Cairns is famous for its black marlin fishery and the nearby Great Barrier Reef, but its large mangrove estuary called Trinity Inlet is also a huge drawcard.
Whether you are landbased or a boater, there are many fishing opportunities.
Here’s some of the great fishing locations.
Trinity Inlet
For dinghy fishos, Trinity Inlet is a superb fishery. It is free of gill nets.
Most tropical estuary species can be caught among the 90km of mangrove-lined creeks and flats.
The key to success is to work the tides and use livebait or lures, as deadbaits tend to attract catfish, rays and sharks.
Expect mainly blue and threadfin salmon, queenfish, trevally, mangrove jacks, barramundi, grunter, bream, cod, whiting and flathead.
Mud crabs are abundant, with annual variations in numbers.
The estuary is not fed by a major river, but heavy wet season rain pushes fish and crabs down and sometimes out to sea, depending on how much rain falls.
Successive dry years may see an overall drop in fishing and crabbing quality.
Baitfish such as herring, mullet and sardines can be caught in a cast net, along with prawns.
To find baitfish, look for ripples on the surface in the shallows.
Sardines and herring are great livebaits but are difficult to keep alive.
A fabric bait-keeper net kept in the water is the best option to maintain these as livebait.
The inlet’s tidal range is up to around 3m, and while not huge this is enough to create strong tidal currents and expose drying flats.
Water clarity improves with smaller tides but the fish may feed less aggressively at this time.
Generally it is best to fish deeper spots on neaps and shallow areas on big tides.
Mud gutters that drain on a falling tide invariably hold barramundi and salmon.
Flats edges fish well for these species on a rising tide.
Deep gravel patches hold fingermark, jewfish and grunter.
Barramundi are caught around the wharves.
When landbased fishing or collecting bait, keep in mind that crocodiles are found here, as are box jellyfish and irukandji.
Barron River
This tidal waterway is a significant fishing location.
Much the same species are caught in the Barron as Trinity Inlet.
The Barron tends to fish better on big tides.
The river has a boat ramp at Stratford, next to the Captain Cook Highway bridge, and also at Machans Beach near the mouth.
There are several spots on the Barron suitable for landbased fishing, but keep in mind that crocodiles live here.
The former Kamerunga bridge upstream from the highway has been made into a fishing platform.
Upstream from the old bridge the bottom is rocky, and cod, bream and mangrove jacks are caught.
The deep hole at the junction of Redden Creek has barramundi, jewfish, grunter and cod.
Another good spot is the last bend of the river before it enters the sea, and the drop-off along the mouth channel.
Cairns headlands and beaches
All headlands near Cairns produce big barramundi in warm, calm weather, mostly on the upper tide.
Fingermark and cod are also caught, along with occasional bar-cheeked coral trout.
The various beaches produce threadfin salmon and flathead at high tide, with a chance of barramundi.
Queenfish and trevally also patrol the beaches and headlands
Yorkeys Knob
This is another great spot, just 20km north of Cairns.
The marina here has been dredged out of Half Moon Creek, which still flows.
The rock walls and boat launching area produce big barramundi, queenfish, mangrove jacks and more.
Rain flushes bait out of the creek and these invariably loiter around the rock walls.
Fish the turn of a tide around dawn and dusk for best results.
Either side of the north or south marina rock walls can produce big fish, or try from the headland south of the boat ramp.
Palm Cove
Also north of Cairns is Palm Cove, which has a great fishing jetty.
This is a pleasant family location. The Esplanade has tropical palms and old melaleuca trees, with luxury resorts and holiday units nearby.
The jetty produces some big fish.
During winter (dry season) spanish mackerel are caught, with fish over 20kg taken by suitably equipped fishos.
Use a floating rig with livebait such as small flag, grunter or even whiting. A pilchard or garfish on ganged hooks will also work.
Other species include queenfish, trevally, cod, grunter, whiting, flathead, mangrove jacks, blue salmon, tarpon, squid and catfish.
If chasing big fish you will need a drop gaff, although there are stairs and a platform from which big fish can be landed.
North of the jetty is a headland that fishes well.
The beach produces whiting and flathead at high tide.
Barramundi are caught off the jetty and nearby rocks mainly in calm, warm weather.
Palm Cove is open to the dry season’s prevailing south-east wind. Fishing is better on calm days.
Kings Point
For boaters, Kings Point is a great spot about 26km by sea from Trinity Inlet.
The sea floor drops into a deep channel between the coast and Fitzroy Island.
Kings Point itself drops away to more than 15m deep and is a prime fingermark spot in summer.
Fishing is best at night using live squid for bait, with squid usually readily available under boat lights.
Also expect other reef fish, trevally, queenfish, groper, cod and mackerel.
Great Barrier Reef
It is a 30km run from Trinity Inlet to Green Island and the first Great Barrier Reef.
Fish can be caught anywhere around the reefs, but note the green (sandctuary) zones.
Many reef fish such as red emperor, nannygai and cod are taken over rubble or fern grounds in deep water between the reefs.
Cairns black marlin
The Cairns black marlin fishery is a special feature of North Queensland.
The grounds are from Lizard Island in the north to outside the widest reefs just south of Cairns.
It is said that more 1000lb black marlin are caught here annually than all the other known grounds around the world.
The season starts in early September, when female black marlin spawn along a 250km length of the Great Barrier Reef. The spawn extends through to late December.
The cycle starts with bait schools arriving, then the “small” predators such as tunas, billfish, wahoo and mackerel, which the big marlin eat.
Specialist charter boats chase the big fish, and these are often booked out years in advance.
Chasing the big black marlin is not cheap but it is something keen fishos should do at least once.
Smaller marlin and sailfish can be caught on the closer grounds from trailerboats.
Cairns tides
Great Barrier Reef zone map
Qld dam water levels
Qld stocked dam permits
Queensland fishing regulations
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