It’s January and of course it’s hot and with us actually receiving above average spring rain the estuaries are firing. Like I have stated in the past it’s great to be on the water this time of the year but it is very important to be sun smart and this includes plenty of that magic H20.

One of the most popular rivers over the break, the Burnett can provide great fishing for the travelling angler as long as you are prepared for early mornings and late evenings.

Yes the Burnett is a great river when fished early and late so if you can coincide a tide change around first or last light you will really increase your chances for a great session. Live bait is plentiful at the river mouth and easy to collect with a cast net. Once you have your baits try setting up around the old trawler wreck at the mouth. Fish one bait up in the shallows and the other over the channel drop off as this will cover a few bases. There have been some big fingermark and jacks being encountered around the mouth so be prepared for a hard, dirty fight.

If you’re like me and prefer to work a bit for a fish the ever faithful Prawnstar cast around the rocks and jigged back slowly will also produce plenty of good fish. In the upper reaches of the river Toft Rocks will again be the spot to try for a few jacks, cod and bream with soft plastics and hard bodied lures being worth a try.

I don’t usually report too much on the Elliott mainly because it is a really hard system to work out and consistently catch fish in but of late the river has been on fire.

Around the mouth the pelagics have been rampaging through large schools of baitfish making popper and high speed slug fishing a blast. Queenfish, trevally and mackerel have all been caught around the bait schools, again early morning and late evening will be the gun times.

Up river mangrove jack, cod and grunter have all been taking live bait and lures. The corners and where the small feeder creeks join the main river are the places to try. If you’re into light tackle sportfishing small plastics fished around the Riverview boat ramp at low tide will have you into little trevally, queenfish and tarpon just be aware some of the big guys also venture into the river too and they also will take a small plastic.

With a ABT event here last month and 88 barra anglers struggling to crack a pattern on a weekend that rained and blew easterlies it blows me away to hear the fish have fired back up again.

I have to admit after 14 tournament hours on the dam casting all I managed was to stir one fish into a boil on my lure. Now, not long after the event, the winds swung back around to the north and the fish bit again. It seems that the rapid drop in water temperature and easterly winds just shut the fish down and in Monduran when they are down they stay down. Luckily enough over January we rarely suffer from dropping water temps as the temps will just get higher and higher. In fact you will be probably looking for cooler water by the end of January where the fish will station before hunting the shallows in the cool of the night