FISHING REPORT   – 12-04-2013

Cressbrook Dam was re-opened for water based activities yesterday morning, due to the water level finally dropping below 100mm over the spillway. It won’t take a lot of rain to raise the level and close it again, so keep an eye on the TRC website or the Mullet Gut Marine Facebook page for any updates.

BASS

At Somerset the Bass are quite scattered around Pelican Point, try targeting these fish with Blades, Jackalls, and trolled hard bodies, and you should pick up a few nice fish. There has also been a few Bass caught in around the timber on Blades and Jackalls, casting near the trees and slowly working the lures back to the boat has been the most successful. The Redclaw have been on the move, with large quantities being caught close to the edges, using cat food for bait. Anglers have again had some success at Maroon over the past week with some good quality Bass hitting surface poppers early morning and also ice jigs throughout the day. Much the same at Bjelke Peterson and Boondooma Dams this week, they still haven’t settled, using bait will give anglers a better chance of landing a fish, reaction lures around the timber and the edges would be worth a try as well, and as far as the Redclaw go, they are still out in big numbers in both of these dams, with rockmelon proving to be a popular bait.

GOLDEN PERCH AND COD

Cooby Dam continues to produce good numbers of Yellowbelly, with a variety of baits and lures working well, as far as lures go, trolled hard bodies, ice jigs, blades and Jackalls have been effective, while live worms, shrimp and frozen Saltwater Yabbies have been the pick of the baits. Not a lot has changed at Glenlyon this week, it has again produced stacks of Yellowbelly up to 58cm, trolled lures worked fairly close to the boat has seen the best results, live shrimp have been a good option as well and bigger spinnerbaits and hard bodies picked up some nice Cod, and for the shore based anglers, Silver Perch and Eel-tail Catfish have provided some fun as well. Coolmunda has again produced some quality Yellowbelly, with frozen saltwater yabbies and prawns picking up the majority of the fish, however there were a few fish taken on trolled hard bodies, working the old creek bed. Leslie Dam has again been a bit quiet, with a few Yellowbelly caught, working Jackals and Spinnerbaits around structure, close to the edges and using live Shrimp in the deeper water towards the wall. Connelly dam hasn’t been much better, with reports of a few Golden Perch and the odd Cod getting about, mainly early morning and late afternoon, with bait proving to be the best option.

As for the rivers, the Macintyre at Goondiwindi has been fairly quiet, the Balonne at St.George is still producing some Yellowbelly on bait, the Dumeresq at Texas has seen a lot of smaller Cod and Yellowbelly hitting spinnerbaits and locally, the Condamine River, Gowrie Creek and Oakey Creek have produced plenty of Yellowbelly on both lures and bait.

GOLD COAST AND TWEED

Offshore fishing produced again this week, with heaps of Spanish Mackerel hitting trolled deep diving lures, on the 18 and 24 fathom line, late afternoon has seen plenty of Spotty Mackerel landed at Mermaid Reef and out wider, small Black Marlin and Wahoo have been getting about the 50’s. Inshore fishing has seen plenty of Tailor in the Seaway, around the sand pumping jetty and also in the gutters off Main Beach, Jewies and Flathead around Kalinga Bank, heaps of Whiting on the sand banks at the Pin, plenty of Gar around Crab Island and Seaworld, and the deeper channels of Coomera and Pimpama Rivers have produced good numbers of Mud Crabs.

SUNSHINE COAST

Offshore fishing has again produced this week, with plenty of Sweetlip, Squire, Mangrove Jack and Trout caught on the closer reefs, while heading out to the wider reefs has been productive for Pearl Perch and Cobia. Inshore, most of the estuaries have produced decent numbers of Whiting, Bream and Flathead, but the best spots have been the passage at Caloundra for Whiting, Tailor and Prawns, Golden Trevelly at the Powerboat Club, Bream on soft plastics in the Pelican Waters canals, while the Noosa River is producing big Whiting on surface lures at the turn of the tide.