the wind is pushing onto the point as well.
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
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