So here we are in 2007; another year on our doorstep with plenty of fishing opportunities to look forward to. As you may have noticed, there is still plenty of traffic at the ramps which usually means an early morning rise or a late night jaunt for keen anglers. If you have limited time to fish due to family and holiday commitments, make sure you time your run and fish at the best time of the tides- the last couple of hours of the run-out and the first few of the run-in.

The mouth of the Burnett has been on fire lately with some great fingermark being taken along the rock walls on live baits and soft plastics. You’ll also find mangrove jack on the chew in the same area, and they’re falling for livies and lures. Trolling along the rock walls has been the most effective method of enticing a bite, but beware, you may lose your lure! If you’re not keen on taking the risk, try casting deep divers such as Tilsan Barras and 3m Scorpions. Work them down the faces of the rocks to increase your chances of a bite.

A lot of bait has been holding on the other side of the north wall lately, which has brought in numbers of trevally, queenfish and mackerel. Casting poppers around the north wall point and working your way up the outside wall in the early morning should stir up some action.

The Baffle has been fishing very well lately; live baiters and lure fisherman have taken numbers of big jacks. The lower reaches seem to be holding the majority of fish, as the top section has been fairly quiet. Now that the beam trawler ban that has been in place for a few years, the baitfish and prawns seem to have made a comeback.

There have also been reports of a few good fingermark taken by anglers, which is a pleasant surprise for local Frank, who has fished the Baffle for over 60 years and never caught one previously. It’s fantastic to see these tropical fish in our area, but I hope it’s not an indication of warmer waters; I’m not so eager to watch for crocs while I fish.

Unfortunately, fishing at Monduran has been a bit patchy due to the large amount of water being pumped out daily. There have been the occasional good catches, and casting to lantana bushes still seems to produce the goods. I’ve concentrated my efforts around the main basin, fishing the large schools of baitfish that congregate on the points. So far I’ve returned some great fish using the new Halco Scorpion Crazy Deep 8m; I like to wind it down the rock faces and work it back with plenty of pauses and jerks.

Another place to try early in the morning is the weed edges near Bird Bay; the water is shallow but the barra are there for the taking. I’ve been using plastics and the new Berkley mullet.