Fishing
is one of the most popular activities in Cape York.
Many people
come to the Cape
only for fishing, and it's hard to blame them.
You can
fish in freshwater lakes and rivers, from
the shore of the ocean;
take
a boat out to the reef, or join a fishing trip organised
by the many
tour operators.
Only
Some Fish Species
The whole peninsula is full
of fantastic fishing
spots, and some of Australia's most famous game
fish like barramundi is plentiful.
Other fish that you can
catch in Cape
York includecoral
trout, mangrove
jack, queenfish,
sweetlip,
trevally,
emperor, snapper,
mackerel, reef
shark,
saratoga, grunter,
codand salmon.
Only
Some of the Better
Places
Some places are
more popular than others:
* Cooktown
Wharf
* Mission River in Weipa
* Jardine River
mouth
* Seisia Wharf
* Torres Strait
Islands
* Rivers in Lakefield
National Park
* Coastal areas in Cape
Melville
* Chili Beach in Iron
Range National Park
But there are, of course, lots of other places.
Regulations
There is
one thing you have to remember - fishing
regulations.
You are not allowed to fish just anywhere.
In some areas, a permit/licence
is required.
There are closed seasons
for some species.
Size
limits, and take and possession
limits apply. And if
you
fish in the ocean, the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning
applies.
All these
are
listed in full detail the Destination Guide.
Some take you up the rivers,
others go out to coral reef.
They are not exactly cheap, but they are
run by locals who know
where the best fishing is, so you have good
chances to catch some good ones.
Tours vary, but generally you have to
bring your own drinks (beer, wine or soft drinks, whatever you like),
and the lunch is usually not included, but on some tours your own catch
can be cooked
for lunch.
The tours are all listed in full detail, including prices and contact
details,
in the
Destination
Guide.
Caught a big fish?
Show us the photo! You can attach up to four, and you can also write about it!
What Other Visitors Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Fishing in Cape York 1993 Hello,
Another picture of the Shovelnose Ray
Anyway, some cold beers and everything was ok.
Greetings from Cologne.
Toni
Fishing in Cape York 1993 Hello,
we caught this Shovelnose Ray with a 30cm handreel in 1993.
The fish pulled our boat with four people queerly along the jetty several times. …
Shovelhead Shark A shovelhead from Walkers Bay just south of Cooktown.
Barramundi
fish is the most popular gaming fish in northern Australia.
It is a
beautiful big fish,
exciting to catch and yummy to eat, and if you are from the southern
parts
of the country, get
yourself strong fishing gear or it may break your line.
Barramundi also has an interesting life cycle.
Below are a few facts about
the fish, where to find it, how to catch it, how to cook it.
Barramundi
Facts
Barramundi
is a tropical fish
that is found in Indian Ocean from Persian Gulf (northern
Africa), through south east Asia to New Guinea and northern Australia.
It is not
found in southern
Australian waters.
Barra
from the wharf
in Cooktown.
It is one of those fish famous for its sex
change.
All barramundi are born as males and at a few years of age undergo a
sex change and turn into females.
So if you catch a big
barra, it is likely to be a female.
Barramundi
Restocking Facility in Karumba.
Barramundi
Fishing Cape York
Barramundi
fishing
is very
popular along
the coasts in northern Australia.
But there is also freshwater
barramundi in places like Lake Tinaroo in Atherton
Tablelands.
The freshwater variety is not quite as good to eat and is often
released after catching.
Lake
Tinaroo.
There is nothing too hard
about barramundi fishing.
You just have to have the luck to be in the right place at the right
time :-)
Live bait and (surface)
lures work well.
It puts on a good fight
- one of the reasons for its popularity as a game fish.
Cooking
Barramundi
This
fish
is best fried in a friepan - a simple way of cooking.
And it's best to be skinned first.
It is also very popular in Thai cooking, where it's often stir-fried or
steamed with
lemon grass, or lime and garlic.
Coral
Trout
Coral
Trout is a great tropical fish.
And it is yummy.
It is found in coral reefs and caught when fishing from boats
(not rivers or beaches).
This beautiful dotted
orange fish is found in the coral reefs of Australia,
Pacific Islands, South-east Asia and Indian Ocean.
It is a fish eater,
and there is plenty of different small fish in the coral reef to eat.
Some
of its favourite food is damselfish, parrotfish and
bananafish. As it
catches the food, it
is known to move a fair bit within a reef, but very seldom
move from one reef to another.
Coral
Trout, Portland Roads.
A lot of coral trout is
commercially caught in the Great
Barrier Reef and kept alive in tanks on mother ships until
the return to the land.
Below are some more coral trout facts:
* Its other names
are leopard
coral trout
and leopard
coral grouper.
* Its scientific name is Plectropomus leopardus
and it belongs to the Serranidae
family.
* They are most often up
to a metre long and weigh six to eight kilos.
* They are most often bright
red with blue spots but can be other colours from brown to
even green.
* Coral Trout is found in Oceania, Australia, south east Asia, and
Middle East.
* It is an open sea fish,
found in the coral reef ecosystem.
* Baby coral trout eat prawns and other small crustacians, while adults eat small coral reef fish
such as damselfish, parrot fish, banana fish and hardyhead bait.
* They are territorial
about their reef and seldom move away from it.
* Like barramundi and many other fish, they change sex during their life cycle.
* Unlike barramundi they are born
as females and later turn to males - so if you catch a
small fish it's a female and if you catch a big one it's a male.
* They can live up to 15 years.
* Good places to catch them
are deeper reefs, as well as the edges and drop-offs of the reef.
* The best time is the Dry
Season.
* They
are most often caught in
the bottom of the sea,
by bouncing the corals or jigging close to the reef floor.
* They take bait and lure,
false baits and jigs.
* Like with other fish the bait is best alive.
* Squid and small fish are good baits.
Trevally
Trevally
is a common fish to catch in Cape York.
It is a
great
sportfish that puts on a
good fight.
And it is a nice fish to eat.
They are mainly found in the Southern Hemisphere, in Pacific,
Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and they are found in the waters around
Cape York.
They have a yummy flavour and not too much or too strong bones. They
are easy to barbeque or throw on a camp fire, and they are also
commonly smoked, grilled and baked, sometimes with stuffing. It can be
marinated, but don't freeze it. Like queenfish,
it's not very
good after freezing.
Gnathanodon
speciosus,
Seisia wharf.
There are
a
few different species found Cape York.
Giant TrevallyCaranx ignobilis
is found in
all marine habitats and can be caught on the reef as well
as rivers and river mouths.
Golden TrevallyGnathanodon speciosus
is found
in tidal estuaries, rivers, beaches and deep lagoons as well
as seaward and inshore rocky reefs.
Big Eye TrevallyCaranx sexfasciatus
is
mainly found in the coral reef habitat and is found in all the marine
waters of Queensland
including Cape York.
Queenfish
Queenfish
is a common fish to catch in Cape York.
It is a
particularly common catch when fishing in Weipa
and from Seisia Wharf,
but of course,
there is just as much of it elsewhere.
It is a tropical salt and
estuarine
water fish, and it is found in tidal estuaries and
mangrove habitat in
northern
Australia.
It puts on a fair fight
which only
makes it all more exciting. Although
some
people don't like it (we are quite spoiled up here with good eating
fish like coral trout
and barramundi..),
'queenie' is a
good fish to eat
- if you can eat it fresh - don't freeze it.
It is also called 'skinny',
and appropriately so - due to its skinny build, thin fillets, and in
fact quite much wasteage when cooked. The good old barbeque is a good
way to cook it.
Queenfish,
near Weipa.
Below are some more
queenfish facts:
* Its other names
are leatherskin, talang and giant dart.
* Their latin name is Scomberoides commersonnianus.
* They are silvery grey
in colour, sometimes with a yellowish, golden
belly, and have a darker, often bluish head.
* They are most often a couple of kilos, about a half a metre fish,
but could weigh up to 10, even 15kg.
* They are coastal fish
- you may catch them in river mouths, beaches, rocky headlands,
offshore islands, inshore reefs.
* They are found in the coastal waters of the northern half of Australia.
* They are mostly around during the Wet
Season.
* The best time of the
day to catch them is dusk and dawn.
* Also the best timing is rising or changing tide.
* Queenfish likes bait
as well as lure and tackle, and can be caught with rod as
well as reel.
* Like other fish, it prefers live
bait, and it's best kept in a current.
* Squid is a good bait, or small fish such as sardines.
* Good lures
are spoons, jigs, poppers, minnows and trolling heads.
Reef
Shark
On your
travels in Cape York, you may catch a reef shark.
It is
quite
common to catch in the waters around Cape York, and elsewhere in
the waters of northern Australia. There are
three species in the
waters around Cape York - grey, black tip, and white tip.
The Black
Tip Reef Shark
is easy to recognise thanks to the black tip of its dorsal fin, but
also some other fins. It is a very common shark, one of the most common
ones in the coral reefs in this part of the world.
The White
Tip Reef Shark
is darker in colour, and as you may have guessed has a white tip on its
dorsal but also some other fins. It is a small shark with a slender
body, and it is another common shark in Indo Pacific coral reefs. The Grey Reef Shark
is another common shark but it tends to be more coastal than the other
two. It sometimes has a white tipped dorsal fin. This shark
has
occasionally attacked humans.
Rock
Cod Fish
So
what kind of rock cod fish do we have in Cape York... I asked myself
after we caught one in Weipa that looked like a rock cod.
After
checking with my fish
book I found out that we
have a
good few different
species of rock cod in the waters of Cape York, and not
only that - also groupers that also belong to the
complicated family of Serranidae.
Rock
cod fish in
Weipa.
So if you catch a cod looking fish (most of them have dots) in the
waters of Cape York, it could be:
Cephalopholis
Species
Tomato
CodCephalopholis sonnerati
- a max 50cm long fish that is anything from deep red to orange and
pale brown, with red to brown spots.
Leopard RockcodCephalopholis leoparda
- max 20cm long fish, orange to brown, spots darker red to orange. A
distinctive darker saddle behind dorsal fin, and series of spots or a
stripe on caudal fin.
Coral RockcodCephalopholis miniata
- a max 40cm long red fish with blue spots, orange and 'spotless' when
younger.
Flagtail RockcodCephalopholis urodeta
- a max 30cm long fish, red to orange, white lines on caudal fin and a
dark tail.
Blue Spotted RockcodCephalopholis cyanostigma
- a max 35cm long fish, juvenile black with orange back and fins, adult
brown with blue spots. Peacock RockcodCephalopholis argus
- a max 45cm long fish in peacock colours - blueish green, also
yellowish on the back. Blue spots, distinctive white patch in front of
the base of pectoral fin, also large white bars.
Rock
cod fish near
Weipa.
Epinephelus
Species
Snout Spot GrouperEpinephelus polyphekadion
- a max 65cm long fish, pale in colour, dark spots, as well as a dark
saddle and two dark spots on snout.
Coral RockcodEpinephelus corallicola
- yes, this is the second coral rockcod on this page, showing if you
want to identify a fish properly the common names don't mean nearly as
much as the Latin ones. This is a different species, max 50cm
long fish
(usually max 30cm though), pale grey in colour with lighter patches and
dark spots. Purple RockcodEpinephelus cyanopodus
- Not purple at all - light blue with darker spots, claudal fin corners
black. Juveniles have black stripe instead, and other fins orange to
yellow. Can be up to one metre long but most often seen much smaller,
only about a third of it. Brown Spotted GrouperEpinephelus coicoides
- a large, up to one metre long fish, pale coloured and brown spots. Marbled RockcodEpinephelus maculatus
- a max 50cm long fish with a honeycomb pattern with brown, cream and
black colours mixed. Small spots on the head.
Long Finned CodEpinephelus quoyanus
- a max 35cm long cod fish with similar colours and pattern as the fish
above. Smaller size fish, spots on the head larger.
Honeycomb CodEpinephelus merra
- even smller fish, max 28cm, the same honeycombe pattern and colours,
the spots on the head are smaller and there is more of them.
White Specled GrouperEpinephelus ongus
- a max 35cm long fish with similar colours as the fish above, pattern
blotched with white speckles.
Red Barred Rock CodEpinephelus fasciatus
- a max 35cm long cod fish, distinctively reddish brown and striped,
small white and black in the tip of the spines of dorsal fin.
Rock
cod fish near
Weipa.
Other
Species
Barramundi CodChromileptes altivelis
- a max 70cm long cod fish, whiteish with dark spots, but a distinctive
body with huge fins in proportion to the body, and a barramundi shaped
head.
White Lined RockcodAnyperodon leucogrammicus
- a max 50cm long fish, creamish with orange spots, and distinctive
white lines on the sides. Footballer CodPlectropomus laevis
- a large, up to one metre long cod fish, whiteish with grey saddles
and
darker grey fins, blue spots on darker parts. Juveniles have yellow
fins, darker saddles, brighter white, and no spots. White Square CodGracila albomarginata
- max 45cm long fish with a distinctive white square on sides. Rest of
the body purpleish. Lyre Tail CodVariola louti
- a
red to brown, max 80cm long
cod fish with
blue spots, found in rocky
and coral reefs, adults in outer reef.
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This complete 300 pages
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detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
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how to deal with the national
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This site uses British
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Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.