Coastal/sea fishing
The inshore reefs have been fishing well with plenty of quality size grunters being caught on 5 inch reef rigs rigged on a 1/2 oz 5/0 jig. Soft 20 gram vibes like the Samaki Vibelicious have also worked great! If bait fishing is more your thing, try using fresh shrimp and squid with a small snapper as well.
Mackerel season has been open since February 21st, but will close again for another 3 weeks starting March 1st. Our inshore reefs along the coast are home to a large number of big Spanish and these fish are best targeted when fishing dead baits such as garrote or mullet as well as large hard baits.
School mackerel have still fished very well on Flasha spoons spinning at high speed through bait banks or around reefs doing best. There has still been a decent amount of tuna along the shoreline, it has been hard to get these fish biting at times but small metal slugs like Arma’s anchovy range have worked a treat to chew on some.
Offshore fishing has been tough this week, with less than ideal weather making it difficult to get fish out. As we sit on our hands and wait for the next chance of good weather, it’s a good time to stock up on all your gear now to avoid last-minute scrambling before your next big trip.
Having a few extras of your favorite baits is always a great idea as hot baits sell out fast in good weather! We have seen some quality red emperors, trout and nannygai being caught lately when the weather has been good. Trout have been caught on fresh sardines or whole yakka and reds and minnows have loved big meat baits or whole squid.
Burnett River
After the storm and heavy downpour at the end of last week, the Burnett is pretty dirty with the upper reaches of the river the hardest hit. Lure anglers have the best results when using a darker colored lure to give a bigger silhouette in this dirty water.
Paddle tail soft plastics like the Zman 3 inch Minnowz have been the go to lure for just about anything in the river this week! Slow rolling these lures over rock bars, off snags or over sandbars has worked a treat from jack and bar to flathead and kingfish!
For bait anglers live bait is where it’s at right now, small mullet or sprat are ideal baits and fishing around rock bars or fallen trees is where they are being caught many fish Some quality grunters are also in the river at the moment, downstream around the mouth has seen the best numbers of these fish as they feed on the sand flats and along the deep drop offs.
A lot of crabs have been moving around too, so it’s worth trying to try and feed on mud crab. Putting your pots in the streams and using lots of strong smelling baits has the best results.
Steve Rattray with a 64cm flathead caught in the Burnett River.
The Elliott River
The Elliott River is fishing great this week, the river is full of bait and the predators are feeding! Some big kingfish, trevally and darters are being caught at the mouth of the river. Black Bank and the rock bar at the mouth are ideal places for these fish.
Floating a live sprat has worked a treat. Upriver a flathead and a cracking grunt seem to be caught on the various sand flats and drop offs. Small soft vibrations have worked very well on these fish along with whole shrimp rigged on a running ball pen rig.
A quality aerator is a game changer when bait fishing as they keep the bait alive for hours! Elliott has produced some solid catches this week on live baits like spar and mullet. With the rain we had last week we have seen how the crab is moving up in this river. The deeper mangrove lined banks along the river have been great places to cast a few pots lately.
Oscar Wales with a 43cm solid mangrove dam.
Baffle Creek
Baffle Creek has had a very good week of fishing. The upper sections of this system are pretty murky and the creeks upstream are too, so the tide has been the best option for fishing this river. A few flatheads, whiting and grunts have been making their way to the shallow sand flats.
Using fresh jabbies as bait has been dynamite on the whiting and a bit of whole spade has got the grunt and flathead biting. Slipping on some bright colored soft plastics has absolutely killed the flats this week! Areas where there is a good amount of current combined with a solid drop have been where these fish are being caught in the best numbers.
Most of the rock bars in this river have solid estuary cod, jack and the occasional barbel! Live mullet sent to the rocks has been the best way to catch these fish. Using a 40- to 60-pound fluorocarbon leader has worked well to get the bite, but also provides enough strength and abrasion resistance between the rocks.
With the rain that hit our region last week, we have continued to see a lot of crabs coming out of this river. Most of them have been out of slightly deeper sections of creeks as larger tides have moved them around.
Josh Meehan with a catch caught in the Baffle.
Kolan River
Similar to our other local rivers, the Kolan has had a great week of fishing and crabbing. We have also received many reports of large numbers of prawns in this river! Having a quality probe to locate shrimp before you start casting your net is a great way to make fewer casts for more shrimp! On the crab front, we have seen a good number of nice size jets being caught.
Throwing the pots into the creeks has been the way to go, the deep holes in the creeks have been the hot spots. For fishing we have seen plenty of grunts and flatheads caught all over the river. Whole swordfish live or dead have been the ideal bait.
Floating the spade and letting it sink slowly with the tide over sandbars or drop offs has been a killer technique. Along the rock bars some large mangrove and cod have also been seen caught using this same method.
George Simmonds with a solid grunt caught in the Kolan River.
Fishing Local Beaches
With the big tides we’ve had the whiting bite on the beaches has been red hot! Moore Park Beach and Woodgate Beach are the highlights for these fish, with the ideal baits, pippies or worms. Fishing the last half of the incoming tide has been a perfect way to target these fish.
Finding a good channel close to shore is where most of these whiting are being caught. Some solid darters and grunts are being caught as well, so definitely have a few rods on the water to maximize the amount of fish you can catch!
Jackson Home with a redclaw crack feed.
Lake Monduran
The lake fishing has really heated up this week! Plenty of barbel have been caught with a few anglers landing 10 or more barbel in a single session. Most of these fish have grown to about 60cm in length, but they are great fun between bites from the big fish.
These smaller fish have regularly been caught on hard baits cast near the lilies and brush in a few feet of water and returned to the boat. Loads of big barra have been found all over the dam, similar to last week, these fish have not been easy to tempt into a bite, but there have certainly been more hits on the deck this week!
These larger huts have been found passing through spots that have been blowing a lot of wind over the past few days. The mix between a suspended hardbait and a soft plastic paddle tail or swimbait has been able to get a bite from this big barra. Some days they have preferred hardbodies and other days they have bit the plastics so be sure to mix it up until you find a bite.
Nathaniel with a 101cm bar caught during a charter with Rusty from Rusty’s Lake Monduran Charters.
Lake Gregory Fishing
This week the lake has fished well with some very good quality bass. Topwater lures have been quite popular over the last few weeks and low light periods like dawn and dusk have been ideal times to cast the topwater.
Walk the dog style topwater lures have been most effective this week as the bass are much more interested in a more aggressive presentation than they are with the subtle presentation of a frog imitation. Throughout the mid-day, anglers have had the most success on small paddle tail soft plastics. Slow reeling these lures at the top of weed beds or along drop-offs has been the way to go.
Nelson Phillips with a bass caught in Lake Gregory during the Bill Proctor Memorial Comp.
CATCH OF THE WEEK
Kelsea Ford with her first fish! Congratulations Kelsea! Call the store to pick up your $50 gift card!
From the team to Take on the World Bundaberg