Burnett River
Last weekend saw the Bundaberg Sportfishing Club hold their annual ‘Big Bream Shootout’ and holy smokes!
The Burnett is absolutely full of big and feeding bream! A lot of these big bream are also being caught on lures which despite what many think, is some of the most exciting fishing you can do when you are fishing as light as 4lb line and leader!
Slow rolling small hard body lures or letting very lightly weighted curl tail soft plastics drift along the rock walls were definitely the two standout methods getting the most bites.
The biggest bream landed was a mammoth 45cm with many more over 40cm caught and a tone of fish around the 35cm range also.
The flathead fishing in the Burnett is also red hot with plenty of fish around the 50-60cm mark being caught in the town reach area.
These fish have been close to structure like the bridges, rock walls and fallen trees.
Hopping small prawn imitation soft plastics in the snaggy areas and slow rolling hard body lures along the sand flats has got some great results.
The crabbing has also been red hot this week with the big tides so if you do get a chance be sure to place the pots in for a fresh feed of mud crab.
Inshore/Offshore
This week has again presented some nice South Westerly winds and although they have been strong throughout the day, the early mornings have been a great time to fish our inshore reefs.
Great numbers of spanish mackerel are still around and have been caught right along our coastline.
Looking for current lines, pressure points and bait will put you in a really good spot to catch these spanish.
Trolling whole gar fish, bonito or school mackerel has been the best way to target these spanish however those casting stickbaits and metal spoons have also landed some cracking spanish.
With the cool change this week it has us wondering whether we will get a good run of snapper push inshore.
The odd snapper has been caught towards Burnett Heads with early mornings and late afternoons being your best bet, fingers crossed we get some better numbers show up soon!
If you are chasing a feed and love smoked fish then the school mackerel should be on the top of your list, these guys are absolutely everywhere at the moment.
Using a simple paravane setup with a metal spoon lure is a really good way to cover ground a find these fish schooled up.
Once you have found them dropping down a Flasha spoon is some of the easiest schoolie fishing you can do!
It sure is safe to say that our inshore reefs are fishing incredibly well at the moment, fingers crossed we can get out over the weekend!
Kolan River
The flats fishing in the Kolan is absolutely on fire at the moment! Heaps of flathead are on the chew up in the shallows especially during the run in tide.
Flicking soft plastics and small hardbodies along these shallow flats has paid off for most anglers doing so.
For the bait fisho’s fresh yabbies and whole sprat has been dynamite! Some good sized bream and whiting are also being picked up on the flats proving to be a delicious feed.
The odd grunter are also being caught along the drop offs with soft vibes working really well for the lure anglers however mullet fillet and whole sprat are also a great bait to be using for these grunter.
The creeks in this river have been producing some big mud crabs recently and plenty of legal bucks are definitely still around and on the move this week.
With full moon last night the tides are still large so it’s not too late to try for a feed of mud crab!
Elliott River
The Elliott is fishing really well again this week, the flats fishing in this system has been on fire for species like grunter, flathead, bream and some big whiting.
The big night time tides this week has seen the whiting on the chew, pumping yabbies at low tide and fishing the afternoon incoming tide into the night has seen the best results.
Some really good numbers of grunter have also been caught as by-catch whilst targeting these whiting, which pull like crazy on the light gear.
Schools of queenfish have also been on the move in this system with the big tides getting these fish moving.
Twitching soft plastics over the shallow flats and along the drop offs is sure to find some of these fish as they pass through.
Some really good numbers of crabs are still be caught so be sure to put the pots in if you have a chance.
Baffle Creek
The Baffle has had another solid week of fishing with plenty of variety getting about for those fishing this system.
In particular this river is seeing a great run of grunter, bream and some big flathead.
Fishing the sand flats at the mouth of the river has worked really well and most anglers have strung together a nice mixed bag of species.
If you are chasing the grunter and bream that have been on the chew, whole sprat fished along drop offs and mangrove lined channels during a run out tide is sure to see some of these fish.
The big flathead have come from the deep holes and drop offs with soft plastics and soft vibes coming into their own to get these big girls to bite.
Plenty of trevally have also been getting around this system in the dirty water up river, finding schools of bait and fishing the pressure edged side of rock bars and islands up river and up the creeks should see these fish not far away.
Some good numbers of crabs are also on the move so be sure to put the pots in a for a chance at a feed of fresh mud crab!
Lake Gregory
As everyone should be aware due to this weeks cool change we are well and truly in the winter season on the lake, and this can only mean one thing – schooled up bass.
As we see every year as the water temperature drops we see these bass congregate and school up in the deeper sections of the lake and this is evident for those fishing the lake at the moment.
Although some fish are still being found along the edges of the lake, the schools of fish in the deeper water is definitely where the consistency is.
Slow rolling metal spoons and hopping slow falling metal jig lures has certainly been working great on these bass.
Plenty of smaller fish are around but those persisting have definitely found the better quality fish with some bass nudging the 45cm mark!
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran sure is have a spectacular start to the winter season with plenty of barra being caught each session for most anglers.
Fishing into the night is the best way to improve your chances at landing one of these barra at the moment.
Suspending hard body lures are definitely the standout lure getting the best results with the ability to get the lure to sit still right in front of these barra’s being the key.
If you are fishing the lake during the day don’t be afraid to target the shallow points that have areas for these barra to sit up in the shallows.
Lily pads, weed beds and overhanging branches are all really good places to find these barra sitting during the middle of the day.
Lightly weighted soft plastics or shallow diving hard body lures are extremely effective in these scenarios and even though these barra are smaller they often times play up a lot more than the bigger fish!
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
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