Fisho's Weekly Fishing Report - 4th July 2025
by Fisho's Tackle World Hervey Bay 4 Jul 17:38 UTC
Better boating conditions this week
Well, the weather didn't turn out nearly as bad as the BOM had forecast last weekend. Hopefully, you were one of those that ignored the inaccurate guestimations and made the most of the conditions. A couple of extra days on the water were enjoyed prior to the westerly wind kicking in mid-week and restricting boaties to protected waters once again.
Luckily, the week ahead looks better. The westerly should've blown itself to a standstill by the time you read this. The remainder of today being ultra-light winds ahead of a pretty good-looking weekend. Around 10 knots or so is all we should see Saturday; from the south-east initially, tending easterly through the day. Sunday is looking even better, with barely 5 knots from the east tending north-easterly in the afternoon and the chance of a shower.
Dry and colder conditions will return Monday as the wind swings back offshore. Light winds either side of westerly will be our lot for the working week. Pretty good conditions really, with favourable building tides and a waxing moon leading us into the full moon next Friday.
Bream fishery improving under the pier
A message from a local fisho last Saturday read "bream are back at the pier". Duly noted, it was the same chap who let me know Sunday that they had all disappeared again. Apparently, the first channel was alive with herring briefly, but they shot through. An exodus of herring from the harbour perhaps.
Without the herring, the pier fishery is still rather quiet. Pelagics-wise there is nothing much going on, as could be expected, so it's just the bream, a few flathead and the chance of a jewfish that has folks justifying the long walk to the deep end. Those not bothering to stroll beyond the first channel have had the chance to sight-fish flathead in the shallows, but even their numbers are less than usual due to the lack of herring.
At least the bream fishery is ramping up. Still only a shadow of what it might be if herring were abundant, but good enough fishing to keep the regular bream fans keen. Decent fish are being caught to beyond the 30cm mark. No particularly large bream have been mentioned, so perhaps pier-goers can look forward to a better run of fish closer to the full moon.
Shore-based options for holidaying kids
Neap tides right now mean minimal tidal flow, so expect more action from our beaches and creek mouths as the tides get bigger next week. Incidental whiting catches are noted though, indicative of a return of these popular little fish since netting was restricted. A few have been caught around the rock groynes at Shelley Beach in recent days, so perhaps there will be better numbers along the Torquay - Urangan strip this week.
Bream can be found around the rocky foreshores fringing Gatakers Bay and Pt Vernon. Berleying and tossing out unweighted baits with the breeze at your back is a ploy worth considering. There will be snag-ups and there will be bust-ups, but quality fish can be extracted if you and the kids are on the ball. Not the best option for the littlest kids, but a worthy challenge for the bigger ones.
Tailor are also passing through those waters at present, so a little time spinning from the rocks near The Gables or other rock platforms could be fruitful. Simple metal spoons, twisties or slugs will get the tailor's attention and you don't even need high-speed reels to get them going. Perfect practice for the kids, with the added bonus of queenfish, trevally and blue salmon, potentially.
Our local creek mouths will be the place to flick softies and ultra-shallow diving minnows around later next week. You might find a few flatties thereabouts already, but others of their clan will also be scattered throughout the creeks until the bigger draining tides force their hand and send them to the mouths. Half tide down and the first of the flood tide are the prime times for pursuing flatties in this scenario.
The beaches stretching along the front of Dundowran and Toogoom could be worth prospecting for whiting. In the right conditions, with light winds and minimal wave action, tiny topwater lures can be brought into play and the kids taught the subtle art of topwater whiting fishing.
Even more likely to produce, are the waters we call the Booral Flats. Basically, look for access via dead-end roads leading to the water out around the airport. These vast mudflats are home to significant schools of whiting and plenty of flathead, blue salmon and maybe even grunter and threadies.
The light offshore winds and building tides will create the ideal scenario for action down there, so don the right footwear, pack a shoulder bag and some lures or your favourite baits and walk out to meet the early incoming tide. Success will come to those that master this terrain. It isn't easy going, so it isn't for the masses, yet it still appeals to those keen on their flats fishing.
The River Heads peninsula offers the kids lots of options for both lure casting and bait fishing. Most of the bait brigade will limit their efforts to the boating pontoon on the river side, whereas those flicking lures can work the whole peninsula. Jewfish are a good chance, and that chance only improves as the full moon draws nearer. Bream, flathead and estuary cod will be the main captures otherwise, whilst blue salmon will continue to make their presence felt quite regularly.
Good hauls of winter whiting
Gatakers Bay has once again been central to the bulk of the action on the winter whiting front. Fat little fish to 28cm or so have been caught in good numbers and bag limits have been achievable. Much of the action has been quite close to the boat ramp this week too, which has been a good thing with the westerly wind blowing like it has been.
The grounds out from Burrum Heads have also turned it on for winteries this week. We can only assume that the consistent run of fish off Woodgate has continued, though we cannot confirm nor deny this. Word of winteries being caught out towards the Fairway seemed to surprise some folks, yet this is just evidence of just how broadly-spread Hervey Bay's winter whiting actually can be.
No word from south of the harbour or west of Woody this week. Who knows, perhaps there's a swag of fish down there and we just haven't heard about it. Light westerlies next week will make those grounds appealing, and the blow in recent days will have improved foraging conditions for whiting down that way.
By now, some winter whiting fans must've enjoyed many a good feed from their usual happy hunting grounds and must be looking to keep things interesting. For the record, winter whiting can be found over towards Fraser Island off Coongul and down in Christies Gutter. Schools of fish gather along the eastern side of Woody Island too at times, quite close to the shallow reef edge. For the whiting fisho with a little wanderlust, greener pastures might be just a short distance away.
Just as some of these grounds may come online, so too might the traditional waters of the straits proper. From the Shell Gutter to the numerous channels dissecting the Turkey Straits and beyond, there are schools of winter whiting just waiting to be discovered. A quick drift here and there is an easy task for a mobile whiting fisho. A task made easier with the use of the you-beaut 3-hook bait jigs we refer to as Winter Whiting Slayers.
This upcoming full moon will have local 'summer' whiting fans considering their options for night-time forays on the local flats and up select creek systems. We are nearing that time of year when the sand whiting come back as they too gather to spawn, and reduced netting effort recently should mean a bumper season. More on that subject in upcoming fishing reports.
Variety is assured down the straits
Our waters are cooler and clearer by the week and this has livened-up the flats fisheries of the Great Sandy Straits. Flathead are becoming easier to find, as they descend on creek mouths and various inlets taking up ambush positions ready to pounce on any form of tucker forced from the flats or the mangroves. The flatties are yet to gather for the annual spawn at this stage of course, so keep looking for better numbers within the creeks until the urge to spawn draws them out.
You can bust out the finesse tackle if you haven't already done so and get amongst the bream that are gathering to spawn. Vast schools of bream have been reported by folks wandering in and out of Fraser's western creeks, with barely a fisho in sight. Spawning bream can be very aggressive and big numbers can be racked-up in a good session. Tiny topwater and numerous sub-surface presentations will tempt these bream, so go and get amongst them between now and the full moon.
Chase a few grunter down the straits if you prefer a bigger target species. Quality fish remain at large in the southern bay, but many fish are making the return to the creeks. Fraser's western ledges and the channels and creeks of the mainland side are all worth prospecting. Small soft plastic prawn imitations should be at the forefront of your grunter arsenal, and will serve you very well.
Blue salmon and threadies can both be targeted down the straits, and within the confines of our rivers too. Soft vibes will always be a go-to for both species, but you might even find prawn imitations more appealing this time of year. Focus on scanning for schooled fish in deeper holes where streams bend dramatically and you will soon find some.
Fraser's western creeks continue to give up a few mangrove jacks, even in such chilly conditions. You can thank lure makers like Matt Fraser for improving your chances of wintertime mangrove jacks, since giving us the ultimate fussy fish tempting weapons - the Barambah Stinger Shrimps. You can't go wrong with prawn imitations this time of year, and these particular lures are the perfect tool for the job. Try to swim yours past a flathead, a grunter, a salmon or a jewie and you can expect it to get crunched!
One less croc in Fraser Coast waters
No doubt you all saw the pics and the footage of the 3-metre crocodile spotted in the Mary River a week ago. It was found somewhere near Dundathu and closely monitored since the initial sighting. Attempts to capture this well-fed critter proved fruitless, so the authorities decided to euthanise it. With this croc now shot and removed from our waters, we can supposedly go back to our business with no fear of other beasts.
A statement made on the nightly TV news, that claimed we are at higher risk of being killed by falling coconuts than crocodiles is pretty extreme, if not a little careless. The authorities and their experts will happily suggest there are no other crocs in our area, for the sake of retaining consumer confidence, but is this true? Does anyone actually know?
There are waterways here that never see a boat, due to their vast expanses of challenging shallow flats, that could house crocodiles completely oblivious to human contact. Even if boats could access those hard-to reach waterways, they could only do so at high tide when crocs or evidence of same would be virtually impossible to sight. All the while, yarns are occasionally shared by local fishos recalling random crocs sighted in the Mary system, the Burrum system, down the straits and even in Eli Creek.
In the absence of any credible guarantee that there are indeed zero crocs in our waters, perhaps you should ensure that you and your kids remain croc savvy when engaging in our estuarine waters. Heed the signs folks, they are there for good reason. No need for alarm - just be aware. Oh, and watch out for falling coconuts!
Crabbers and prawners continue to feast
Effort from mud crabbers working Fraser Island's western creeks has been surprisingly fruitful recently. Quality mud crabs, all rusty and full of meat, have been strolling into pots regardless of the chill factor. Perhaps the same is happening elsewhere too. The excellent run of muddies has been highly notable this year. Clearing waters will hunt them back upstream into the backwaters of the smallest of creeks, so place your pots accordingly if you want your share.
Sand crabbers have also enjoyed repeated success in the southern bay. Good numbers have been caught, with bag limits achieved by some crabbers. The westerly winds will make the western bay more popular this week, and luckily, it hasn't been a long drive to productive crabbing grounds. Closer to the full moon, that distance could be shortened ever further for some folks, as they lay a few pots in shallower waters not far from local boat ramps.
The run of large banana prawns in the Burrum system continues to feed many families. It hasn't been just the Burrum River itself giving up a feed of late, as the other feeder rivers have also prawned very well. Bananas schooled in deeper holes have been easy to spot on your sounder, as if the gathered crowd of cast netters wasn't a big enough giveaway. Timing can be paramount for the ultimate success, and from what we hear, quick limits have been achievable with minimal effort.
Fishing efforts in the Burrum system have been fruitful of late too, and should be even better this week. Building tides will spur the whiting and grunter into action closer to the full moon. Flatties are showing up consistently throughout virtually the full length of the river and some very impressive barra are still being caught. Throw in big numbers of bream, schools of tailor and the prawns mentioned above, and it's no surprise the Burrum is a busy waterway these days.
Catch a snapper before the season closes
Better weather and whispers of snapper arriving in the southern bay are reason enough to go and see if you can catch one this week. The best tides will suit those not having to work mid-week, but fish are very likely to be caught this weekend regardless. Make the most of the next week or so snapper fans, as the month-long closure is looming. You have until the 14th July to catch snapper, then they are protected whilst they spawn.
Snapper have been caught in the western bay in recent days, in quite windy conditions, away from the sharks over there that take some avoiding. No doubt the Simpson arti, the Outer Banks, Moon Ledge and the Roy Rufus will be popular hotspots again this week. Which system fires best might be determined by which one is retaining the better stocks of baitfish. Tossing an ultra-deep diver out the back while you scan for bait or snapper could be a productive ploy, as big knobbies are suckers for select lures and many folks learning the ropes catch their best fish on the troll.
Mackerel are bound to be an issue here and there, so monitor your sounder for those skinny banana-shaped arches off the bottom. Target them if you wish and do your fellow snapper fishos a favour. From what we hear, mackerel are scarce around certain reefs in the western bay, where bycatch of grunter is seemingly more common. No complaints there.
If restricted to the southern bay this week, you can turn your attention to the schools of golden trevally lurking around certain artificial reefs. Smaller versions of the same fish can be found cruising the shallow flats fringing Fraser and the bay islands. Queenies and the equally acrobatic and even faster-swimming giant herring can also be found nearby.
Large giant herring are a tremendous sports fish that fight to the last, just like queenfish. Both species demand respect when captured, so ensure you minimise handling and spear them back into the water as soon as you can. Look for them in areas of high current flow that is bouncing off or diverted by significant underwater obstacles or rises in the bottom.
Tailor making a show on Fraser Island beaches
Improved ocean conditions have enabled surf fishos to hit the sand on Fraser and have a crack at the fishing. Reports this week have been limited, but word is that there are decent numbers of chopper tailor being caught. There have been fish reported down Eurong way and more fish up in the central sector. The beach is weed-free and looking particularly inviting.
Well-formed gutters are not hard to find at present. As usual, many of the best are low tide gutters, meaning tailor fishing sometimes has to take a back seat to fishing for dart, whiting, bream and tarwhine. Expect good things from the whiting this week as the full moon shines bright. The tailor are bound to respond well too. Light westerlies will suit the fishos over there immensely, so this should be a good week for Fraser-bound fishos.
Those staying at the Kgari Beach Resort at Eurong have an added incentive to wet a line and catch some fish this month and next. Resort management is offering guests the chance to gain credit back on their hotel bill for fish caught during their stay, as detailed in the flyer reproduced below. So, if heading for the island and staying at Eurong, then ensure you measure your catch and send them the pic and you could save quite a few bucks.
We stock the resort's retail store with fishing tackle these days too by the way, so you can drop in there to top up your basic tackle supplies or grab some more bait when necessary. If you have a disaster with a rod or reel, or just need more line or some lures, then they should have you covered. While you are there, show the staff your best fishing pics and get them to send them to us here at Fisho's and you could see yourself in upcoming fishing reports.