March signals the start of the cooler months to come. The weather has been unforgiving on the Fraser Coast this year with the only good news being a decent wet season to give the estuaries a needed injection of fresh water.

The reefs have fished well, for those lucky enough to get a trip in between squalls, and should improve as the temperature drops.

The Burrum River has been producing good quality prawns in the upper reaches of the system. Mangrove jack and barramundi have been on the chew around the black bank and there have been a few muddies on the move since the recent rains.

The Mary and Susan rivers have had good numbers of threadfin salmon feeding throughout the system all the way down to the mouth. Prawns and muddies have also been on the move and a few barra have been smashing lures and livies around the lights at River Heads at night.

The dam has maintained its reputation as the closest barra hot spot for east Queensland anglers. I spent two days there around the January full moon and managed to do everything but land a barra.

I had a fish around the 15-20kg mark smash a gold Predatek Viper and leap a meter out of the water. I managed to pry it out of the sticks into clear water, only to have it find a tree in the middle of nowhere.

After trying to untangle the fish we saw the lure float to the surface and, when the trace was retrieved, the 120lb snap swivel had been straightened. An hour or so later my mate, Dave Campbell, had a rod ripped clean out of the boat by a similar sized fish – amazing!

This months full moon will be the last for this summer so if you want a shot at a big barra, now is the time!

If you have any queries about where the fish are biting or if you would like to book a charter, call QFM’s own Bundaberg correspondent Rob Wood who can sort you out for accommodation and put you on to the fish. Rob can be contacted on 0427 590 995.