burrum heads

[muddypete]

Greetings all
We are heading up to burrum heads in the ancient pop top caravan (minus the tinny) and are hoping someone may be able to help with land based fishing.
Have a couple of crab pots to heave in the burrum river (headwater) but am unsure about where is the best place to target fish from land and what is the best bait. Can anybody help (without disclosing their favourite spot)
Also planning a side trip to cania gorge and tin can bay on the way back. and wouldn't mind a bit of advice so I can get a feed for us and the new neighbours we will meet. (prefer giving than receiving)
being retired means time is not a problem so can divert to other areas if they appear better spots for camping and fishing.
many thanks

[pommy]

G'day muddypete!

Have fished there a couple of years ago from the bank. Caught a couple of nice flatties (50cm plus) near the campsite on the south side of the estuary. Walked along the shore going upstream for a short distance until I reached some channels and the start of the mangroves. There is a deep water channel just off the bank that was productive. Unfortunately there were also some very large toadfish that bit a number of hooks in half.

At the start of the mangroves I placed my first ever crab pot. I did this at high tide from a boat but at low it was exposed and there was a nice buck muddie in it. Beginner's luck! You could probably do this from the shore if you kept an eye on the area to deter thieves.

Also memorable as my first encounter with sandflies. Had a few too many ales and fell asleep in my camp chair. Woke to find I'd been eaten alive!

Enjoy your trip!

Regards, Rob.
Ballina

[cuzzamundi]

Mate hopefully the weed won't be an issue for you - it can make the mouth unfishable! bbe sure tocheck it out before dropping your pots. Just up from the campsite near the mouth can yield great results - a huge variety of species can be caught. The channel is not too far from the shore, especially on a low tide. Also venture down to walkers point and fish for grunter, lizards, and the odd barra and jack. Out the front of woodgate can also be good for whiting, especially in a light to moderate south easter. use livies or fresh bait in all these spots if possible. hope this helps.

cuzza

[marty_z]

Pete,

I was up at Burrum this time last year and although most of my fishing was out of a boat, we got a few from the bank. The obvious target this time of year is Flathead. When I was there, a number of grey nomads would fish live baits under floats and walk the bank with the tide - basically the area between the two boat ramps (in front of the main caravan park). If they are there when you are there you won't miss them as a few of them wear fluoro workmen shirts!

They would only fish the top and bottom of the tide as the current belts through there and makes it near impossible to fish. I spent a bit of time walking the banks also and threw soft plastics and caught a few in the same area. These old guys never missed a tide change, and only released the fish they legally had to - everything else went in the deep freeze next to the caravan. I am sure (even with their wives) they would have exceeded the 5 Flatties per person limit.

On low tide, you can walk east along the edge of the main channel and follow it a fair way out to the channel markers - can get a few good fish off the rock ledges out there, aswell as the drains thru the sandflats.

As mentioned earlier, there are big toadies there that will bite thru hooks. The end of both boat ramps, especially the western one, also hold other quality fish besides Flathead - always worth a look, but again on the tide changes only. Plenty of live bait can be caught with a cast net around the edges of the boat ramps.

Good Luck

Marty