In this week’s fishing report, locals have had a great time on the water with decent weather across the region.
Inshore / Offshore
With a few cracking days of weather early this week we have seen plenty of people heading to our inshore reefs.
Most people have had great success and the Spanish mackerel have been on!
Trolling gar and hardbody’s is the go-to way at the moment with most of the common grounds in close producing some quality fish.
Early mornings and late afternoon’s is always a good time to target them! Remember to keep an eye on the weather forecast before heading out as conditions can change drastically and have all of your safety equipment on board.
Bundy’s offshore fishing early this week was red hot! Plenty of coral trout, red emperor, sweetlip and mackerel were caught!
The Trout were on the chew with whole pilchards being the go-to bait.
The Reds were taking a liking to bigger baits such as mullet and squid. Reefs towards Lady Elliott Island or the Northern Gutter were fishing great and will definitely be worth a look during the next weather window.
Some lucky anglers adventured out to the deep chasing bar cod, flame snapper and comet cod and were very successful!
Again, using big baits such as mullet fillets, big squid and tuna fillets is a must for the deep-water fishing.
Burnett River
With the last few weeks consisting of some decent weather with no more large dumps of rain, the Burnett has finally cleared up nicely.
The whole river is full of small bait with predatory fish not far away.
Some large trevally and queenfish have been caught throughout the whole river, using smaller lures or baits has worked best.
The mangrove jack has been on the chew, the best we have seen in a long time!
It feels like every day another 50+ cm jack is being caught with the biggest reported catch being a 56cm fish.
Live bait is where it’s at for now, small poddy mullet or sprat is the ideal baits and fishing around rock bars or fallen trees is where these fish are being caught.
Some quality grunter are in the river at the moment as well, down river around the mouth has seen the best numbers of these fish as they feed on the sand flats and along deep drop offs.
Plenty of crabs have been on the move as well so it is well worth a shot at trying to get a feed of mud crab. Putting your pots up in creeks and using plenty of a strong-smelling bait has got the best results.
Elliott River
The Elliott River has been fishing great over the last few weeks! The hot weather and mass amounts of bait in the river have got these fish feeding well and we have had great reports over the holiday period.
From trevally, queenfish, flathead and big summer whiting around the mouth of the river to big grunter and mangrove jack up-river being caught.
The ideal baits when fishing the mouth of the river has been fresh yabbies, sprat or small trips of mullet.
Fishing the sand flats or drop offs when the tide is running has worked best as the pelagic fish and big flathead have been feeding during these times.
Up river the jacks that have been caught have loved live baits and garfish when thrown around the mangroves.
Some big crabs have been pulled form this river lately, pushing up river into places which are hard to get to has worked a treat.
Baffle Creek
As always Baffle Creek gains a lot of boat traffic during the holiday periods due to the ample river front camping options throughout the river.
With a lot of boats on the water the fishing was certainly tough over the Christmas and New Year holidays with the fish weary of the increase in activity on the river.
Anglers who decided to travel far up river or right up into skinny creeks were rewarded with some of the best fishing.
Mangrove jack were the target species for most and small live baits like mullet, sprat or garfish were getting the bites!
Fishing deep bends in the creeks with plenty of structure or the rock bars up river were the go to places to catch a few jack.
The majority of boats were around Winfield area and at the mouth so the fishing here was quite slow, some solid grunter, flathead and jacks were caught in the early mornings and late afternoons whilst the boat traffic was minimal.
Small strips of mullet fillet worked best on these fish and fishing with a light ball sinker and leader got the bites.
On the crabbing front the upper reaches of the creeks have been the best place lately, using plenty of strong smelling bait into each of your pots has helped get a feed especially when there are a few pots in close proximity.
Kolan River
With lake Monduran finally back under 100% capacity the Kolan River has had a moment to clear up and push some salt water into the upper stretches of the river.
Due to the fresh water that has been pumped into the river all last year we are now seeing heaps of bait all throughout the river which is a great sign for the future of the Kolan.
We have had some awesome reports coming from the Kolan with a lot of variety being caught throughout the river.
The usual flathead and grunter have been on the chew and sections of the river with drop offs and current has been where these fish have been caught more regularly.
Using chunks on mullet or sprat has worked great on these fish, towards the mouth in the clearer water we have seen fresh yabbies doing best when fished in the shallower water.
The incoming tide has seen these schools of bait being pushed up river and some big queenfish and trevally have been in pursuit.
Fishing parts of the river which have plenty of current being pushed onto them has worked well.
The rock bars or deep holes in this river have produced some great mangrove jack especially for those using live baits.
Whole poddy mullet and sprat have been the baits getting the job done, however definitely try some mullet fillet as well.
The crabbing in this river has been red hot so definitely throw the pots in if you can.
Local beaches
Over the last few weeks we have seen plenty of people head out to our local beaches whilst they had some time off.
With plenty of bait scattered along our coastline it is no wonder the beach fishing was red hot!
Plenty of flathead, whiting and big grunter have been caught on fresh yabbies or beach worms.
Fresh has proved to be best with anglers using the fresher bait getting a lot more bites and even some of the bigger fish.
During the windy days when the water was murky the go to bait was mullet fillet cut into small strips as the scent from the bait travels a lot further.
Rules Beach and Woodgate Beach were the two standouts this holiday period and the go to spots were either fishing around the corresponding river mouths or deep gutters in close to the shore.
Lake Monduran
With the constant hot and humid weather, we have had combined with the northerly winds the dam has fished very well.
Windblown points and bays have held most of the bait and the barra have been up in the shallower water in pursuit of an easy feed. 80 to 100mm hardbody lures have worked really well lately however the barra have definitely liked a long pause in between twitches.
The Samaki Redic DS80 has really helped anglers get a bite when all else couldn’t.
If you are struggling to get a bite on the hardbodies it is definitely worth having a few soft plastics or swimbaits in your tackle box.
Two standouts and must haves are the Berkley Shimma Pro-Rigs or the Molix 120 or 140 Shads.
Fishing the points in the main basin which are getting majority of the wind blow has definitely been a great technique with some fish around the 80 to 90cm range being most common catches.
Deeper diving hardbody lures cast in close or trolled around the points has picked up a few barra.
SDA bay, the main basin and up around B have both been spots which are also worth a look as they have held great numbers of fish over this summer season.
With the wind looking to change directions in the coming days it will be a great idea to be fishing sections of the dam which are still getting consistent wind blown into them.
Lake Gregory
After a few warm weeks and northerly winds we have seen the water temp in Lake Gregory increase and the bait pushed up into the shallow waters around heavy structure.
Fishing with surface lures in the early morning or late afternoon has been working great and as for the middle of the day slow rolling small soft plastics over the top of the weed has got the bites.
Some of the bigger fish have been caught on drop offs at points which the wind is hitting creating a bit of a pressure edge.
Twitching hardbody lures like the Rapala Shad Rap Elite 75 has been doing the damage.
Allowing the lure to sit and pause after a few twitches has been when these big bass have struck.
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