Lucinda is at the east end of the impressive Hinchinbrook Channel, which runs inside Hinchinbrook Island.

The island is roughly half way between Cairns and Townsville.

Dungeness boat ramp is Lucinda’s gateway to fishing in the channel and the nearby Great Barrier Reef.

Lucinda is known for its almost 6km-long industrial jetty, the 660 pylons of which hold some big fish.

This is a bulk sugar loading facility, the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.

The area around the jetty can only be fished by boat.

Adjacent to the sugar jetty is a smaller jetty which can be fished by landbased anglers.

Expect spanish mackerel, trevally, queenfish, tuna, barramundi and fingermark around the jetties.

Lucinda fishing wharf is near Borello Park, in Lucinda, and there are barbecues, picnic shelters, toilets, a playground and walking trails, perfect for family fishos.

Dungeness has a four-lane concrete all-tide boat ramp with large parking area.

For boaters, Hinchinbrook Channel is relatively sheltered with hundreds of kilometres of mangrove-lined creeks and flats.

Being located away from major population centres the channel sees less fishing pressure than metro spots, but nonetheless it is hugely popular.

The channel is a huge area, about 6km across at its widest point, so there are usually places to fish away from other boats.

Prevailing winds may help choose your location.

If it is windy, cross the channel when the tide ebbs, as it will be calmer.

Species caught in the channel and island creeks include barramundi, queenfish, salmon, mangrove jacks, trevally, permit, fingermark, grunter, giant herring and cod.

Mud crabs and prawns are usually abundant, with seasonal variations.

Casting baits or lures to the mouths of mud drains as the tide flows out is an effective method for catching barramundi during bigger tides.

Trolling quietly up creeks also works well on smaller tides when the water is clear. An electric motor is useful for this.

On a large incoming tide look for baitfish or predator activity along flats edges.

Drifting along creeks with the current and casting lures to snags is a very popular fishing method for catching barramundi, mangrove jacks and cod.

Rocky foreshores and rock walls are always worth fishing.

The water in the channel, depending on prevailing winds, can be quite clear on the flats, allowing for good sight fishing.

Local sardines, herring and small mullet are the ideal livebaits and will almost always produce fish if dropped at a creek mouth or near a decent snag.

Deep grounds yield fingermark and jewfish, especially where there is gravel or bottom structure.

Though Hinchinbrook tides are not huge, with 3m of movement being a big tide within the channel, strong currents flow, so fish deeper areas at the turn of the tide.

Use a sounder to locate bottom fish.

Hinchinbrook is a tropical location with heavy summer rainfall and high humidity, with cooler dry weather in winter.

The area is sometimes hit by summer cyclones, which bring prolonged heavy rain that is good for fishing on the long term, but can shut things down on the short term.

The channel really fires after big wet seasons, when the freshwater has subsided.

Successive dry years bring slower fishing as the bait cycle winds down.

Cyclones produce fallen mangrove timber, and the horizontal logs often hold a barramundi or two, or mangrove jacks.

The southern coast inside the island has the Herbert and Seymour River mouths, with mangrove islands and channels.

The upstream freshwater sections have sooty grunter and jungle perch.

Lucinda offshore fishing

From Lucinda it is a 38km run out to the first Great Barrier Reef, which is Bramble Reef.

Most local fishos head the extra few kilometres to the larger and more complex Britomart Reef.

Britomart has an extensive plateau and reasonable shelter for anchoring.

The bommies have trout and tropical lobsters (crays), and deep water around the edges holds red emperor, trout, nannygai, sweetlip and more.

Britomart fishes best on big tides, although some fishermen prefer fishing the deep water between the reefs on small tides where hard bottom can produce fish such as nannygai and red emperor.

Expect mackerel and trevally around the reef edges.

Closer to Dungeness, the Sea Hound trawler wreck is a popular spot, but it can be busy on weekends.

The Sea Hound is about 17km north-east of Lucinda, at approx 18 24.433S 146 25.742E.

This area has large crocodiles, so take care when fishing.

Crocs can show up on seaward beaches too.

While Hinchinbrook is located far from major cities, expect local van parks to be overflowing during holiday periods.

There is no nearby stocked dam in this area, the nearest is Koombooloomba located further north towards Cairns.

Get the best Hinchinbrook fishing spots in the North Australian FISH FINDER book of fishing maps.

Lucinda boat ramp

Lucinda has a four-lane concrete ramp with pontoon, wash-down area, trailer parking, security lighting, toilets. Gateway to Great Barrier Reef and Hinchinbrook Channel.

There is also Mona Landing at Halifax, on the Herbert River – single-lane gravel ramp and small gravel car park. Access to the Herbert River and 15-minute run to Hinchinbrook Channel.