Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
THE BURNETT RIVER
With the full moon falling on this Sunday the fishing in the Burnett River should be hot! With the barramundi season just opening, you’d be crazy not to target them. My favourite way to chase the barra is with 20g soft vibes. Fishing the tide change is definitely what to aim for and looking for any sort of structure which is holding bait will get you the bite. We’ve seen the mangrove jack in full flight as well. Plenty of 50cm+ jacks have been caught over the past week by slow-retrieving Lucky Craft Pointers and 4” Zman Minnowz over shallow rock bars. There has been a few prawns getting around as well so don’t forget to throw your cast net in.
THE KOLAN RIVER AND BAFFLE CREEK
With the huge tides this weekend the mud crabs should be on the move! Crabbing up the back of the tight shallower creeks will be the go. There’s been some cracking size grunter being caught in both these systems. Slow-hopping Gulp soft plastics with lightly-weighted jig heads has been the standout technique. The flathead have also been in awesome numbers towards the mouth of these two systems. Slow-rolling paddle tail plastics will definitely get you the bite. Drifting with sprat will get you a tasty feed as well.
THE ELLIOTT RIVER
With the full moon the whiting should be on the chew this weekend. Pumping yabbies at low tide and fishing that incoming tide will get you a tasty feed. I’d be fishing for them towards the mouth. There has also been some cracker flathead being caught at the mouth. Heaps of anglers have been catching them by trolling small hard body lures towards the bottom of the tide. There has been a rumour of a few prawns being caught towards the back of the river as well.
LAKE MONDURAN
Lake Monduran has been producing some very high quality barra. Plenty of fish over 80cm are being caught daily. The bigger fish seem to be getting caught in the deeper water at the moment. Using large paddle tail soft plastics with heavy weighted jig heads will get you down into the strike zone and let you work your plastics hard. The Jackall Squirrels are still the standout lure with most fish being caught on them. With the full moon being on Sunday night it should give you some good confidence that the barra will have a hot bite sometime over the weekend. First light in the mornings is definitely my favourite time to chase them this time of year.
Till next time
Keep it real
Mitch Beyer
For more Bundaberg jack action, click here!
mangrove jack in full flight
