FISHING REPORT   – 21-03-2013

GOONDIWINDI TEAM YELLOWBELLY CHALLENGE

If you’re looking for something to do over the Easter long weekend, head to Goondiwindi for the Weir to Weir Fishing Clubs, Team Yellowbelly Challenge, which will be run on the 3oth and 31^st of March. Registration fees for the event are; Teams of 3 Anglers $50, Family (2 Adults, 2 Children) $40, Adults $20, Juniors $5, proceeds from the weekend will go towards fish restocking. There will be cash prizes and goods and loads of give-aways, for more information, contact John on 0428 714 117.

Cooby Dam has again produced good numbers of Golden Perch around the edges for land based and boating anglers. Live worms and frozen Saltwater Yabbies have worked the best for the bait anglers, as for the lure anglers, casting Jackalls and smaller Spinnerbaits, tight to the edges, has enticed a few decent fish out as well. Cressbrook Dam remains closed to boating due to the volume of water flowing over the spillway, at the time of writing this report; there was 180mm of water going over it, council is unsure as to when it will open, as the natural springs are feeding as much water into it, as there is spilling out of it. The dam is open to camping and the picnic areas are open as well, shore based fishing is allowed also. Somerset Dam remains a little dirty, but has produced a few smaller Bass and the odd Golden Perch, mainly around the timber at Kirkleigh, reaction lures, like the TN60 Jackall and spinnerbaits have been effective. Anglers have again had some success at Maroon over the past week with some good quality Bass being landed on blades and surface poppers. Bjelke Peterson and Boondooma Dams haven’t really settled yet, and are still fairly quiet, using bait in the dirtier water will give anglers a better chance of landing a fish, while the Redclaw are still out in big numbers.

Glenlyon has again produced stacks of Golden Perch, they have moved away from the shallows into a little bit deeper water, where trolled lures, worked fairly close to the boat has seen the best results. There’s also quite a lot of smaller Cod about, live shrimp on an unweighted hook, fishing in about 15 feet of water has worked well. Coolmunda has seen plenty of Golden Perch landed throughout the dam, using bait, Spinnerbaits are still picking up some decent fish around the timber.

Very similar to last week at Leslie Dam, with reports of some good catches of Golden Perch and Murray Cod.  Bait anglers are seeing the best results, with shrimps being the favourite bait to use.  There were some good fish caught in the main basin as well as up towards the "Black Boys". TN60 Jackalls and Spinnerbaits are working well when used around the structure. There are still a few fish being landed in the deeper water on Mask Vibes, while at Connelly, Cod have been hitting surface lures early morning and late afternoon.

As for the rivers, our local waterways are still a bit unsettled at the moment, but they are still fishing alright. The Ballone River at St.George is still fishing well, with good size Golden Perch and some Cod around the 60cm mark taking a variety of baits. Things are still a bit slow on the Macintyre, but a few Golden Perch have been caught off the banks, using bait, this should improve as we get closer to the Easter break and the Dumeresq River at Texas has fished extremely well for Golden Perch and Eel-Tailed Catfish, up and downstream, within the town reaches.

COASTAL FISHING

Offshore fishing is still patchy, due to the poor conditions, there has been the odd GT taken on Mermaid Reef on the Gold Coast, while at the Sunshine Coast, 12 Mile Reef has produced a few Pearl Perch, Sweetlip and Squire.  Inshore has seen Flathead and Bream around the headlands in the Tweed River and also around the Pin, a few Tailor have been caught off Cabarita, while the mouth of the Tweed and the Seaway have produced quite a few Mulloway, Trevelly and also the odd small Snapper The Boardwalk at Caloundra has been fishing well for Bream and a few Queenfish, Whiting to the south of Bells Creek, Kawana lake is still fishing well for Jacks and Bream on small minnows and surface poppers, while up at Noosa, on the run in tide, the river mouth has produced Tailor, Trevelly and Queenfish on live bait and the upper reaches have seen the odd Jack and Flathead getting about.