FISHING REPORT   – 12-07-2013

BASS

Not a lot has changed this week, as far as the Bass fishing goes, again a few quality fish have been landed at Cressbrook, look for schooled fish throughout the dam and target them with soft plastics, soft vibes, ice jigs and blades, it’s also worth a try around the edges, particularly early morning and late afternoon, with soft plastics and crank baits being your best option in these areas. A few schools of fish still showing up at Somerset Dam, Pelican Point, Eagles Nest, Queen Street and the start of the timber at Kirkleigh,  vertically worked blades and Ice Jigs are picking up a few fish. A carbon copy of last week at Boondooma, still the odd bass being caught casting blades to edges and jigging blades off the bottom in top end of the Stuart and Boyne arms. Still a few fish at Maroon this week, they have mainly been around the edges and weed pockets, with soft plastics and small suspending minnows proving to be the most effective and Moogerah Dam is clearing up, which has seen some smaller Bass caught off the banks and a few smaller schools showing up in about 30 feet of water.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD

Much the same at Cooby Dam this week, it is still producing decent numbers of Yellowbelly, there are a few smaller fish starting to show up, so remember, 30cm is the minimum length for these fish, vertically jigging or hopping blades has still  been effective, while live shrimp and frozen saltwater yabbies have been the pick of the baits. Glenlyon has again seen some decent numbers of Yellowbelly, in 15-40ft of water taking live shrimp, but the Cod fishing has picked up, with a few 60-70cm fish taking spinnerbaits. Similar to last week at Coolmunda, it is still producing a few Yellowbelly on bait throughout the dam, and around the timbered area of the dam, soft vibes and blades have produced a few fish as well. In the Warwick area this week, Leslie Dam has been a bit quiet; while Connelly has produced a few Yellowbelly on frozen saltwater yabbies. Much the same at Boondooma Dam this week as well, there has been a few Yellowbelly and Silver Perch taken on live shrimp, Jackals and Spinnerbaits in the timbered areas of both arms of the dam. As for the rivers, the Macintyre at Goondiwindi is still improving as the water settles, with a few Yellowbelly and Cod taking live Yabbies, mornings seem to be the best time to go, the Balonne River at St.George continues to produce good numbers of Yellowbelly on bait, the Dumeresq River has fished well for good quality Yellowbelly up to 60cm and Cod to 20lb, spinnerbaits and hard bodies have been popular and as the Condamine River continues to clear up, the fishing continue to pick up in most spots, good numbers of Yellowbelly and some nice Cod have been actively taking a range of baits, as well as Spinnerbaits and hard bodies.

GOLD COAST AND TWEED

A bit of an improvement as far as offshore fishing goes, some reasonable Snapper taking unweighted pilchards on the 18’s and 24’s, also some bigger Snapper, Pearl Perch, Cobia and Kingies, wider on the 36’s. Inshore fishing has seen a few Tailor and Jewies on the Tweed Coast beaches and plenty of Bream around any sort of structure throughout the Tweed River. The Gold Coast Seaway has again seen plenty of Mulloway and Trevelly taken on the run in tide, the Broadwater has also produced good numbers of Gar off the weed beds, the northern end of Crab Island, The Aldershots and Kalinga Bank have seen a few Flathead getting about and late afternoon has been productive for Mulloway and Tailor off the Pumping Jetty.

SUNSHINE COAST

A bit more to report for offshore fishing this week, the outer edges of Murphy’s Reef and down around Caloundra 12 Mile and Caloundra wide produced a mixed bag of Snapper, Pearl Perch, Mulloway and Parrot, while the closer reefs are the go, if you like chasing smaller Squire on soft plastics, using light gear. The beaches have seen plenty of Tailor, Dart, Bream and Tarwhine. Bream and Flathead throughout the passage and off the Boardwalk at Caloundra, the Maroochy River has also fished well for Bream, Flathead and a few Jewies, the Noosa River has fished well for Mulloway and Trevelly along the ski run and in Woods Bay and fishing around the bridges and pylons has produced a few decent Mangrove Jack.