FISHING REPORT   – 29-05-2014

First of all, I would like to congratulate all the local anglers who participated in the BASS Australia Nation tournament, held at Boondooma Dam last weekend and in particular Brad Clark for winning the event, also Mark Reinbott for placing third in the Pro division and Arthur Allen for taking out third place in the Co-Angler division. Well done guys!!

BASS

Cressbrook is only producing low numbers of Bass at the moment, try around Deer Island and the main points in the Bull Creek and Cressbrook Creek arms, soft plastics and blades will give you the best chance of landing a fish, while live shrimp have produced good numbers for the bait anglers. Quite a lot of fish showing up at Somerset, but getting them to bite has been hard work, the flats at Pelican Point, “The Hump” and the start of the timber at Kirkleigh have been the best spots to target, with slow rolled soft plastics, blades and live shrimp picking up a few fish. Plenty of schooled fish throughout Boondooma Dam, targeting them with blades, tail spinners and soft plastics has given the most success and Moogerah has seen good numbers of Bass landed throughout the dam, using soft plastics, blades and tail spinners, in 25-30ft of water has provided the best results.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD

Fishing around the weed edges has been good at Cooby, with frozen saltwater yabbies and hard bodies landing a few, the numbers have dropped off, but the quality has improved, with a lot of the fish hitting the 40-45cm mark. The fishing is still fairly good at Glenlyon, it has again produced a few Yellowbelly in 20-25ft of water, live shrimp and worms have landed the most fish, while bigger spinnerbaits and Jackals have produced some nice Cod around the timber. Coolmunda Dam has been fishing well for Yellowbelly this week, using bait on the drop-offs to the old creek beds has produced the most fish, there has also been a few smaller Cod taken on trolled hard body lures. Leslie Dam has seen a few Yellowbelly taken on live worms and frozen saltwater yabbies around the edges, while hopping Mask Vibes off the drop-offs, in the main basin has worked well also. Boondooma produced a few fish on blades, ice jigs and live bait, with the deeper parts around the junction and into the Stuart arm proving to be the best spots. As for the rivers, the Macintyre at Goondiwindi has improved this past week, with reasonable numbers of Yellowbelly taken on live worms, while downstream has seen Cod up to 1.2m hitting surface lures and Cecil Plains and Yarramalong Weirs have fished well for Yellowbelly and Cod, with spinnerbaits and Jackals producing the most fish.

GOLD COAST AND TWEED

Offshore fishing has been good this week with plenty of Trag Jew and good numbers of small Snapper on the inner reefs and there’s still a few Kingies and Spanish Mackerel on the 24’s. Inshore fishing has seen the Southport Seaway producing plenty of School Jew and Big Eye Trevally along the north wall, on the incoming tide, plenty of Flathead throughout the system on plastics and the Pin has produced some quality Mulloway.

SUNSHINE COAST

Offshore fishing has been pretty good again; Spotty and Spanish mackerel are prominent at the moment, with trolling lures and drifting pilchards working well,some pretty good catches of Snapper in closer, while the wider reefs have produced Pearl Perch, Cobia and the odd Wahoo. Inshore, the Maroochy River has produced Bream and Trevelly around most of the bridges, Caloundra is fishing well for Bream and Whiting at Military Jetty, Bream and Gar off the Boardwalk, Flathead inside the bar entrance, while at Noosa, good numbers of Mulloway on soft plastics, just inside the river mouth, GT’s and Queenfish, early morning on surface lures and a few Jacks have been taken on live mullet at night.

FISHING REPORT   – 22-05-2014

BASS

Cressbrook is only producing low numbers of Bass at the moment, try around the points and drop-offs throughout the dam, soft plastics, soft vibes and blades will give you the best chance of landing a fish, while live shrimp would be your best bet as far as bait goes. The fish are a bit scattered at Somerset, Pelican Point, Queen Street and the start of the timber at Kirkleigh have been the best spots to target, with slow rolled soft plastics and blades picking up a few fish. At Boondooma Dam, try the edges for bass, using soft plastic, mask vibes and spinnerbaits, and look in the deeper water for schooled fish, these are best targeted with plastics and ice jigs, Bjelke Peterson dam has produced some small Bass, off the edges, casting ¼ oz Blades and Moogerah has seen the Bass starting to school up in the main basin, working smaller blades, close to the bottom has worked well on those fish.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD

Cooby Dam has seen a few Yellowbelly taken on ice jigs, blades, live shrimp and frozen saltwater yabbies throughout the dam and shore based fishing has produced a few fish as well. The fishing is still fairly good at Glenlyon, it has again produced a few Yellowbelly in the deeper parts, around the 35-40cm mark, with frozen saltwater yabbies, live shrimp and worms landing the most fish, while bigger spinnerbaits and Jackals have produced some nice Cod around 60 to 70cm, with a couple of fish nudging the metre mark. Coolmunda Dam has been fishing well for Yellowbelly this week, using bait in the deeper parts of the dam has produced the most fish, there has been a few smaller Cod landed as well, bait has been the best option, with live shrimp, frozen saltwater yabbies and cray tails working the best. In the Warwick area the fishing is a little slow at Leslie Dam, with a few Yellowbelly taken on live shrimp and frozen saltwater yabbies around the rock wall, and TN60 Jackalls have taken a few Cod around the 80cm mark, Bjelke Peterson has produced some quality Yellowbelly, around Bass Point, on spinnerbaits and blades, Boondooma produced a few fish on blades, ice jigs and live bait, with the deeper parts around the junction and into the Stuart arm proving to be the best spots. As for the rivers, the Macintyre at Goondiwindi is still a bit quiet, although there has been the odd Yellowbelly taken on frozen saltwater yabbies and spinnerbaits, good numbers of smaller Cod are taking bait and Spinnerbaits at Bonshaw Weir and Cecil Plains and Yarramalong Weirs have fished well for Yellowbelly and Cod, with spinnerbaits and Jackals producing the most fish.

GOLD COAST AND TWEED

Offshore fishing has been good this week with good numbers of Kingies and Amberjack providing plenty of action on the N.E 50’s, Snapper and quality Red Emperor on the 24’s and the shelf has produced a few Blue Marlin. Inshore fishing has seen the Southport Seaway producing Mulloway on live bait at night, and also Kingies and Trevelly on the run in tide, good quality Bream in the deeper holes, Flathead on plastics around the Pin and Kalinga Bank and plenty of Gar hanging around the weed beds near Seaworld and Crab Island.

SUNSHINE COAST

Offshore fishing has been pretty good again; with most reefs fishing well for Spotty Mackerel, Coral Trout, Sweetlip and Snapper. Inshore, the Maroochy River has produced Bream and Trevelly around most of the bridges, the passage at Caloundra is fishing well for Whiting and Mulloway, a few Flathead taking plastics on the sand banks opposite the Power Boat Club, good numbers of Queenfish at the mouth of the Noosa River, a few Tailor starting to show up off the beaches and the Pelican Waters canals have seen plenty of Bream holding around any sort of structure.

FISHING REPORT   – 15-05-2014

BASS

Still a few quality Bass about Cressbrook Dam at the moment, with the biggest for the week, hitting the magic 50cm mark, targeting the fish with Blades and soft plastics, working the points in the main basin, as well as parts of the Bull Creek arm of the dam, has worked well, live shrimp have also worked well in the same areas. At Boondooma Dam, after the cold snap, the fish have taken a bit of time to settle, but now the fishing has really picked up and the winter bass action has started, fishing Pelican Point has seen plenty of fish landed and don’t be scared to fish the deeper water with spinnerbaits or vibes, as this has worked quite well also. The fishing is still reasonable at Bjelke Peterson, although the Bass have gotten a bit harder to catch, there has been a few smaller fish hitting blades at Bass Point, and it’s also worth trying soft plastics, soft vibes and trolled hard bodies through the deeper parts of the main basin. Somerset has seen a few Bass landed on blades, soft vibes and soft plastics in 15 to 30 foot of water around the Pelican Point area, and the timbered area at Kirkleigh is worth a look, with blades and plastics picking up a few fish.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD.

Cooby Dam has again produced a few Yellowbelly, frozen Saltwater Yabbies and live Shrimp have landed the most fish, while 30-40ft of water is still a good depth to work in. In Boondooma Dam, Big yellowbelly are being caught on a regular basis, the main basin and the Stuart and Boyne arms have been the pick of the spots, while live Shrimp have proven to be the best bait and trolled deep diving hard bodies have worked best for the lure anglers. Bjelke Peterson has seen good size Yellowbelly taking blades and trolled hard bodies, working the old creek beds and rocky points in the main basin has been good, while it’s also worth a look around Treasure Island. Glenlyon Dam has again seen good numbers of Yellowbelly, up to 5lb, mainly taking bait, while trolling deep diving hard bodies in the deeper water or casting Jackalls and spinnerbaits around structure has picked up a few Cod and the odd Yellowbelly. Leslie Dam has picked up a bit this past week, casting TN60 Jackalls, or trolling shallow hard bodies around the edges has produced some good quality Yellowbelly up to 50cm, there’s also been a few Cod taken on hard bodies, just out from the buoy line. As for the rivers, the Dumeresq at Texas has seen a few Yellowbelly and Silver Perch taken on frozen saltwater yabbies and live worms and the Condamine has again produced some decent catches, between Pratten and Warwick, and also around Cecil Plains, with brighter coloured Jackalls and Spinnerbaits landing the most fish.

COASTAL FISHING

Offshore fishing at the Gold Coast has continued to produce Spanish Mackerel on the 24’s, trolled lures have produced the most fish, Pearl Perch on the 50’s and a few Snapper and Cobia on the 18’s. Inshore fishing has seen quite a few Jewies and Kingies, along the north wall of the Seaway; the sand bars are holding good numbers of Whiting and Gar, Flathead up to 75cm at the Pin and the Broadwater is producing good numbers of Sand Crabs. While at the Sunshine Coast, Spanish and Spotty Mackerel are still about in good numbers on  the wider reefs, and the closer reefs have produced reasonable numbers of Snapper, while inshore fishing at Caloundra has seen good quality Bream around the Boardwalk at night, quality Whiting on the sand banks, near the Powerboat Club, Bream and Trevally in the Maroochy River, and the Noosa River has produced good numbers of Bream and Flathead, on live bait and plastics, and a few Jacks have been taken on live bait in the upper reaches.

 

FISHING REPORT   – 08-05-2014

The windy conditions last weekend made for some fairly tough fishing in most areas, however a couple of spots still produced reasonable numbers and as the week has progressed, the fishing has improved slightly in most areas.

BASS

Still a few quality Bass about Cressbrook Dam at the moment, targeting the fish with Blades and soft plastics, working the points in the main basin and over towards Deer Island, as well as parts of the Bull Creek arm of the dam, has worked well, it’s also worth a try with live shrimp and frozen prawns, in the same areas. At Boondooma Dam, Leisegang’s, Pelican point, and the Stuart arm are producing quality Bass on soft plastics, blades, soft vibes and tail spinners. The fishing is still reasonable at Bjelke Peterson, casting blades and soft plastics to the edges and working them close to the bottom has produced a few fish and trolling hard bodies around the points has been productive as well. Somerset has seen a few Bass landed on blades, soft vibes and soft plastics in 15 to 30 foot of water around the Pelican Point area, and the timbered area has produced fish on live shrimp.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD.

Cooby Dam has again produced a few Yellowbelly, blades, frozen Saltwater Yabbies and live Shrimp have landed the most fish, while 30-40ft of water is still a good depth to work in. In Boondooma Dam, the Yellowbelly have been active throughout the main basin, as well as the drop-offs and deeper holes, live Shrimp have proven to be the best bait. Glenlyon Dam has seen good numbers of Yellowbelly, up to 5lb, taking live shrimp. There are still quite a few shrimp around the edges at the moment, so if you put a few traps in, you should be able to pick up a bit of bait and there has been a few Cod between 60 and 70cm taking spinnerbaits. Coolmunda Dam produced a few Yellowbelly on live shrimp and live worms, there’s stacks of Silver Perch about, but the Cod have been a bit quiet. Leslie Dam has been fairly quiet, mainly due to the poor weather, particularly last weekend, however, there were a few landed out of boats early on Saturday morning, but the conditions were pretty tough, there was a few fish caught off the bank, with shrimp snaring the majority of those fish. As for the rivers, the Macintyre River at Goondiwindi is still fairly quiet in the town reaches, but if you venture downstream a bit, there has been a few Yellowbelly and Cod landed, with the most success coming on frozen saltwater yabbies and spinnerbaits and the Condamine produced some decent catches, between Pratten and Warwick, with brighter coloured Jackalls and Spinnerbaits landing the most fish.

COASTAL FISHING

Offshore fishing at the Gold Coast has continued to produce Spotty and Spanish Mackerel on the 24’s, trolled lures have produced the most fish, and there have been a few smaller Snapper on the 36’s. Inshore fishing has seen quite a few Jewies and Big Eye Trevally, along the north wall of the Seaway; the sand bars are holding good numbers of Whiting and Gar, Flathead up to 75cm at the Pin and the Broadwater is producing good numbers of Sand Crabs. While at the Sunshine Coast, Spanish and Spotty Mackerel are still about in good numbers on most of the reefs, 12 Mile has produced a few small Tuna, and just beyond the surf line at Noosa has seen a few big Spaniards getting about, while inshore fishing at Caloundra has seen Trevally and Jew at the bar entrance, some good quality Bream around the Boardwalk, quality Whiting at night on the sand banks, near the Powerboat Club, mixed bags of Diamond, Golden and Big Eye Trevally are biting on live bait and plastics throughout the canals, and the Noosa River has again produced good numbers of Whiting and Flathead throughout, on live bait and plastics, and the mouth of the Noosa River has seen Trevally and Tailor hitting surface lures.

 

 

FISHING REPORT   – 01-05-2014

 

BASS

Still a few quality Bass about Cressbrook Dam at the moment, targeting the fish with Blades and soft plastics, working the points in the main basin and over towards Deer Island, as well as parts of the Bull Creek arm of the dam, has worked well. At Boondooma Dam, Pelican point, the junction and the Stuart arm are producing quality Bass on soft plastics, while Jackall’s and 3/8oz blades have been very popular with the fish, working around the points and timbered edges, casting with a very slow retrieve or slow troll has produced the best results. Also this week, Yellow and Brown, yellow and green and silver deep divers are working in 19 - 25ft of water trolling the banks in the Stuart River & the main basin. The fishing is still reasonable at Bjelke Peterson, casting blades and soft plastics to the edges and working them close to the bottom has produced a few fish and trolling hard bodies around the points has been productive as well. Somerset has seen a few Bass landed on soft vibes and soft plastics in 15 to 30 foot of water around the Pelican Point area, and the timbered area has produced fish on live shrimp.

 

YELLOWBELLY AND COD.

Cooby Dam has again produced a few Yellowbelly, with the odd fish getting up around the 50cm mark; there has been a quite a few undersize fish in amongst them, so remember the minimum length for Yellowbelly is 30cm, blades, frozen Saltwater Yabbies and live Shrimp have landed the most fish, while 30-40ft of water is still a good depth. In Boondooma Dam, the Yellowbelly have been biting in the coves throughout the main basin, as well as working the drop-offs and holes, live Shrimp have proven to be the best bait. The Macintyre River at Goondiwindi is still fairly quiet in the town reaches, but if you venture out of town a bit, there has been a few Yellowbelly landed, with the most success coming on bait and smaller hard body lures. Plenty of Yellowbelly and Jewies coming out of the Dumeresq River at Texas at the moment, there’s also been good numbers of Cod about, and working surface lures, early morning and late afternoon, has provided the best results. Glenlyon Dam has seen some nice Yellowbelly landed, mainly in shallow water, around 5 to 10 feet, with the odd Silver Perch and Cod about as well. There were some nice Cod up to 78cm taken last weekend, which were all caught on bait. Very quiet this week at Coolmunda, however the creeks up and downstream of the dam have produced some nice catches of Yellowbelly on bait. And finally to Leslie Dam, still a few Yellowbelly being caught on live shrimp, frozen saltwater yabbies and Spinnerbaits throughout the dam.

COASTAL FISHING

Offshore fishing at the Gold Coast has continued to produce Spanish Mackerel, on trolled lures from the pin to Mermaid Reef, Pearl Perch and Snapper on the northern 36’s and a few Mahi Mahi out wider, on the 50’s. Inshore fishing has seen quite a few Jewies around the pipeline, at the spit; the weed beds throughout the Broadwater are still producing good numbers of Squid and Gar, good size Bream around the rock walls, Flathead at Kalinga Bank and parts of the Broadwater and a few Muddies are getting about the creek mouths. While at the Sunshine Coast, Spanish and Spotty Mackerel are still about in good numbers on most of the reefs, Currumundi Reef has again produced Long Tail and Yellowfin Tuna, as well as a mixed bag of reef fish, while inshore fishing at Caloundra has seen big Flathead at the bar entrance, some good quality Bream starting to show up in the passage, quality Whiting at night on the sand banks, near Military Jetty, Jacks and Trevally are biting on live bait and plastics throughout the canals, and the Noosa River has again produced good numbers of Bream, Whiting and Flathead throughout, with some bigger Flathead around the river mouth, and the river mouth has also seen a few Jewies, Trevally and Tailor getting about.