Fisho’s Weekly Fishing Report – 4th April, 2025 – Fisho's Tackle World

Catching grunter of this quality is fun enough for adults, so you can imagine how much the kids enjoy it.

An End to the Rain is in Sight

Like so many Queenslanders, we are sick of the rain here on the Fraser Coast. It’s been great to finally have a decent wet season, but it can stop now. Particularly after such an unforeseen deluge last weekend that had us cut off from our southern neighbours, just as we were recovering from the dramatic flash flooding only weeks ago.

Looking forward, there is a shining light this Sunday, and that is the sun, that will reappear and herald the beginning of a dryer period for our region. Yes, the odd shower will still be possible next week, but generally speaking, it looks very good. Apart from rigorous winds associated with bands of storms that have bee-lined for Hervey Bay township during the past couple of afternoons, the wind has been quite light lately.

Last night’s light south-westerly tended more southerly early this morning. The breeze will lean more south-easterly throughout the day today and could reach up to 15 knots by nightfall. An early shower Saturday morning might taint what is a pretty good-looking day on the water. Expect no more than 15 knots from the south-south-east, and more likely less.

A bright sunny day Sunday will be most appealing, with barely 10 knots from the south tending south-easterly during the morning. Glass-calm conditions seem likely for Monday, so a long weekend might be on the cards for the bosses out there keen to wet a line. A moderate onshore south-easter is forecast to arrive Tuesday afternoon that will set the scene for the remainder of the week. Expect a few showers riding that breeze, but hopefully nothing like we copped this last week.

A half moon in the early evening sky will herald the first quarter phase this Saturday. This means another few days of neap tides, and another set of highly productive ‘makes’ thereafter. With all the excess floodwater awash in the bay, and our rivers still above normal levels, an escape from the filthy inshore waters will appeal to many folks this week.

Kane has been catching blue salmon as well as flatties from a few different land-based platforms lately.

Dave took his daughter for a run out on the bay and enjoyed her tuna capture just as much as she did.

Fun times for the Black family when they chased the longtails around the bay.

Flooding Took Us by Surprise - Again

The BOM said we were in for some showers and possible rain last weekend. Pffftt – not even close! Try torrential downpours heavy enough to trigger significant localised flooding that affected not just us, but many of our neighbours down the coast and well into the hinterland. Flooding widespread enough to close oodles of roads, major and minor, and see local bridges go under one by one.

The Burrum was the first to get hit. Incredible falls in the upper catchment above Lake Lenthalls had it overflowing Saturday morning, and absolutely roaring metres over the dam wall by lunchtime. This saw the low-level bridge at Burrum Town go under that same day, and it remained underwater for some time thereafter.

The road from Hervey Bay to Maryborough was cut and so too were many local roads. Thankfully, we have apps such as Google Maps and Waze etc these days, so determining travel routes is made much easier. Government sites are way less accommodating and so much harder to navigate, but at least the Disaster dashboard offers some insight by way of its flood cameras.

Our neighbours in Maryborough had a few nervous moments as a major flood warning was declared. Moderate flood levels eventuated that impacted the bridges over the Mary and many folks were isolated. Flood waters have receded again now, but the Mary remains technically in flood, at ‘below minor’ level. There is currently 1.6m of water above the Mary River Barrage, and Tinana Creek is adding to the water level downstream, whilst it remains 1.05m over Teddington Weir.

Watching the radar and the voluminous splash of red that shadowed the Rainbow Beach – Tin Can Bay area Friday and Saturday made us feel lucky we only copped what we did, so little distance to their north. A foot of rain gets away much quicker down their way than it does up here, but they really had some intense moments during the event. Southern Fraser Island, and subsequently much of the rest of the island was smashed by the same rain event, so there’s still plenty of water awash in the little streams over there.

This last round of flooding rains came on the bigger new moon spring tides, so there’s tons of debris mobilised by our streams and scattered right across Hervey Bay. Huge logs and other major hazards have been reported as far out as 20 miles (37 kilometres for those of you that fail to comprehend nautical measurements). Floating hazards will be a real issue offshore, beyond both the Wide Bay Bar and Breaksea Spit, as well as all waters within the bay and our estuaries. Take extra care, and consider limiting your nocturnal boating activities for now.

One added form of debris from this flood event is the significant mats of water hyacinth. Washed from lagoons and pondages in Maryborough most likely, this form of flotsam won’t do any real damage to your boat should you hit it, but gathered ‘mats’ can be a boating nuisance. Should such mats gather at River Heads boat ramp as they in past major flooding events, then launching and retrieval can be restricted, if not denied. No word so far on such an issue, but worth noting all the same perhaps.

Floating hyacinth also blocks the high-speed pick-up on your live bait tank inflows too, if you hit bits of it at speed and it wedges in the intake. So, monitor water flow in your live bait tanks or a nasty surprise awaits you when you reach your destination and your hard-earned livies are all dead from a lack of oxygenated water. Learnt that one the hard way when working on a local charter boat during a similar flooding event many years ago.

A picture in last week’s report depicted the gravel built-up on the Gatakers Bay boat ramp courtesy of the recent flash flooding. The ramp was being cleaned by the regular contractor last Friday apparently, so we assume it is back to its normal readily accessible self.

Lake Lenthalls dam wall at lunchtime last Saturday morning.

Howard was cut off from Torbanlea when the Burrum Town bridge went under last Saturday and stayed under for the weekend.

Lamington Bridge over the Mary River in Maryborough during this latest flood event. The water has receded substantially since.

This was Teddington Weir last Saturday. There is still a metre of water over-topping it at present.

How Does All This Floodwater Affect the Fishing?

The immediate after-effect of such a major flooding event is detrimental to our fishing efforts close inshore, but in the longer term it is a major boost. The next week will be particularly challenging for many inshore fisheries, but give it another week or so and you can all reap the rewards this flooding creates. Crabbers and prawners will be the worst-affected to some extent this week, but not for long. Crustacean-fans have been given a significant booster shot and can look forward to fantastic things in coming weeks.

River fishos that were planning to fish these first quarter neaps might consider alternatives, for obvious reasons. They won’t need to go far to find their quarry, as major river predators such as barra, jacks and salmon dislodged from the rivers and creeks proper, won’t have wandered far. A truly tremendous opportunity has arisen once again for flats fishos to target such species beyond the flow of our streams, in skinny water awash with not only these major predators, but masses of their fodder.

Another flush of our local freshwater pondages has likely seen the escape of even more barra and jacks, that may not have done so during the recent flash flooding. No doubt masses of tilapia are at large once again, spreading their horrible little genes up and down our coastline whilst the waters are fresh enough to enable them to migrate. Stem that flow if you get the chance, and involve the kids for a bit of light-hearted fun.

Our town beaches will benefit from the stream outflows in a few ways. Longer term, redeposited nutrients will enhance foraging opportunities for smaller fishes, whilst in the shorter term, it is the enhanced likelihood of encounters with major predators that appeals to us fishos. You might still be able to have some fun with the whiting, but consider just how many flathead, grunter, salmon and barramundi might be lurking in the filthy shallows at this time.

Rethink your approach to beach and mudflat fishing for now and aim for larger predatory species. Serious numbers of flathead rocked up along the Torquay – Urangan beach strip after the big flash flood, so a repeat of this creek exodus insurgence is possible in coming weeks. Big grunter can mooch right up into the shallows under cover of dirty water, whilst barra and threadfin salmon can do the same. So too can the nasty little bull sharks, so limit your wading depth perhaps, and be extra wary of stepping on the likes of mud crabs and sting rays hidden in the filth.

Queenfish will revel in the more saline mixing waters as bigger tides flush the fresh in coming weeks. In the meantime, big tarpon can appear in loose schools and mix it up with the blue salmon so adept at thriving in conditions such as these. You can very likely catch some impressive bream, and maybe a handful of whiting, but seriously, now is a time for upscaling and targeting bigger critters. You never know, you might even trip over a school of mangrove jacks, all cranky from their recent escape from a nearby creek.

Whilst being hesitant to be too specific, there are many past hotspots that could see you tangled-up with a number of the predators mentioned above. The flats beyond our local creeks are too obvious, as are the vast Booral mudflats. The rocky foreshores from Gatakers Bay to Pialba will challenge you in the mobility department, but due consideration of the terrain prior to committing to an area can see you walking straight to a productive ledge or rocky outcrop from which you can work lures for a host of species.

The Shelley Beach rock groynes and the Urangan Harbour rock walls will continue to be the stomping grounds of a growing throng of kids and other fishos. Jewies are a common capture from retaining walls, even if the sub-legal fish out-number decent fish by a large margin. Burrum Heads and River Heads are both impacted by passing floodwaters and have a serious debris build-up along stretches of their shores at present. Surely, in the very near future, some intrepid fishos are bound to connect the dots and pull some fine fish from those waters.

Hudson scored this impressive salty in water akin to what we have now. The barra might have moved, but they are still here for the catching.

Happy days when you can get the kids amongst inshore grunter like these.

Caleb has been out on the bay getting amongst the queenies again.

Rohan with a LTT pocket rocket from just one of so many schools out there in Hervey Bay right now.

Urangan Pier is Fully Open Again

Great news for Urangan Pier fans and future Easter holiday visitors – the pier is open what one end to the other, as of yesterday. Restoration works denied access to varying lengths of the pier for many weeks, but you can once again access the whole pier all the way to the deep end. Sadly, right now, the filthy floodwater doesn’t make the pier fishery overly appealing, but it will bounce back in the very near future.

In the meantime, displaced estuarine fish are the main targets for pier-goers. Fish such as salmon and grunter are more likely to be caught than mackerel, tuna or trevally. Sharks are just as likely as ever, but in more modest, smaller size classes. Expect plenty of baby bulls and other small noahs that will be seeking a meal in the dirty waters, above a few shovel-nosed sharks and most likely a few rays.

Flathead are still possible from the first channel. There has been a terrific run of them at the pier lately. Perhaps quite a number will retreat to the more saline waters out nearer the deep end whilst they await improved water quality in the shallows. Baitfish are apparently very scarce, so you might have to consider a back-up plan to utilise lures in lieu of livies if necessary.

Floodwaters spewing from the Mary River create a boom fishery at Kingfisher Bay Resort’s jetty. The kids have been entertained by small jewies and a few better fish over there lately. That jetty is bound to be popular in coming weeks as varying fish species visit its waters looking for a feed. Any species forced from the Mary or the straits are possible, and when the waters start to clear up, a host of pelagics will reappear, as will the squid.

Big fat pearlies are just one of the prime table fish Greg from Double Island Point Fishing Charters is putting his clients onto.

A couple of pretty Coronation Trout from a recent Double Island Point Fishing Charter.

Double Island Point Fishing Charter clients are happy clients, particularly when they are catching quality fish like these.

Double Island Point Charters are catching quality reefies, with less shark problems than pre-TC Alfred.

Flooding Creates a Bonanza for Inshore Reef Fishos

Our inshore reef fishing has been quite vibrant of late. The sharks have made life tough for many a fisho and certainly for the reef fish, but all-in-all, a feed has been possible, with a few real highlights. That isn’t going to change all that much as far as the deeper inshore reefs go. If anything, a few stray visiting species will join the other reefies temporarily as they all thrive on the tucker washed their way by the floods.

Think mangrove jacks, jewfish and grunter as a few of the said visiting species. Some will linger for a period; others will visit briefly. Regular hotspots, already renowned for their coral trout and cod populations will host other species for a period. Grassy sweetlip will continue to thrive in the wet season boom times that see them fatten quickly as they scrounge a feed from the fringes of the reefs. Throw in a couple of plump nannygai and a day’s reef fishing inshore can be very productive indeed.

Many grounds popular with nannies are equally popular with large grunter. There have been some beauties caught again this week, and there will be plenty more caught in weeks to come. From well down the straits to the Fairway, to so many small isolated hotspots and larger well-known gravelly reefs systems out in the bay, you can expect to hook quality grunter on baits or lures. Squid and large prawns are obvious baits, but herring and other baitfish can be equally effective. Soft vibes are great, whilst prawn imitations lead a pack of other soft plastics that will tempt them just as quickly.

One from Davey Jones' locker. A surprise billy caught on a live bait off Moon Point on Monday. Nice one Davo!

Pearlies and jobbies are always welcomed aboard Double Island Point Fishing Charters.

Too much current over the shelf meant the crew Logan was out with had to resort to wogging mackerel.

There are going to be two major issues that will make inshore reef fishing a little challenging in coming weeks. The first is the sharks of course. They devour our favourite species with gusto and test our patience all too often. Their presence will undoubtedly be enhanced on many inshore hotspots from now on, so be shark savvy and keep on the move if they find you. By the way, as if our bull shark population wasn’t already a big enough disaster, the females are about to give birth to an average of 15 live pups this month. Struth!

If it wasn’t for those flaming sharks, then photos of early season snapper would already be adorning this report. Yours truly was quite successful at catching large male knobbies prior to the perceived season commencement year in year out for eons (regardless of water temperature). All from well-known inshore hotspots such as artificial reefs. All big ‘resident’ males, all too shagged-out to follow the schools back offshore the spring prior. Consistent shark depredation for so many years saw my efforts considered wasteful and I ceased. Catches of smaller, barely legal squire this past week were achieved by a lucky few, but only until the noahs found them.

The second issue that will confront inshore reef fishos, will be the ‘twisted tides’ that floodwaters from the Mary River create over reefs in the path of those waters. From the most obvious areas immediately beyond the river, all the way past the Channel Hole and the Roy Rufus to the Outer Banks, the vast volume of ex-river water forced over the tide below will see skippers frustrated and confused. Strange angles will impact their drift patterns and so too irregular angles will affect their anchoring efforts. All the while, they and their crew will experience weird bellies in their lines and have to counter abnormal tidal flows to get baits or lures to their preferred destinations below.

Encounters with these over-flowing waters can be seen coming. Looking across the water, you will, at times, see a distinct current line. It will be marked by flotsam and very likely a major colour change. Minimal twisted effect on the clean side; significant effect on the dirty side. Many of you will be familiar with this phenomenon. Should you be at anchor, then expect your boat to swing way off the mark when the current line creeps past. Countering the effects of these currents is easy enough with practice, and spot-locking electric motors make it super simple. The vastly improved fishing such water flows can create make mastering these currents worth the effort. Expect extra oomph in the ebb tide in our inshore waters for a while.

Dropping a plastic to a reef up the bay had Jacko huffing momentarily when this cod climbed on.

A Hot Reels Charter client with a solid blackall from a recent trip.

Stuart added moses perch to the menu after a trip up Arch Cliffs way last weekend.

Head Up the Bay Chasing Pelagics

The latitude that encompasses Coongul, the Outer Banks and the Fairway will become the demarcation line between clean bay waters and flood-effected inshore waters. Along and beyond that line is where you will find pelagic species amassing as they gather to predate of the myriads of morsels washed their way. Expect queenfish and GTs to join the mackerel and tuna in those waters, whilst some of these same species still continue feeding beneath the dirty stuff closer inshore.

There has been a stack of small GTs to 6 kilos schooling and feeding in both shallow and deeper waters inshore this week. School mackerel close inshore won’t linger in the shallows as they head for deeper waters nearby. The great run of big broadies is likely to continue, with fish off Coongul already well-positioned to maintain the rage.

Tuna fans made the most of recent spells of lighter winds. Even though last Sunday’s winds were light, the residual northerly swell made it tough going for many vessels and their crews. Some even turned around before getting too far up the bay. Those that made it to Rooneys passed longtails galore on the way. Most were spotted from the Arch Cliffs 6 Mile north. Station Hill waters were productive for tuna fishos that favoured a run up closer to the island. Many schools frequented the central bay as well, where you might consider heading over this set of neaps.

Mac tuna remain abundant throughout the bay and they have been joined by seething masses of small bonito. These little bonnies are of the Watson’s Leaping variety and make for sensational baits for many fish. Spaniard fishos love sending bonnies back alive adorned with a set of trailing gangs or a stinger rig of some sort. Some even bother to troll them alive.

Spanish mackerel are quite prolific throughout the northern bay. They are also regular visitors to Platypus Bay waters where they are a permanent no-take species. A bag limit of one fish is a very easy feat at this time, so catch one if you are a fan, but don’t keep catching them to release. Mackerel species don’t handle well at all, so save your catch and release efforts for the tuna and trevally.

Jacko has been back up the island catching longtails on his favourite GT Ice Cream stickbaits.

Jacko proving Fisho's new exclusive-coloured Pink Bits Daiwa Saltiga Over There stickies work on the LTT. You can get yours when they land on the 25th.

The 130mm Saltiga Over There stickie works just as well on the longies as the smaller 80mm.

Queenies such as this Platypus Bay version of Max's are suckers for Samaki Live Shrimps, just like so many other fish.

What Now for Crabs and Prawns?

Without reasonable fore-warning of the flooding rains, it seems likely that many a mud crabber lost their pots during the riverine flooding. Our rivers were laden with pots galore beforehand, so let’s hope those crabbers find their gear and there aren’t a ton of new ‘ghost pots’ creating a silent killing spree in our waters.

The mud crabbing was nothing short of excellent in recent weeks, with big full bucks in abundance in most waterways. There will be a short-lived hiatus from the standard crabbing effort whilst most crabbers await the excess river flow to decline. Some will be tempted to shift their gear to the lowest reaches prematurely, or might spread some pots throughout waters beyond the river proper. Crabbing the flats skirting the coastline immediately either side of our rivers and creeks is a sound tactic if you are keen. Otherwise, park the pots for now and get ready for what should be brilliant crabbing beyond the coming full moon.

Just as we prawn lovers were enjoying our first serious sessions of the wet season, this flood came along and changed things dramatically. In the short term, it means many prawns have been flushed out beyond our reach or otherwise buried and are just as unreachable. In no time at all though, as soon as river heights normalise and a flush of saline water re-enters our streams, we will see a return to productive prawning. Hopefully, a real bonanza, as late wet season rains propagate more and more prawn to see us into winter. It will be very good – in time.

Plenty of crews headed for Woodgate last Sunday after the rain eased and the northerly dropped out. Too much ground swell and filthy overflow waters from the Burrum seemingly impacted those grounds negatively though, and alas, all efforts were in vain. A wide band of dirty water skirts beyond the prawn grounds right out past the edge of the banks off the Burrum, so you can imagine the prawn taking advantage of this. Woodgate will have its time to shine again, and hopefully that will be very soon.

The straits are bound to be highly productive in the near future. Prawners can possibly try those waters now, but the volume of fresh flowing from the creeks would suggest the flats and channels beyond would offer your only real crack at them. Many prawns will have flushed out into the deeper waters of the straits over Fraser way. There could be a fishery there that past beam trawlers capitalised on that no-one even considers these days. Alternatively, whilst you wait for better conditions, consider taking a wander down an access road or two that lead to the mudflats locally and see if there are prawns bouncing around down there.

Stay tuned for updates as the post-flooding banana prawn fishery comes back online. Take a cast net or two with you when traversing our inshore waters just in case though, as you just never know when or where you might trip over the motherlode in conditions such as these.

Good luck out there y’all …… Jase