Fishing Report 31-03-2016

FISHING REPORT   –   31-03-2016

EASTER WRAP UP
Plenty of people got out to our local impoundments for a bit of camping and fishing over the long weekend. There were mixed reports, with people fishing waterways that they knew, having success, while anyone who went somewhere they weren’t familiar with, did it a bit tough.

BASS
Cressbrook Dam saw a few Bass caught over the weekend, even though they’re getting harder to catch. Working blades through the schooled fish just out from the campgrounds worked well, there’s still quite a few smaller fish with the odd bigger one in amongst them and the Eagles Nest area saw a couple landed as well. Boondooma Dam continues to produce reasonable numbers of Bass, the fish are suspended at 20ft, in 25-60ft of water, throughout the dam; working SMAKO’s or trolling spinnerbaits through these fish has been effective and working spinnerbaits around the timber in the Stuart arm has also worked quite well. Not huge numbers landed at Bjelke Peterson this week, casting Blades and soft plastics to the drop-offs, around the points, at the bottom end of the dam has worked well, while working lures or using live shrimp around the timber has been good also and Moogerah Dam was also very busy with boating traffic, which made it pretty tough, however, there were a few Bass landed towards the back of the dam, in the timber, while Blades and spinnerbaits were the pick of the lures. There was also the odd Bass taken on live shrimp, fished close to the weed banks.

YELLOWBELLY AND COD
A late afternoon/early evening fish has been the go at Cooby Dam, trolling hard bodies along the steeper weed edges has worked well for Yellowbelly and there was a 107cm Cod taken on a spinnerbait, which was released after a quick photo. Boondooma Dam also produced good numbers of quality Yellowbelly, the timbered area of the Boyne arm was the spot to be, with bait and spinnerbaits accounting for the majority of the fish. While at Bjelke Peterson, using bait, or trolling spinnerbaits through the timber has proven successful. Coolmunda Dam fished a little better this week, with a few Yellowbelly taking frozen saltwater yabbies and brighter coloured spinnerbaits, there was also a couple of Cod caught, trolling hard bodies over the old creek bed, just out from the boat ramp. Leslie Dam saw a slight improvement over the Easter break, with some quality Yellowbelly taken on shrimp and frozen saltwater yabbies towards the southern end of the main basin. The deeper parts of the main basin saw the fish holding tight to the bottom and these fish fell for soft vibes, blades and soft plastics rigged with a beetle spin. Glenlyon saw an increase in the numbers of Yellowbelly and Silver Perch taking live shrimp and worms, there was also plenty of Cod taking spinnerbaits. As for the rivers, the Macintyre at Goondiwindi saw low numbers of Yellowbelly and the odd smaller Murray Cod taken on frozen saltwater yabbies, spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits, the Dumeresq at Texas has seen a few Yellowbelly taking bait, while a few Cod have been hitting surface lures and the Condamine saw a few Yellowbelly and Cod taken on both lures and bait, with areas downstream of Tummaville proving to be more productive.

COASTAL FISHING

The Gold Coast has seen plenty of Wahoo taking trolled lures on the 24’s and 36’s, live bait has also accounted for some smaller Black Marlin on the 36’s and Trag Jew have been prominent on the 18’s and 24’s at night. The north wall of the Seaway is producing Mulloway, Kingies and Flathead, on the tide changes; Jewies and Tailor in the deeper holes inside the Pin bar and the southern Broadwater has seen plenty of Sand Crabs getting about. While at the Sunshine Coast, Spanish and Spotty Mackerel are still about, but the numbers are starting to decline, Long Tail and Mac Tuna are hitting metal slugs on Curramundi and 5 Mile Reefs, Sunshine and North Reefs have produced a mixed bag of reef fish, while inshore fishing at Caloundra has seen a few Flathead and Bream taken off the Boardwalk at the top of the tide, Golden Trevally near the Power Boat Club, Trevally and Tailor off Moffat Beach, and the Noosa River has produced quality Trevally, Jacks and Flathead at the river mouth and plenty of Whiting are taking  saltwater yabbies and surface poppers throughout the river.