It’s springtime again and September indicates the start of rising water temps that mean more activity in our creeks and dams. Our smaller estuaries will fire-up first because the temperature will rise faster, try Theodolite, Coonar and the Elliott.

The best sign of a system warming up is the water clarity and the baitfish activity. And a fishfinder with the temp on it will certainly give you the edge. The warmer water will be marginal, so it is a good idea once located to move with it up and down a creek. As the warm water passes fish holding structure those fish will become more active.

The Burnett is a river of two halves at the moment with continual dredging at the mouth dirtying the water in the lower reaches and the lack of rain and cold water keeping the upper reaches clean. This has meant the town boat ramp has been pretty busy lately and those who have been putting the effort in are having some fun.

Trevally and good bream can be found around the old trawler wharves and are suckers for plastics. You can also expect to get dusted by a few jacks as the Burnett’s temp rises.

If you’re itching for a fight, then head up to Toft rocks late in the afternoon. At the bottom of the tide throw a Prawnstar around and you’ll soon get a bite. September is game-on for the jacks around the rocks.

This spring is going to be an absolute cracker at Monduran. The cooler water temps slow the big barra down over winter so they will be on a mission when they warm up. Even at last months ABT BASS event there were anglers being busted-up and even a few landed with the water temp hovering around 16oC.

At the tournament there were some great bass caught and the big bass went 2kg. If the barra aren’t playing the game the bass are certainly worth a cast or two.

If you’re heading to the dam this month for a barra trip the key will be to find the warmer bays. The trick is to follow the wind direction, as the breeze will be blowing the warmer surface water into shallow bays.

The dam is currently sitting at 18% which equates to around 100,000ML so there is still a lot of water and plenty of secluded bays to explore. Keep moving from bay to bay but make sure you fish slowly, I know this sounds odd but moving around will help you find active fish. Be sure to keep the lure slow enough for the fish to find it.

If you are heading up, visit www.lakem.com.au as this is a great site that has lots of useful info for the first time visitor to the lake. Don’t forget to stop in at Foxy’s barra shop on the highway. Foxy used to manage the park and now owns the tackle shop so he has lots of local knowledge on where the fish are and what they are biting on.