The town of Proserpine region is central to a range of great fishing opportunities.
The Proserpine River is a strongly tidal waterway that offers a real chance of tangling with wild barramundi, along with king and blue salmon and mud crabs.
The river has some wetland in the catchment, which makes the waterway more productive.
Proserpine Dam (Peter Faust Dam) is on the catchment and is stocked with barramundi and has produced many large fish.
Grunter, queenfish, flathead, whiting, fingermark, cod and bream are caught in the tidal water.
Nearby estuary spots are Repulse Inlet, and the Thompson and O’Connell rivers.
Along the coast are the Whitsunday Islands, usually fished by boat from Shute Harbour and Airlie Beach.
Further north is the coastal community of Dingo Beach and its nearby Gregory River estuary.
Proserpine River is subject to big tides and fishing trips must be planned accordingly.
On larger tides gutter fishing works well, when barramundi and salmon sit at the exits to mud drain as the tides flows out, waiting for passing bait.
Park your boat at a gutter entrance and cast lures and baits around the drain entrance.
King salmon can be found on deep bends, along drop-offs and on timber structures, but they also hunt the shallows on a rising tide.
Once the tide enters the mangroves the fishing gets harder.
Small mullet, herring and live prawns are the prime livebaits when fishing the river.
Casting and trolling lures is best when the water clears during small tides.
Fresh dead baits work on grunter, blue salmon and fingermark but are less effective on barramundi and king salmon.
Repulse Bay is north of the Proserpine River, and is known for producing big grunter and fingermark.
Repulse Creek is a large tidal inlet and it has many submerged rocks, and these hold fish. Expect bream, fingermark, cod, mangrove jacks and even barramundi.
Mud crabs are thoughout all the local creeks.
Crocodiles are also found here, so don’t take risks.
There is a caravan park near the river mouth.
Much of Repulse Bay is exposed mudflats at low tide so take care with your trip planning.
Proserpine Dam fishing
Fish the standing timber as this is where barramundi and sooty grunter usually congregate.
You will need heavy gear and good terminal tackle to stop the big fish around the timber.
Drop-offs, flats and shallow weedy areas in the dam can also fish well.
Warm weather is best for barramundi.
The dam’s barramundi are well fed on bony bream, freshwater gunter and redclaw crayfish.
In cold weather the barramundi can be hard to catch.
Trolling the main waterbody of the impoundment can work at times, use your sounder to locate feeding fish.
There are also saratoga to be caught.
Camping is now allowed at the lake after a major upgrade to its recreational facilities. There is lakeside camping areas with three pontoons, car parks, toilets and showers, improved roads and two washdown bays.
Fishing from the banks of the lake is only permitted within the recreational area of the lake.
A stocked impoundment is required to fish the dam.
Whitsunday Island fishing
Most of the Whitsunday Islands have flats that drop away into deeper water.
These are good spots to fish for golden trevally and queenfish.
Casting to coral bommies and ledges produces sweetlip, tuskfish, trout, cod and trevally.
Great reef fishing can be had at Hook Passage, the reefs off Bird Island, the north side of Haslewood Island, the north-east side of Hook Island, and the reefs of Apostle Bay.
Big spanish mackerel show up anywhere, but are more reliable on the pressure points off reefs around the outer islands.
Deep rubble and fern grounds between the reefs hold red emperor and nannygai.
Shallow waters around the islands just outside Repulse Bay can fish well but note the GBRMPA Green Zones.
Shute Harbour and Airlie Beach fishing
These communities, especially Airlie Beach, have man-made rock walls and some rocky foreshore that can be fished on foot.
Casting lures and livebaits around high tide produces barramundi, salmon, mangrove jacks, queenfish, trevally and more.
Reef fish also show up along the foreshores at high tide, such as bar-cheeked coral trout, sweetlip, tuskfish and cod.
Fishing the rock walls at night can be effective.
Proserpine River mouth tides
Great Barrier Reef regional zone map
Qld dam water levels
Qld stocked dam permits
Qld fishing regulations
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