Fish Report - 11th September, 2014

Doesn’t it feel great now that the first signs of summer are already upon us? During the past week in the Bundaberg area the day-time maximum temperatures are pushing up around 30 degrees, which means at this stage it’s looking like it will be another top season for guys who like chasing their barra and jacks.

The Burnett River is still fishing extremely well. Massive schools of bait fish seem to be everywhere with pelagic fish like trevally, queenfish, tarpon and even a few school, grey and Spanish mackerel up to 80cm being caught in the town reach recently. This has been providing anglers with some reel- screaming action. Just look for nervous bait schools flicking on the surface and cast small metal or soft plastics back through them at speed and hang on! We have not heard too many reports of salmon over the past week but I’m sure they will show up again.

The Kolan River is also fishing well, with reports of some massive flathead and jewies being hooked around the deeper channels of the old mouth, mainly on plastics. At this time of year in these same parts of the river, it’s also worth casting or trolling a hard-body design barra lure that dives to 4-5 metres, as the barra should start to become more aggressive.

I did a trip to the Kolan last Saturday morning and managed to catch two jacks and a few flatties. Unfortunately the green toadfish population came to visit us at most locations we tried, resulting in a few packets of plastics being destroyed. But, it was still a good day on the water.

Lake Monduran has just started to fire again after a slow month beforehand. Jamie from Lake Monduran Charters reported two good days last week with quite a few barra being hooked. A few days before and after the full moon is always a good time to target these fish.

Good numbers of Australian bass are still on the chew at Lake Gregory with bass reacting to most techniques used. For example, surface lures, spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits, blades and soft plastics are all catching fish at the moment. This is a fantastic little dam to refine your techniques and have a bit of fun while doing it.

Fish with confidence,
Dale Smith