Well, the winds around the local Bundaberg area just won’t let up for the offshore fishing, so it has been a good time to do maintenance on the boats that usually head offshore.
The river fishing however, has been red hot with most or nearly all of the fish being caught on lures.
It is shaping up to be one of the best summers than any of us can remember for fishing our local area.
The Bundaberg area has seen an early run of school mackerel running along the coast. They are only small and you do have to measure some of them, as most are about 55cm, and with 50cm being the minimum you do have to be careful. They also have a bag limit of ten per person.
Here are a few tips to help you catch a schoolie mackerel.
If you are bait-fishing for a schoolie, you can’t go past pilchards for bait. I prefer the WA pilly as these are usually a firmer, shinier and fresher pilly. I also prefer a rig using 3 x 4/0 to 5/0 hooks ganged together, rigged on a length of 80lb mono trace line about 40cm long. I like the mono over wire as you’ll always catch more fish as the school mackeral can’t see it. Yes, you do occasionally get bitten off but you do catch more with the mono. I just think in the cleaner water the mackerel can see the wire sometimes and just shy away from the baits.
The Bundaberg area has seen an early run of school mackerel running along the coast. They are only small and you do have to measure some of them, as most are about 55cm, and with 50cm being the minimum you do have to be careful. They also have a bag limit of ten per person.
Here are a few tips to help you catch a schoolie mackerel.
If you are bait-fishing for a schoolie, you can’t go past pilchards for bait. I prefer the WA pilly as these are usually a firmer, shinier and fresher pilly. I also prefer a rig using 3 x 4/0 to 5/0 hooks ganged together, rigged on a length of 80lb mono trace line about 40cm long. I like the mono over wire as you’ll always catch more fish as the school mackeral can’t see it. Yes, you do occasionally get bitten off but you do catch more with the mono. I just think in the cleaner water the mackerel can see the wire sometimes and just shy away from the baits.
Earlier this week saw a few days of excellent weather which allowed a few boats to go offshore. Those lucky enough to get the time off to head out were well rewarded. There were some big red emperor caught as well as some coral trout, sweetlip, cod, and tusk fish. Some big cobia and spanish mackerel have also been caught in these areas.
Some of the boat wrecks such as the Barjon and Karma have also been producing some great fishing with squire and sweetlip both being caught on them. There has also been a few cobia, and the trevally are thick and are great sport fish. Throwing chrome lures to the bottom then using a quick retrieve should see you into some red hot pelagic action.
Back to the rivers – most of our local creeks and rivers are firing with the usual bream, whiting and flathead and the salmon are still moving about the Burnett River. A few guys have them worked out on lures and are having a ball, with lures such as Blades and Thready Busters being favourites.
Well, we’ve seen a great week of weather in the Bundaberg area this week, which has allowed a lot of boats offshore, and the fishing has been awesome!
A lot of the outer reefs have been producing some great catches of big red emperor, coral trout, sweetlip and big tusk fish. A few of the bigger boats went and fished in 80-100 metres of water on the shelf and caught some big snapper, job fish and pearl perch. These depths can be hard to fish, but well worth it by the quality of fish you catch.
The 15-Mile Gutter area has been fishing really well, with the odd red and a few trout, but also a lot of hussar and sweetlip haven been caught.
The local rivers and estuaries are still fishing red hot. The sand flats in the rivers have produced some fantastic flathead and whiting, and fishing most of the rocky areas has produced some thumpa bream, grunter and the odd jack.
Well, the fishing around Bundaberg is still red hot, probably the best we have seen in years. This is thanks to the floods that caused such havoc earlier this year.
The offshore fishing has been great. When the weather has allowed us to get out, catches of big red emperor, sweetlip, parrot and a great mix of other species have been taken.
However, it is the river fishing that is really shining. We have seen some top quality fish over the past few weeks. These have included some monster whiting of 40cm plus, bream to 1kg, and some flathead reaching their maximum size of 75cm. Some of the deeper stretches of the Burnett River are still producing some excellent salmon fishing with live prawns being a favourite. Some other species have included big grunter, jack, cod and even an odd barra.
The river mouths have been producing some school mackerel and some nice tailor. Trolling spoon lures or anchoring up and floating out a small pilchard seems to be working well.
Well, over the past month or so, the fishing in the Bundaberg area has become some of the best we have seen in years, for both offshore and estuary fishing.
The reefs out wide have produced some top quality catches of big red emperor, coral trout, sweetlip and big snapper. Those anglers who have been putting out a large floating bait or livie have been well rewarded with big spanish mackerel and cobia.
The reef gutters such as the 15-Mile have also produced some great fish for the guys in the smaller boats. Parrot, squire, red emperor and the odd coral trout have all been taken. Again, spanish mackerel and also trevally have been caught in these areas.
The local rivers have also produced some fantastic action with monster bream, whiting and flathead all being reported. The salmon seem to be the most talked-about species with both blue and king salmon being caught.
In recent weeks the local rivers and estuaries in the Bundaberg area have been finally getting back to fishing the way they were before all the rain and floods earlier in the year.
Cooling temperatures have certainly brought the snapper on the chew. The Cochrane Artificial Reef, and the other close inshore reefs have been producing some 55 to 60 cm fish early morning, and later in the afternoon into the evening. Squid and Gulp soft plastics in the 5 and 7 inch have been the most successful method of landing these fish.
Most outer reefs are fishing quite well for large red emperor, sweetlip, parrot and hussar.
Winter whiting have finally appeared, mainly around the Woodgate area, and eventually should travel further north to the spoil grounds at Burnett Heads.
The occasional tailor has been caught along the coastline, and a few are even venturing up the Burnett River to Kirbys Wall.
A lot of the inshore reefs around Bundaberg have been firing up this week, including reefs such as Ryan’s, the Two Mile and the Cochrane Artificial.
The night time high tides seem to be the best, with some great catches of snapper and grunter. Fresh flesh baits such as bonito or mullet fillets have been best. A favourite rig for the snapper is using 2 x 4/0 hooks, snelled together on 40 to 60lb mono trace at a length of 60cm to a swivel, then running a ball sinker in size 3 or 4. This weight is just enough to get the rig to the bottom, then just hang on!
The outer reefs have also produced some great fish with big red emperor, coral trout, sweetlip and much more all being talked about. Spanish mackerel are really starting to fire up, and most of the offshore reefs are producing the spanish by trolling big dead baits such as bonito and wolf herring.
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