Like most anglers I am looking forward to some cooler weather, and hopefully the heat should ease off in May. Traditionally it’s a cool month and the start of the shorter days and stiller nights. This means its time to target a few of the more temperate species that inhabit our area – snapper, bream, tailor and bass.

The snapper will show up in patches and be mostly small squire size early on. As winter sets in the bigger fish will move in closer and give us small boat anglers a crack at them. Fresh tuna squares are great bait so be prepared to put a few cast into the hordes of mack and bluefin tuna that will be travelling our coastline on the way to your spot. If you’re in Bundaberg and looking for some good spots, drop into Salty’s Tackle and pick up one the GPS books available. It has some handy marks.

The tailor will also start to gorge themselves on the baitfish at the mouth of the Burnett River so when you see the birds diving, troll a chrome minnow and you should get a few fish for the table. If you’re super keen these plate size tailor make great Spanish mackerel baits. Rig them live and slow troll them a over Ryan’s rubble patch (just out the mouth of the Burnett) and hang on.

The big queenfish will also start feasting on the tailor and pike at the mouth of the river and an early morning popper fish around the north wall point should see some great action. Try the Halco Roosta Poppers at first light with a stop-start bloop retrieve. If this doesn’t get them going try a flat out surface skipping retrieve.

The bream should also start move for those die hard Kirby’s Wall fishermen. Late afternoon run-in tides are good for this area, with fresh prawns and yabbies the best way to get them biting. It still surprises me that after all these years of sugar bags full of bream coming from Kirby’s that it still produces fish, but I have to wonder how long this can continue.

For us mad keen lure fishers the bream will be willing to take the very reliable 3” Berkley Bass Minnow in the watermelon colour – they just can’t resist it.

The Isis Balancing Storage’s bass should be starting to fatten up and this is when they are really hard to stop around the lily pads and weed drop-offs. Spinnerbaits and soft plastics are great for fishing the pockets in the weed and reaction lures like the Team Daiwa bibless minnow will help search out those fish cruising the open water. Surface fishing will slow down a bit but it will still be worth having a crack early in the morning.

This year’s Volunteer Marine Rescue Family Fishing Classic is going to be held on June 23-25 at Burnett Heads. This event has been growing every year and now with the help of VMR it is looking to get even bigger. With an emphasis on juniors and on-water safety this will be a great family event. For more information you can contact Bill Wagstaff during office hours on (07) 4159 3312.