FISHING REPORT 16-02-2011

FISHING REPORT – 16-02-2012

BOONDOOMA DAM YELLOWBELLY FISHING COMPETITION

There was a great turnout for the twenty second Boondooma Dam Yellowbelly Fishing Competition last weekend, with a total of 641 competitors, including 132 juniors, weighing in 471 fish. The water level in the dam was at 100%, which together with the good weather conditions, set the scene for a great weekend of camping, fishing and family activities. The best session was on Saturday morning with 163 fish weighed in. The champion junior anglers were Maitland Collins of Nanango who weighed-in a 1.805kg Yellowbelly and Blake Manthey of Nanango who weighed in a 1.200kg Australian Bass. Adult angler, Graham Scanlan of Proston took out the category of heaviest Yellowbelly at 2.095kg, while Kathleen Elliott of Proston took out the heaviest Australian Bass at 1.720kg.

BASS
Several storms through our dam catchment areas early this week, has seen Cressbrook Dam’s water level rise enough for the council to close the dam, to the public. Prior to this, it was still producing good numbers of fish, out from the boat ramp, near the buoy line and around Deer Island, soft plastics and blades have produced the most fish. Boondooma has settled quite well, after some recent inflows, there are still good size Bass being landed, with quite a few smaller fish in amongst them, Blades, Soft Plastics and Jackalls have proven to be the most successful. Somerset has produced good catches of Bass over the past week, Pelican Point, Queens Street and around the timber at Kirkleigh have been the pick of the spots, while casting Blades, Jackalls and Soft Plastics, or trolling hard bodies have been the best methods.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD
Cooby Dam is still closed to water based activities, until further notice.
Boondooma produced a lot of fish in the annual Yellowbelly competetition, held last weekend, the majority of fish were caught on bait, however, casting Jackalls and Spinnerbaits, and trolling hard bodies, produced quite a few fish as well. The Macintyre River at Goondiwindi has fished extremely well for Yellowbelly this week, targeting the fish with Shrimp and frozen Saltwater Yabbies has produced the most numbers. It is also worth casting Spinnerbaits around the snags, and you might pick up a Cod or two. Fishing has slowed a little at Coolmunda this week, with the odd Yellowbelly being caught on the trolled lures in the open parts of the dam, while the timbered area of the dam has produced a few, mainly on bait. Leslie Dam has seen a few Yellowbelly taken on live Shrimp and frozen Saltwater Yabbies, also a few Silver Perch on Worms and some nice Cod have been landed, trolling deep diving, hard body lures. Glenlyon has again fished well over the past week, with some nice Cod around the mid 70cm to mid 80cm mark, these have been mainly caught on Spinnerbaits, there have been quite a few undersize Cod caught and released as well. Yellowbelly and Silver Perch have been plentiful, but they have mainly been coming on bait.



GOLD COAST AND TWEED

Offshore fishing has seen Yellowfin Tuna and Spanish Mackerel being caught at 9 Mile Reef and Palm Beach and the Gravel Patch have produced good numbers of Spotty Mackerel and Cobia, with a few as well. Inshore has seen good numbers of Trevelly and Jewies on the run-in tide around the Seaway entrance, some nice Jack’s around the bridges and rock walls in the Tweed River, quality Whiting and Flathead throughout the Tweed River as well, there has also been some big Whiting taken on live Yabbies and fresh Prawns throughout the Broadwater, School Jew around the headlands at Kingscliff and Cabarita and plenty of good size Muddies in the creeks and rivers.

SUNSHINE COAST

Still a bit quiet offshore, but there has been some nice Grassy Sweetlip at 12 Mile Reef and some quality Spanish and Spotty Mackerel have been taken, trolling lures on the closer reefs. Inshore fishing has slowly started to improve, with quality Mangrove Jack coming out in force, the best spots have been, Bells Creek, around the bridges in the Maroochy and Noosa Rivers, live bait has been the most successful, there has also been good catches of Whiting in the Noosa River, while the Caloundra area has seen some big Grunter caught around the Boardwalk and Flathead and Bream have been prominent around the Power Boat Club.