queensland Burrum Heads With The Fam

[Wazza80]

Heya folks, heading to burrum heads Thursday, nevet been before, looking for some info on spots i can get my boat to,  (i have a 4.2m tinny with a 40 on it)and a general idea of conditions at the moment

Cheers! 

[GregOug]

Hi Wazza,

You’ll probably get some more helpful and detailed replies from others on here, but for what it is worth I took the family up there a couple of times a few years ago. Nice spot. Very quiet. The Burrum River is quite wide at the heads. Your tinny will be able to go anywhere in the river. Plenty of mangroves so I would take some pots. Also lots of rock ledges, deep bends and holes for casting lures or baits. I was told there was good fishing outside the heads but we were just using a hire boat so couldn’t venture out there. I imagine mangrove jack would inhabit further up the river and you can get all the usual estuarine species. Good luck.

 

[Wazza80]

Thanks greg! I'll be sure to try your suggestions!

Cheers!

[GregOug]

Another thing I jut thought of. Not sure how old your family is but there was a great swimming spot at high tide just on the southern side, river entrance, seaward side. Beautiful clear water and sandy bottom. In fact, I’m jealous! lol. One more thing, there weren’t a lot of shops etc there and it’s a fair drive back to civilisation so take a lot of the things you need with you.

[Wazza80]

We're actually staying at Toogum, but i looked at the map in beacon to beacon i don't know anyone up there with knowledge of the shoals out to the bay, so I'm gonna go with the safe option of burrum heads lol, but I'll suss it out though, I've 6 days to fill haha

[Old Scaley]

Drop into the hardware/tackle shop on the corner. I think it is called Burrum Traders. He has some laminated maps of the river with fishing spots marked and may also give you some insight into who is catching what, especially if you buy something there. As Greg said, there are lots of mangrove areas with good snags for jack. A lot of people fish the rock bars inside the Gregory River, which branches off the Burrum just past Walkers Point (you will see these places on the map). Make sure you have plenty of water and drive carefully because some of the rock bars are quite shallow. If you are lucky, the big grunter will be running. You will know if they are on by the 40 boats all lined up, but there will be plenty to go around if they are on the chew. That usually lasts about a week or so at a time and is usually the week before or after I go there . Usually plenty of bream and flathead in the river.  You might even catch a barra when jack fishing but remember it is closed season. Take the pots and a cast net.  Plenty of live herring and mullet around the creek entrances on the turn of the tide.  Have a good time and don’t forget to post your adventures.

[Old Scaley]

3 minutes ago, Wazza80 said:

We're actually staying at Toogum, but i looked at the map in beacon to beacon i don't know anyone up there with knowledge of the shoals out to the bay, so I'm gonna go with the safe option of burrum heads lol, but I'll suss it out though, I've 6 days to fill haha

Toogum is a great whiting spot, but there are lots of sandbanks to be aware of.. Hang around the boatramp and get some tips from locals, or just head up to Burrum for more variety and a better ramp.

[Wazza80]

Thanks for the tips @Old Scaley defiantly will grab a map, i would love to hook a barra, hopefully, fingers crossed, I'll get into a few, and can share with everyone in tbe forum! Now just to get through the next 2 and half days at work without losing my ****!

[GregOug]

I’ve got an idea in the back of my mind (which is a scary place but anyway) that you could go straight out from Burrum without any bar involved. If the bait and tackle shop is still there he could advise you otherwise I’m sure there would be one at Toogum

[Old Scaley]

2 minutes ago, GregOug said:

I’ve got an idea in the back of my mind (which is a scary place but anyway) that you could go straight out from Burrum without any bar involved. If the bait and tackle shop is still there he could advise you otherwise I’m sure there would be one at Toogum

That is correct @GregOug. You can just follow the markers out from the heads. It is mostly just sandy bottom out there but there is a reef that would be in striking distance in @Wazza80‘s boat on a really good day if you have a gps and sounder. There is another reef off Woodgate but beware the green zone. Again, get local advice first because there is a lot of water between fish out there and if they are not chewing you can waste a lot of time and fuel and miss out on good fishing closer to home.  If the wind and tide are right, I like to drift the drop offs around those red markers. You can sometimes get good sweetlip, cod or other reefies along there.

I think it takes a couple of trips to places like Burrum to crack the code. It might seem like there is nothing there the first few times you fish the area but take note of where and when the locals are fishing because they don’t generally come home empty handed.

[Wazza80]

Don't worry @GregOug your not the only crazy one here lol that was one of my intial tactics that went through my mind but my common sense agreed with @Old Scaley  probably needs to be good conditions, but, we'll see, at least to the 1st and 2nd markers maybe, depending on how big my balls feel lol

[GregOug]

[tugger]

There is some excellent whiting fishing in the Burrum  so take the yabbie pump

[Wazza80]

Thanks @tugger will do!