Fishing Report 24-09-15

FISHING REPORT   – 24-09-2015

BASS

Chris Hudynski with a healthy
Wivenhoe Yellowbelly.

Cressbrook Dam produced low numbers this past week, but there were some good quality fish landed. Working soft plastics through suspended fish in 40ft of water produced the best results. Somerset Dam saw reasonable numbers of Bass caught this week, most of the fish landed were around the 40cm mark, with soft plastics, tailspinners and ice jigs working the best and Pelican Point through to Kirkleigh has been the best area to target. Boondooma has again seen some decent Bass getting about throughout the dam, mask vibes, tailspinners and soft plastics are working well on the flats, trolled hard bodies are accounting for a few through the Stuart and Boyne arms and using spinnerbaits around the timbered parts has been effective as well and Bjelke Peterson has really fired this week as well, targeting the gently sloping banks throughout the dam, with soft plastics, TN60 Jackalls and compact spinnerbaits has produced plenty of fish. Moogerah Dam is currently closed to all water based activities, due to water quality issues, so if you were thinking of heading there, you will have to look at other options.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD

Cooby Dam has produced some good quality Yellowbelly this week, the fish are hanging just out from the weed edges and trolling shallow diving hard bodies or casting blades in tight to the weed has been effective, while frozen saltwater yabbies and jigged blades have been effective in the deeper parts of the dam. Glenlyon has picked up a bit this week, with a few Cod up to 80cm hitting bigger spinnerbaits and trolled hard bodies, while live shrimp and blades are working the best on the Yellowbelly. Working the bottom end of Coolmunda has been good this week, particularly around the timber, Jackalls, Spinnerbaits and soft vibes have worked well for both Cod and Yellowbelly. Leslie Dam has been steady, although the eastern banks have produced some nice Silver Perch and Eel-tailed Catfish on worms, while frozen saltwater yabbies and trolled hard bodies have picked up the odd Yellowbelly in the main basin. As for the rivers, the Macintyre River has produced good numbers of Yellowbelly on spinnerbaits, hard bodies and bait, Yellowbelly have been active in the Dumeresq River, downstream of Texas, with live shrimp and frozen saltwater yabbies working the best and the Condamine River is fishing well for Yellowbelly, with most of the weirs and popular holes, throughout the system proving to be quite productive.

COASTAL FISHING

Offshore fishing at the Gold Coast this past week has seen Snapper and Amberjack on the 18’s and 24’s, a few Kingies on the 36’s and out wider, trolling skirted lures has worked well for Yellowfin Tuna. Inshore fishing has seen Bream and Jewies in the Seaway and good quality Flathead have been prominent around Crab Island, Tipplers Passage and just inside the Pin Bar. At the Sunny Coast, offshore fishing has seen Snapper on 8 Mile Reef, and there’s also been the odd Mackerel getting about, while inshore fishing has seen plenty of Whiting in the lower parts of the Maroochy River, Bream and Trevally at the mouth of Bells Creek, Flathead throughout the passage on live baits; and in the Noosa River, the upper reaches are producing good numbers of smaller Mangrove Jack, while Trevally and Flathead, have been taking live bait in Woods Bay, on the incoming tide.

FRASER ISLAND

Fraser has continued to produce good numbers of Tailor, Dart, Whiting and Flathead along the eastern beaches.

FISHING REPORT   – 10-09-2015

CHANGE TO OPENING HOURS FOR TOOWOOMBA DAMS

A good example of a quality Somerset Bass. These bigger
fish generally come out to play in the early stages of spring.

I forgot to mention this last week, so for those of you who don’t already know, our local Toowoomba dams have a change to their opening hours from 1^st September to 30^th April. The hours at Cooby Dam are; Loveday Cove from 7am to 8 pm, the Dam Wall Picnic Area is open 7am to 7.30pm and Cressbrook Dam is open from 6am to 8.00pm, water based activities are not permitted on the dams outside of these times. For more information regarding the dams and all other recreational facilities go to the TRC website, which is; www.toowoombarc.qld.gov.au

BASS

Bass fishing has been pretty good again this week, with Cressbrook Dam producing some decent fish; looking in the usual haunts, such as The Eagles Nest, out from the boat ramp, Deer Island and the points in the Bull creek arm are all good options, while soft plastics, blades and live shrimp have been effective. Somerset has produced some quality fish this week, with Pelican Point through to Kirkleigh being the best area of the dam to target, soft plastics, tailspinners and blades have all worked well, but trolling crank baits tight to the bottom picked up the better quality fish. It was a bit tougher at Boondooma this week, but for those that know their way around the dam, picked up some quality fish up to 50cm; plastics, blades and trolled hard bodies worked well, while the Stuart arm, from the Junction through to the timber has been a fairly productive area. Bjelke Peterson ramped up this week, with plenty of Bass hitting blades and hard bodies, worked in 15-20ft of water throughout the dam and Moogerah has been a little slow, with most of the fish hanging around the timber,  soft plastics and live shrimp have accounted for the majority of these fish.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD

Cooby Dam has produced decent numbers of Yellowbelly, the fish seem to be hanging just out from the weed edges and trolling shallow diving hard bodies or casting spinnerbaits in tight to the weed has been effective, while using bait or jigging blades in the deeper parts has produced a few fish as well. Glenlyon is a bit quiet at the moment, but there have been a few Yellowbelly taken on live shrimp, frozen saltwater yabbies and hard bodies in about 12-15ft of water, Cod have proven to be little bit harder to catch, although this should improve over the coming weeks, providing the weather stays kind to us. The fishing is still good at Coolmunda; if your targeting Yellowbelly, jigging blades and trolling hard bodies in the deeper water has been good, while working Jakall Transams around the timber has picked up the better quality fish and green coloured hard bodies have gone well for Cod. Leslie Dam saw a few Yellowbelly and Silver perch landed on worms, in about 10 foot of water, in front of the Washpool Reserve, there have also been some nice Yellowbelly caught, working the banks with Jackals, while opposite the dam wall in about 30 foot of water, has been a pretty good spot for the bait anglers. As for the rivers, the Macintyre at Goondiwindi has produced good sized Yellowbelly on bait and hard bodies, the Balonne at St.George is fishing well, with brighter coloured lures working the best, and the Condamine River continues to fish well, with most of the weirs and popular holes, throughout the system proving to be quite productive.

COASTAL FISHING

Offshore fishing has been a bit quiet at the Gold Coast, but the36’s and 50’s have produced some quality Pearl Perch, Kingies and Amberjack, while the close artificial reefs have been good for Snapper. Inshore fishing has seen Jew, Tailor and Trevally in the Seaway on the run in tide, good numbers of Flathead on soft plastics and trolled lures throughout the Broadwater and also at the Pin, quality Whiting at the Council Chambers in the Nerang River, Tailor off the beaches and a few Sand Crabs have started to show up in the southern end of the Broadwater. At the Sunny Coast, offshore fishing has produced some big Snapper on North Reef, as well as the Barwon Banks and The Hards when the weather permits a trip, some large schools of longtail tuna are getting about North Reef as well, with some yellowfin amongst them and some Parrot and Pearlies are coming from the reefs Northeast of Double Island point. Inshore fishing has seen plenty of big Whiting around the Power Boat Club, quality Flathead on soft plastics at the bar entrance, small Trevally in the Pelican Waters canals, some decent Bass in the upper reaches of the Mooloolah River; and in the Noosa River, Tailor are hitting surface poppers in Woods Bay, big Flathead and Whiting throughout, some nice Jewies to 80cm in the deeper holes and the upper reaches have seen some nice Mangrove Jack getting about.

FRASER ISLAND

Good numbers of Tailor, Whiting and Dart getting about the exposed beaches, with some good quality Tailor starting to show up.

FISHING REPORT   – 03-09-2015

BASS

A bit of an improvement on the Bass scene this week, Cressbrook Dam has produced some fish out from the boat ramp, there’s also some schools showing up from there through to the Eagles Nest, live shrimp, soft plastics, soft vibes and tailspinners have worked the best. A few more fish at Somerset as well, with Queen Street and Kirkleigh being the best places to target, soft plastics, tailspinners and soft vibes have all worked well, while live shrimp and trolling crank baits have been better options. Boondooma has again seen good numbers of Bass taken on ice jigs, soft vibes and tailspinners around Pelican Point and The Junction, trolled hard bodies have also picked up a few through the narrows. Trolling deep diving lures in the old creek beds has been effective at Bjelke Peterson and Moogerah Dam has again produced a few Bass on mask vibes and tailspinners, looking in 30 – 35ft of water, just out from the timber has been a good option.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD

Cooby Dam has seen a few Yellowbelly taking frozen saltwater yabbies and blades in about 30ft of water, trolling smaller lures tight to the weed edges has picked up a few as well. Glenlyon has seen a few Cod between 60 and 70cm, taken on trolled and cast hard bodies, looking around structure will give the best results. At Leslie Dam, anglers managed to land some nice Yellowbelly on both lures and bait, the Black Boys produced good numbers of fish on bait, while the lure anglers also managed to land a few up past the Black Boys while casting Jackalls at the structure. Coolmunda has seen blades and soft vibes working well for Yellowbelly and there’s plenty of Cod hitting trolled hard bodies throughout the dam. Boondooma Dam has again produced good sized Yellowbelly on trolled hard bodies through the narrows and Bjelke Peterson has also produced good quality Yellowbelly again, working TN60 Jackalls around Bass Point has worked well, while spinnerbaits and hard bodies have picked up a few around the timber.  As for the rivers, the Goondiwindi area has been steady, with only low numbers of Yellowbelly taking frozen saltwater yabbies, the Balonne River at St.George has seen some decent size Yellowbelly hitting green and yellow hard bodies and the Condamine River around the Warwick area fished reasonably well for Yellowbelly on crank baits and surface lures produced a couple of Cod.

COASTAL FISHING

Offshore fishing has seen a few Snapper, Cobia and Trag Jew taken on the 18’s and 24’s and out wider, Kingfish, Amberjack and Snapper have been caught on the 50’s, while inshore has seen the sand pumping jetty fishing well for Trevally and Tailor on the incoming tide, smaller Kingies and school Jew in the Seaway on the morning tide change, Bream around the bridges in the canals, Flathead at the Aldershots and Kalinga Bank and a few Sand Crabs are showing up around Crab Island. At the Sunny Coast, offshore fishing has seen most reefs holding mixed reef fish and Snapper up to 8kg; Jigs, soft plastics and baits, like pilchards and live yakka’s fished on the bottom have worked well. There’s also been a few Yellowfin and Long Tail Tuna getting about. While inshore fishing has seen plenty of Flathead throughout the Passage and the Maroochy River, Bream and Whiting at Military Jetty, Trevally are hitting surface lures around structure in most of the canals and the Noosa River has produced a few Jacks on live bait, under the bridges at night and the river mouth has been firing for Flathead and Trevally, on the incoming tide.

FRASER ISLAND

Still getting good reports of Tailor and Dart along the eastern beaches, with the northern part of the island producing slightly better quality fish.