on orders over $125Now that Bundaberg is experiencing a few cooler mornings, some species as barramundi and mangrove jacks will slow down. You will still get these fish, but you will have to work harder for them. My favourite species to target in these colder days are snapper – especially early morning sessions.
Snapper are found in shallow water and deep water, but they really fight hard in the shallow reefs and rubble grounds. Anywhere you have good solid structure is certainly worth a look. When you have found your area to fish, drop anchor and stay put. If you gradually berley old bait or hard pellets, the snapper will come to investigate and take your presented assorted baits. Be patient and try not to re-anchor. The fish will move around and come to you. Prime time to target snapper is early mornings before daylight and late afternoons/evenings. Best baits are whole pilchards, squid and mullet strips, unweighted if there is little or no current. A small sinker may be required when there is a bit of a run.
A recent trip to the Burnett River produced good numbers of king salmon and flathead, and I was amazed to see that the river is very healthy after the floods that went through - plenty of live bait to be found. Liveys are just ideal. In most cases they will out-fish plastics and hard-bodied lures. Still try these of course, but have that livey out on a bigger rod.
If you are chasing grunter and bream in the colder mornings, target rock bars and gravel beds. A good sounder will show you the structure on the bottom of the river. Grunter like baits and will also hit a soft plastic. You will see good sized bream now and the prime bait is, of course, the chook gut or mullet gut. It seems to attract the fish and keep them in your drop.
Soon we will see the prawns showing up out near Woodgate again. This is certainly worth a look if the fishing scene is a bit quiet in your area. I mean, who wouldn’t knock back a couple of kilos of yummy banana prawns.
Any of the estuaries such as the Kolan and Elliott will still produce whiting and flathead but more so, the winter bream will be on the chew. On light gear a 30cm bream will feel like a snapper. Great fun on soft plastics, small diving lures and of course, baits. Every fish will eat a small prawn.
Bass will school up in the impoundments and dams now as well, so you can have good sessions in the deeper parts. Early mornings you will still get fish on surface lures such as a popper or a surface walker. When they do school up, use vibrating metal blades or spinnerbaits. The Isis Impoundment (Lake Gregory) is a good place to target bass - just a nice place to be fishing on the water.
So, if you can brave those chilly mornings, get out on the water and get fishing.
Till next time,
Brett Robinson
Tackle World Bundaberg
Green Acorn