North Queensland Freshwater Fishing Options

By Robert Thornton 

North Queensland is a world-renowned fishing Mecca, and rightfully so, with its myriad rivers and inshore reef systems and the hard-pulling and often great tasting species that live in them. One slice of this angling heaven is often overlooked, however, and that’s the freshwater fishery.

Freshwater, though plentiful in the tropical north, tends to fly under the radar of most anglers in this region. With more ‘desirable’ species available in tidal and offshore waters, these sweetwater gems often enjoy far less fishing pressure, resulting in world-class fishing opportunities on unique species.

Whether it’s the farm-locked impoundments full of big barramundi, rocky mountain trickles brimming with jungle perch, sandy rainforest streams loaded with sooty grunter and mangrove jacks or the seasonal streams dominated by saratoga, any angler visiting North Queensland is doing themselves a disservice by only fishing the salt. Catching fish on lures in freshwater is very exciting, and up here there are so many places to do it.

In this blog, we’ll give you an overview of the freshwater options available to you in the far north, as well as the and tackle required to adequately sample this great bounty.

Freshwater fishing in North Queensland

Anglers have known about the amazing sweetwater opportunities in the north for decades, with sportfishing pioneers like Vic McCristal and Jack Erskine writing about their experiences with sooties and jungle perch as early as the 1960s. Despite this, these fisheries remained largely untouched for the rest of the 20th century, even by local anglers.

It wasn’t until the 1990s and early 2000s, with the stocking of barramundi in impoundments such as Proserpine and Tinaroo, that attitudes toward the fresh started to change. 

Within just a few years of these initial stockings, anglers had access to a fishery that reliably produced not only metre-plus barramundi, but sooty grunter in excess of 50cm. It was from these new and exciting resources that anglers started discovering the nearby streams that often held the same species – smaller but more numerous – as well jungle perch, mangrove jack, saratoga, and other tropical oddities like tarpon and archerfish. One of those anglers was Simon Goldsmith.

“When I moved to Townsville in 2000, I had plans to fish Hinchinbrook for barra and jacks,” he recalls, “and maybe some of the nearby dams.”

“I’d been blinkered to what was on offer,” he goes on, “social media didn’t exist, and the magazines tended to focus on the saltwater fishing, not the fresh.”

It wasn’t until a friend told Simon about the sooty grunter and jungle perch fishing available in the upper Herbert River near Ingham that Simon was forced to shift his thinking.

“I’d never heard of these fish before,” he explains, “but once I experienced the fishing it was like a lightbulb moment, and I thought, why aren’t more people doing this?”

For any boatless angler who likes throwing lures at aggressive fish, this style of fishing is, in Simon’s words, nirvana. Even today, a lot of these sweetwater havens receive little fishing pressure and can produce memorable sessions for anyone with a sense of adventure. This is only one dimension to the array of freshwater options though. Cape York Peninsula is a huge piece of land, and the varying climatic conditions across its different zones shape the local fisheries and the species in them. Let’s take an in-depth look at what’s available!

Tropical sweetwater options

The Gulf

The rivers flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria deserve their own mention, with this region exhibiting not only unique landscapes, but specific fish species as well. This semi-arid part of the world is characterised by seasonal river flows, searing-hot temperatures and tough fish that thrive in harsh conditions.

The freshwater stretches of rivers like the Leichardt, Wenlock and Norman are the natural habitat of northern or gulf saratoga. These prehistoric creatures are much like their southern counterparts in Central Queensland, differing slightly in coloration and anatomical features. Casting lures at snags in these pristine streams will also inevitably bring sooty grunter, barramundi, mangrove jacks, archerfish and other tropical predators to the party. Accessing these fisheries usually requires a good 4WD and is made a lot easier with a cartopper tinny or big canoe, but can also be done on foot.

East Coast

Travelling over the tip of the Cape, things start to change. Dry countryside and ephemeral streams give way to lush rainforests with year-round flows that empty into the sheltered waters on the inside of the Great Barrier Reef. These rivers offer many of the same species, but there’s a few unique twists as well.

Northern saratoga don’t show up in the eastern flowing streams, with jungle perch – another tropical icon – taking their place. With their preference for crystal clear pools separated by babbling riffles and runs, the rainforests of the eastern Cape provide ideal habitat for JPs. Barramundi, sooty grunter, mangrove jacks and tarpon happily co-exist with JPs, with the majority of the eastern flowing streams from the tip of Cape York down to around Mackay all harbouring these species.

The environment on the eastern Cape ranges from boulder-strewn trickles fed by mountain run-off and steep-sided gorges littered with deep pools, to shallow sandy-bottomed streams meandering through banana plantations and cane fields. All of them hold fish, and most of them can be walked or waded.

The dominant species of each system varies depending on the environment, with JPs tending to prefer the high-gradient rocky creeks, while sooties do better in the lowland streams that wind through farmland. The upper tidal freshwater will hold both species, however barramundi, mangrove jacks and tarpon start to take over as you head downstream toward the sea.

Impoundments

While not natural environments, the man-made lakes of the tropical north can offer fantastic fishing. The revenue generated from Stocked Impoundment Permits ensure a good supply of hard-fighting natives in these places. In lakes such as Moondarra, Tinaroo, Proserpine, Teemburra, Kinchant, Monduran and Awoonga, big barramundi are the primary target. Additionally, world-class sooty grunter fishing is available in lakes Julius, Proserpine, Eungella, Koombooloomba and Teemburra.

A boat, kayak or canoe will make exploring the many bays, inlets and coves much easier, as the banks along most lakes are on private property. It also goes without saying that the light spin tackle that works so well in the streams isn’t much use in the impoundments.

Metre-plus barramundi demand specific gear, and the monster sooties in these lakes will make a mockery of the bream weight outfits commonly used for their wild counterparts.

Tackle

Stream fishing on the east coast and in the gulf can be covered with standard lightweight tackle suitable for southern estuaries. The trick is to keep it light.

“A light 7ft spin rod with a 2500 spin reel is all you need,” Simon says, “sometimes I’ll take more rods, but they’re usually similar outfits, just rigged with different lures.”

The Wilderness X 705LFS Backseater rod is tailor-made for this style of adventure angling, and being a multi-piece travel rod it can be broken down and packed away for the long hikes often required to reach sweetwater honey holes. A 2500 Aird LT or TD Black MQ, depending on your budget, will balance this rod perfectly.

“For lures, you can cover most scenarios with a Bait Junkie 2.5” Minnow, Slippery Dog 80, and a few smallcrankbaits,” Simon explains, “A few Kikker Curlies might also come in handy when fishing the lower stretches where there are a lot of overhanging trees.”

The dams require much heavier tackle, especially if targeting barramundi. Baitcast and spin tackle both have advantages and disadvantages, but so long as you’re running at least 30lb braid and a 50lb leader you’re in the game. For a more specific run down of techniques and tackle for impoundment barramundi, click here. 

For sooties in dams you don’t need to go quite as heavy, though baitcast and spin outfits in the 2-5 or 3-6kg range with reels to suit are standard fare. Braided lines between 12-20lb with similar poundage leaders are useful not only for extracting 50cm+ sooties, but casting the heavy spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, crankbaits, topwaters and soft plastics that they like to eat.

“Where I like to fish in Eungella, the sooties can be sitting really shallow or really deep,” Simon explains, “so a spinnerbait around 3/8, 1/2 or 5/8oz is something that I can a long way and either buzz through the shallows or fish slowly through deep, sunken trees.” For more impoundment sooty tips, click here.

Risks and hazards

Traversing North Queensland’s waterways is not without its risks, with things like snakes, heat stroke, stinging plants and feral animals coming to mind. Crocodiles, however, are without doubt the most prominent threat for anglers, and safety needs to be a primary concern when in this part of the world. Crocodiles can and do show up in small freshwater streams well above tidal influence, so it always pays to be vigilant.

“I was never fond of wading water deeper than my knees,” Simon says, “and always liked to be able to see the bottom in any streams I was fishing.”

“My advice [if fishing streams] is to stick to clear water where you can see the bottom, be aware of deeper, shaded areas that feel like prime croc habit, and seek advice from locals about the areas you intend to fish.”

A fresh start

While not something on a lot of bucket lists, the freshwater fishing opportunities in North Queensland deserve more attention than they get. With the potential for picture postcard views, unique wildlife encounters and double-figure sessions on aggressive, hard-fighting freshwater fish, there’s a lot to like. Next time you’re heading north, make sure you pencil in a trip to the fresh – you won’t regret it!