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Wake to winter glory
  |  First Published: June 2014



It's time to get ready for winter and as we live in paradise that really isn't such a big ask is it? In fact, I can't remember the last time I wore a pair of long pants to work during the day, and even on the water in Bundaberg you have to strip of any warm layers you have on by 8am anyway. So now we have established we really live in a great part of the world what can we expect this month?

The Burnett River has been really firing up with some great king threadfin salmon, mangrove jack and even some barramundi being caught despite the dropping water temp. The deeper holes in the river have been producing the goods and the keen sports fisher have been catching fish on blades, soft vibes and soft plastics. The technique can vary depending on the tide and depth but the general rule is get your offering if front of the fish and jig it, it really is that simple. Of course the variables are making sure you are where the fish are and you are keeping your lure right in front of them so when they do bite it's your lure they eat.

If you have found the fish and you’re confident your lure has been in their face and it's still not being eaten try different colours and different types of lures until you get some interest.

The famous Burnett River bream run should start this month and we will have the mad keen night bream anglers out chasing the big bream the river is famous for. Last year I caught some cracker specimens on small blades working around the north wall and would expect the June full moon should see some big schools moving along the wall.

Baffle Creek

The Baffle has seen some good fishing of late but as the water temperature has been dropping the fishing has been slowing. I would expect it won't be long before the flathead and grunter move in numbers, which should be this month.

The mangrove jack will slow down but they will still be around for those still keen to chase a few, try the lower reaches closer to the mouth as they will school up this time of year. The grunter have been around all year but the cooler water can bring some of the bigger specimens out to play; fresh live yabbies and prawns are the best bait.

If you’re keen to try soft plastics, I have caught a fair few grunter on brown Gulp minnows fished slowly just like a bait.

There will also be a few pelagic species moving into and around the mouth at high tide so with the calmer weather there's a great chance for small boats to get amongst a few mackerel, tuna, trevally and queenfish. Trolling lures is a great way to find fish and make sure you keep an eye out for diving birds, as they will be feeding on baitfish that has been forced to the surface by feeding fish.

If you find birds diving and fish splashing around feeding on the baitfish, this is when a steel bait profile lure is a must. Cast your lure into the feeding fish let it sink for a few seconds and then wind as fast as you can. The fish will chase it down, so the faster the better.

If you’re lucky enough to come across a feeding queenfish then surface poppers are the go, my favourite is the Halco Rooster popper in gold. You just cast these poppers as far as you can around the feeding fish then wind a bit of line back and then drive the rod down pulling the lure through the water creating a big splash; this is what attracts the fish.

Offshore

There has been a few good days of late and the fishing offshore has been pretty good. I even managed a trip out with Michael Guest recently filming for his TV show Reel Action. We headed out to the Five Degree patch and managed to troll up bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, mac tuna and some big Spanish mackerel.

We also jigged a few up on some of the micro jigging gear that was new to me but really worked a treat. I will be doing some more micro jigging in the future so when I have a bit better handle on it I'll let you know more.

We finished the session off with three triple hook ups on surface lures late in the afternoon on tuna and mackerel which should come up a treat on camera. So look out for his show Reel Action because there certainly will be some action to watch!

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