Fishing Reports


Fish Report - 19th May 2011

The fishing in the Bundaberg area is running red hot in both the Burnett River and offshore.

The offshore areas have been producing some big reds, trout and sweetlip. Some big snapper will start to come in as water temperatures cool down.

The inshore areas such as the Cochrane Artificial Reef have been producing some squire/snapper to 50cm as well as some big grunter.

Spanish mackerel are on the move with most anglers catching their bag of spanish by trolling big lures such as Halco Laser Pros and Strada lures. Trolling big baits has been best with wolf herring being the pick of the baits.

Fish Report - 12th May 2011

Over the past month we have seen some fantastic fishing in the local Bundaberg area, and as we go to press, the fishing is still red hot!

Most of the rivers and creeks have been producing some excellent fish. There has been a run of sand/summer whiting, as well as a good run of winter whiting, with worms and yabbies being the favourite baits.

The rock walls in the Burnett River have been producing some big bream. The bream are hard against the rocks and your bait must be right in their face or you won’t catch them. Some big fish have come out of the deeper holes in the river, using live baits. Big jack, cod, grunter and the odd barra have been caught.

Other species being caught at the moment include salmon and jew, and there has been a sprinkling of prawns and crabs about also.

Fish Report - 6th May 2011

Well, the past few weeks has seen some fantastic weather, and some great fishing around the Bundaberg area.

The local rivers are producing some excellent fish, with bream being the most talked-about species. Most of the bream have come from the rocky areas. These fish have been feeding hard along the rocks, so you bait needs to be unweighted, or with only a very small weight, fished right along the rocks.

Some big grunter are still about in the deeper holes. Live-baiting in some of these holes has also produced some king salmon, mangrove jacks and a few barramundi.

There is still a small run of prawns and also a few mud crabs about.

The local beaches have also been fishing well for whiting, flathead, dart and the odd tailor, while the inshore reefs have produced some great snapper and big grunter.

Fish Report - 20th April 2011

First of all, we’d like to wish everyone a very happy and safe Easter.

Now, as for the fishing, it has been great in most of the local estuaries around Bundaberg, and also out on the reefs.

The Burnett River has also been producing some fantastic fish, including some big bream along the rock walls. The bream seem to be hard against the rocks, so your bait or lures need to be fished right along the rocks also to enable you to snare a big bream.

There are also some top quality whiting about. Most of the sand flats throughout the rivers should produce a feed of these on worms or yabbies. Some big grunter have also been taken with live prawns being the best bait.

The river mouths are producing some big flathead and on the top of the tides some school mackerel have also been caught.

Take a Kid Fishing Day - Sun 3rd April 2011

Although the weather was a bit windy, there was no rain to dampen the spirits of the kids taking part in the annual Take a Kid Fishing Day held at the river mouth at Elliot Heads on Sunday, 3rd April 2011.

This day is held every year and is sponsored by Sunfish, the Department of Primary Industries, the Australian Fishing Trade Association and Tackle World Bundaberg.

The day is aimed at children up to fifteen years old, to get them involved with fishing and educate them in responsible fishing practices. Fishing specialists are on hand to help them with their fishing techniques, so the children and their parents can come along and have a fun day together, with a positive outcome.

Tackle World staff were there on the day to lend a hand with the fishing, and to help any of the kids who needed to be shown how to rig up their tackle, as well to man the sausage sizzle and to present the awards and lucky draws.

Cania Dam Bass Electric Tournament

Recently I spent the weekend pre-fishing Cania Dam for the Cania Bass Electric Tournament. Well, the time for the comp had finally come, so “How did it go?” you may ask.

Well, the lead-up during the week before saw near perfect conditions – hot, calm, windless days, but come tournament time, a severe weather change had come around. With cloudy, overcast days, 20-25 knot winds and rain squalls, we knew that it would be tough as bass don’t like those quick weather changes.

This is a two-day event, and the first session was on the Saturday afternoon from noon to 7.00pm, so 25 boats, powered by electric motors only, lined up for a start. Off we went, all to the secret spots we had pre-fished a couple of weeks before, and man, the fishing was tough!

We all made our way back to weigh-in to see what how the fishing went for the first session and there were only five bass caught. Mega-tough fishing!

Fish Report - 24th March 2011

The rains earlier this week in the Bundaberg area have made our local rivers run fresh again. This fresh will sweeten up the water and this is a bit of a downfall as the river was just starting to come good.

However, the fishing has still been okay with bream and grunter being the most talked-about species. The rock walls have produced the best catches of bream and sizes up to 40cm have not been uncommon. Chook gut and mullet cubes have been the best baits. The lure anglers have been getting their fair share also. Slow rolling small 35cm to 45cm deep diving hard bodies lures with rattles have been the best in the off-coloured water.

Gig grunter to 60cm have still been caught throughout the rivers as well as the odd jack.

Lake Gregory (Isis Impoundment)

With all the recent floods, rains and wind, many anglers in the Bundaberg area are looking for alternate places to go fishing. One option is the Isis Impoundment - Lake Gregory.

Although this is a freshwater lake, saltwater anglers can have a lot of fun here if they change their fishing tactics and tackle. The bass that have been stocked in the lake are a great sport or fighting fish.

Although it is a small lake, it can be hard to fish, but by knowing what to look for it can be any easy and fun task.

The main features of the dam are points leading into bays and weedy edges as well as the isolated weed patches in the middle of the dam. These are the places we'd target for bass. The main basin of the dam can hold large schools of bass also, and the key is to use a fish finder to locate the schools and then target them with lures.

Most anglers these days have a soft plastics outfit suitable for bream fishing. This also can double as a great bass fishing outfit.

Fish Report - 24th February 2011

Well, the Bundaberg area finally saw break in the weather early in the week and this allowed a lot of boats offshore.

All reports show some excellent catches, with some big coral trout caught by using live baits, and some good red emperor were also landed. The rubble/reef areas have also produced some sweetlip and tusk fish. Please remember we are currently in a snapper and pearl perch closure, which will continue until the 31st March.

Another species that has been talked about is mackerel – they have been in big numbers along our coast. Most of the inshore areas are really firing with a mix of spanish, school and spotted mackerel being caught. Trolling diving lures in any chrome colour has been popular, but slow trolling pilchards has been the most effective method. A few schoolies have been caught by high speed spinning with metal chrome lures.

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