Written by Andrew Chorley
The weather is heating up and so is the fishing on the Fraser Coast!
Our region has some great summer fishing and sees a variety of pelagic species firing up and getting into the abundance of bait on the surface.
Impoundment barramundi are also high on the agenda with Lake Lenthall and Monduran producing some good sessions.
I would like to wish all my Alive readers a very safe and merry Christmas.
Hopefully, all you keen anglers will get a little bit of time off to get out on the water and experience the amazing fishing our region has to offer.
Sheltered waters thanks to the protection of the world’s largest sand island, K’gari (Fraser Island), are just one of the many reasons the Fraser Coast is one of the most renowned fishing destinations in the nation.
Let’s take a look at what’s on the bite this month.
Sandy Strait
The strait has been a great place to hide out of the persistent northerly winds.
Whiting and flathead have been reported from the flats with some good specimens in the mix. For lure anglers, threadfin salmon have been reported in the Mary River system with fish mostly coming from the lower reaches.
Soft vibes worked on the deep rock bars and holes has produced some good fish. Working the drains has turned up a few with prawn imitation soft plastics working well.
Pikey bream, flathead and grunter have also been coming from the river with the deep holes in the smaller creeks fishing well.
Burrum
Out the Burrum working the mouth of the river for queenfish, trevally and flathead has been productive.
Mangrove Jacks will be active in the hot conditions with soft plastics worked in the snags producing. Whiting fisherman have seen a few good catches after dark, the flats out the front have been producing some good specimens on live yabbies.
Blackall, school mackerel and golden trevally have been reported out the front of the 8-Mile.
Local Reefs
Blackall, cod, sweetlip and trevally have been reported on the local reefs. Fishing the shallow reefs has been very productive with grunter, sweetlip and cod coming from the reefs off Point Vernon and around Big Woody Island.
Queenfish and GT’s have been taking surface lures around the rocky points with early morning and late afternoon being the best time to target them on the surface.
Platypus Bay
Mackerel have been the main target for most in Platypus Bay.
Other species about are mac and longtail tuna, scarlets, blackall and golden trevally. A few black marlins have been reported and there may still be some about up until Christmas.
Urangan Pier
If you’re after a decent catch close to home this Christmas, then pack up your gear and head to the Urangan Pier.
Big GT’s have been a target species for those wanting a trophy fish. School mackerel, queenfish and golden trevally have also been reported. In the first channel whiting have responded to the dirty water from the northerlies and have been a good target on the early tides.
Impoundments
Lake Lenthall has been producing bass and barra consistently of late.
The barra are responding well to imitation frogs worked on the surface in the late afternoons with the bass found schooling on the points and taking small grub style soft plastics.
In Lake Monduran, the evening sessions have produced the best results with full moon nights getting some epic fish.
Hard bodie lures such as the Jackall Squirrel have been consistently working well on the barra.