Inshore/Offshore
As predicted last weekend did see a nice opportunity to head out the front to our inshore grounds particularly on Saturday morning with winds varying around 10 knots.
It certainly wasn’t flat but these conditions are do-able especially for those trolling baits for spanish mackerel.
We have had some great reports of big spanish already moving in close to shore with a few really nice sized fish over 20kg caught just a few nautical mile from Burnett Heads.
These fish have smashed a trolled gar or a live bait rigged on a balloon rig.
The leads at Burnett Heads have seen some nice cobia upwards of 15kg caught, these fish aren’t fussy but if there’s one bait a big cobia can’t resist it’s a whole squid or cuttlefish.
Those bottom bashing have still been encountering nice sized grunter and grass sweetlip at the common inshore grounds with the Artificial off Elliott Heads being the standout reef.
Early mornings and late afternoons is when this reef has been fishing best.
Plenty of school mackerel are still around, trolled or cast Flasha spoons have been the undoing of a large number of these fish, they just can’t help themselves.
Fingers crossed we get some more good weather come our way!
Burnett River
The bread and butter fishing in the Burnett at the moment is in top shape!
Plenty of quality sized bream, whiting and flathead have been around all throughout this system.
There’s been a few techniques fishing well, but small soft plastics fished along the rock walls and sand flats has been incredibly effective.
The Bait Junkie 2.35 inch prawn has been a firm favourite when rigged on a light 1/8oz to a 1/12oz jig head and fished tight to the rock walls, or rigged on a 1/4oz to a 1/8oz jig head and fished along the bottom.
Good numbers of barra have been found schooled up in this system from the Town Reach area up to Tofts Rocks.
These fish have not been easy to tempt a bite from however prawn imitation soft plastics fished around a tide change is your best bet if you are targeting these fish with lures.
Securing some live bait is what has undone these fish with poddy mullet or whole prawns being the go.
Plenty of prawns have been schooled up around the Port, last weekend saw a great number of people get their bags in a mere few throws.
Reports have shown that they are still there however the big tides this weekend may slow things down, targeting them towards the bottom of the tide will be your best bet.
Kolan River
The Kolan has had a solid week of fishing with reports, similar to the Burnett, of some really good quality bread and butter fishing.
Flathead and grunter have been caught in sections of the river with drop offs and a good amount of current.
Using bigger chunks of mullet or whole sprat has worked great on these fish, towards the mouth on the shallow flats we have seen fresh yabbies being a dynamite bait to be using for bream, grunter, whiting and some quality flathead.
Fishing the shallow flats at the mouth during the incoming tide has been the best time to do so, make sure to pump some yabbies at the low tide and fish the shallow flats as they fill up with water.
This incoming tide has also seen 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 and 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.
This week has seen better numbers of crabs being caught with the building tides getting these muddies on the move, pots being placed in the deeper channels and along steeper banks have had the most reward.
Elliott River
The Elliott sure is fishing well at the moment, offering plenty of variety for those fishing this system.
The sand flats in this river have held some great numbers of flatties with most being around the 50cm mark.
Casting soft plastics over the shallow sand flats and along the drop offs has worked well for these fish.
Really good numbers of whiting are also being caught with fresh yabbies being the go to bait.
For those into their lure fishing small topwater lures retrieved along the shallow flats has been a great way to catch these whiting.
Some big queenfish are still being caught around the mouth of this system, floating out whole sprat along the sand flats and in the deeper channels has picked up a few of these fish.
Up river has seen the summer species still chewing, the rock bars in this system have held some big jacks and solid barra so throwing down a livie is a great way to find a few of these sought after species.
Nice sized cod and even some big grunter have been caught as by-catch which for most are a welcome surprise!
Baffle Creek
The Baffle is fishing really well and this system is absolutely littered with bait at the moment!
Some massive schools of mullet ranging from 3-4 inch in size right up to 30-40cm have been cruising the shallows along with plenty of hardy heads and sprat closer to the mouth.
This amount of bait, as you can imagine, has got the predatory fish chewing hard especially with the building tides this week.
The jack have been active with a lot of these fish being caught on live baits around rock bars or big fallen trees.
The early mornings have been the go to time to be on the water chasing these jack.
Great numbers of flathead have also been prevalent in this system, and these fish have been caught just about anywhere this week.
The mouth has seen some nice flatties around with the odd big fish over 70cm being caught, but the sand flats around Winfield have produced the best numbers of flathead.
Plenty of dart are still around with fresh yabbies or beach worms doing really well on these fish.
The mouth of the river is the best place to target these fish. Small soft plastics have also managed a nice feed of these dart particularly for those fishing for them in the waves.
Lake Gregory
The transitional period at Lake Gregory is in full swing with plenty of bass schooled up in the deeper sections of the lake.
This has meant the edge bite has slowed and those still fishing topwater or sub surface lures in the shallows have had best success in the early mornings and late afternoons.
The best numbers of fish are coming from those fishing the schools with blades, vibes and metal spoons.
Plenty of smaller fish are being caught but fish up to 45cm are around for those filtering through the smaller fish.
Although not necessary, having a quality sounder to locate these schools of bass will help to get you casting in the right area.
Lake Monduran
Lake Monduran has continued to produce another week of good fishing with the majority of fish being over the magic metre mark, however good numbers around 80cm have also been prevalent proving to be great fun.
For those fishing shallow points or working banks with plenty of overhanging trees or lily pads providing shade there has been good numbers of smaller fish tucked up in the shady pockets.
Samaki Redic DS80’s slowly twitched and paused in between the lily’s is a great way to target these smaller barra.
For those chasing the bigger fish working river channels with live scope is doing the damage.
Again, Samaki Redic DS80’s have been a standout but leading into the night Zerek Live Mullet’s and Molix 140 Shads have proved effective.
Keep and eye on the Kolan River tide times because the change in tide is often a cracking little opportunity to nail a few barra in the dam.
The main basin does still have some quality fish in it, however they are certainly very finicky and have spooked easily.
Targeting these barra during the night has seen better, more consistent results.
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg.
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