Cairns Fishing Report | 17th October, 2025

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Tackle World Cairns Weekly Fishing Report.

It’s been another cracking week across the Far North with warm temperatures and rain firing up reef, river and inshore fishing alike. The reef bite has been consistent despite the smaller tides, producing full boxes of quality reds and reef fish, while inshore the barra and mangrove jacks have come alive across most systems. Offshore game fishing has also ramped up with the Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic kicking off in style and multiple big fish being caught from The Ribbon Reefs to Linden Bank off Cairns.

Although conditions are set to freshen into the weekend with southeasterly winds up around 15 to 20 knots, there’s still plenty of opportunity across sheltered inshore grounds, estuaries, rivers and impoundments. Ensure you check out below a couple of spawning closures that will affect reef fishing this weekend.

The reef fishing scene has continued to deliver solid results this week, with large-mouth nannygai again leading the charge for boats working the deeper ledges and rubble patches between Cairns and Cooktown. Crews fishing baits of pilchard, squid and flesh strips in 40 to 60 metres have filled ice boxes with quality reds, while coral trout have been consistent over the bommies and pressure points holding bait. Grassy sweetlip, red-throat emperor, painted sweetlip, cod and stripeys added variety to catches.

Spanish mackerel numbers tapered a little on the small tides, but several quality fish to 20 kg were taken trolling deep divers and floating baits around Sudbury and Pixie Reefs. Anglers fishing the reef edges where bait schools are holding also picked up trevally, cobia and the odd jobfish.

Further north, offshore from Cooktown boats fishing close grounds such as Dawson Reef found a mix of coral trout, grassy sweetlip and trevally, while game fishing attention focused further wide at Lizard Island, where seven marlin were tagged and released on day one of the Black Marlin Classic, a promising start to the tournament.

Topwater enthusiasts have enjoyed another great week with queenfish and trevally back in good numbers, chasing bait schools along the coast and river mouths. Cooktown Wharf has again been a standout for land-based anglers, as big queenies and trevally hunt under the bait clouds. Early morning high tides have been best, with stickbaits, poppers and small metal slices and live baits producing fast paced action.

On the reefs, sportfishing crews casting poppers and stick baits across shallow bommies and pressure points holding schools of fusiliers have tangled with a variety of trevally species including giant trevally and other reef predators that tested both tackle and anglers.

Estuary fishing has been firing with barramundi hot across most systems including the Daintree, Cairns Inlet, Mulgrave, Johnstone, Liverpool and Hinchinbrook Channel. Recent rain has fired the fish up, and both lure and bait anglers have been rewarded. Soft plastic paddle tails, prawn imitations, and hard bodied lures worked through snags and structure have accounted for quality fish, while those soaking live mullet and herring have enjoyed steady catches.

Mangrove jacks have also been extremely active in the shaded structure under the mangroves, submerged structure and deeper edges, hitting live baits and soft plastics alike. Fingermarks continue to show in the deeper holes, taking live herring and squid, while queenfish and trevally are frequenting the river mouths chasing bait schools.

Bait anglers have been scoring bream and whiting around the creek mouths and sandbars using prawns and yabbies, and there’s still a steady run of mud crabs being potted along the mangrove fringes. In the freshwater reaches, sooty grunter, jungle perch, tarpon and smaller barra have been keeping light tackle fishers entertained between rain showers.

Reef fishing will be heavily impacted by two spawning closures that come into force this Saturday 18 October. Coral Reef Fin Fish will be off limits from Saturday through to Wednesday the 22nd of October over the new moon spawning period. This will rule out reef bottom fishing over this period.

Spanish mackerel will also be off limits from Saturday through until the 8th of November for their spawning period. Other pelagic species including wahoo, mahi mahi, tuna, marlin and trevally can all be targeted and taken during the closure.

The weekend forecast is looking a little lively with southeasterly winds around 15 to 20 knots, restricting smaller boats to sheltered waters. Larger reef and game boats may still get offshore, targeting offshore pelagics. The sheltered reefs will also offer top water action casting the shallow reef flats chasing a variety of trevally species.

Inshore creeks, estuaries, river and impoundment systems will provide the best opportunity, with barramundi and mangrove jacks staying active over an ideal tide set. Both casting lures and soaking live baits should turn up a few nice fish. The odd grunter should be roaming the flats for the bait fishermen with fresh strip baits of mullet and garfish primo.

With tides building and the new moon phase approaching, impoundments including Tinaroo Dam will see a bite on big barra casting the points pre dawn with large soft plastics and shallow minnows. The freshwater creeks will also be worth a fish chasing sooty grunter, jungle perch, tarpon and barra. Trevally and queenfish will be in the major river mouths again and a target on surface lures with the early morning high tide the premium bite period.