FISHING REPORT 24-02-2012

FISHING REPORT – 23-02-2012

LAKE BOONDOOMA BASS PRO
The ABT BASS Pro Series kick starts a new tournament season when it hits south Burnett’s Lake Boondooma, this weekend. The opening round of the 2012 BASS Pro season, will see anglers from across NSW and Queensland converge on the at capacity Lake Boondooma, the scene of last year’s BASS Pro Grand Final, for one of the most anticipated events of season. With steady water levels and a predicted hot bite, anglers are champing at the bit to tangle with the bass of one of Australia’s premier bass fisheries. So if you want to catch a glimpse of some of Australia’s top Bass anglers, head up there and catch the weigh in or even one of the session starts. The event kicks off at sunrise on Saturday with two angling session (6-11am, 1-5.30pm), then concludes on the Sunday with a single morning session (6am-11am). Anglers will weigh in their two largest fish each session with the largest combined six-fish bag deciding the champion boater and non-boater for the event.


BASS
At the time of writing this report, Cressbrook Dam’s water level was still about 120mm over the spillway, if we don’t have any reasonable rainfall out that way, the dam may re-open by the weekend, but that is no way a certainty. The fish are quite scattered throughout Boondooma, but there are still good size Bass being landed, with quite a few smaller fish in amongst them, casting Blades, Soft Plastics and Jackalls, as well as trolling hard bodies between 15 and 20 feet have proven to be the most successful methods. There are a few legal Bass starting to come out of Bjelke Peterson, trolling hard bodies around Bass Point and the banks opposite have been the most successful. Somerset has still produced reasonable 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 and Bjelke Peterson have both produced pretty good numbers of Yellowbelly, the majority of fish are being caught on bait, however, casting Jackalls and Spinnerbaits, and trolling hard bodies is producing quite a few fish as well. The Macintyre River at Goondiwindi has again fished extremely well for Yellowbelly this week, targeting the fish with Shrimp and frozen Saltwater Yabbies has produced the most numbers, however trolled lures have also produced good numbers as well. Fishing has improved a little at Coolmunda this week, with quite a few quality 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. Glenlyon has again fished well over the past week, with some nice Cod around the mid 70cm to mid 80cm mark, these have been caught on Spinnerbaits, trolled hard bodies and bait, there are still quite a few undersize Cod being 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 produced good numbers of Yellowfin and Striped Tuna, just out from the Seaway entrance, Spanish Mackerel at Palm Beach, Mermaid Reef and the Gravel Patch, Wahoo at the 57’s and some Jewies on the closer reefs at night. Inshore has seen good numbers of Trevelly and Jewies caught in the Seaway, on both live bait and lures, some nice Jack’s around the bridges in the Tweed River and rock walls in the Nerang River, quality Whiting near the Council Chambers, Flathead at Seagull Lakes in the Tweed, Sand Crabs around Sovereign Island and some good size Muddies in the mouths of the creeks and rivers.

SUNSHINE COAST

The closer reefs have produced Spanish and Spotty Mackerel, also a few Tuna and Wahoo, it’s a bit of hard work, but there has been a few reef fish coming off 9 Mile Reef and North Reef has seen quality Snapper to 4kg landed. Inshore fishing has again improved, with quality Mangrove Jack still on the chew, the best spots have again been Bells Creek, around the bridges in the Maroochy River and using live mullet and lures around snags, in the Noosa River, plenty of Flathead and Bream around the Boardwalk at Caloundra and throughout the Noosa and Maroochy Rivers, there has also been good catches of Whiting around the Power Boat Club, Snub Nose Dart off the beaches and good numbers of Muddies and Prawns towards the mouth of the Noosa River.