Welcome to this week’s edition of the Tackle World Cairns Weekly Fishing Report.
Each week, the Tackle World Cairns Fishing Report brings you the latest local insights across Far North Queensland. From the reefs off Cairns and Port Douglas to estuaries like the Daintree, Russell, Johnstone, and Hinchinbrook, we cover what’s biting, where to go, and what gear is working. Whether you’re chasing coral trout, nannygai, or mackerel offshore, or barra, jacks, and queenfish inshore, the Tackle World Cairns team has your FNQ fishing forecast sorted.
It’s been a cracking week on the water with calm conditions firing up both reef and estuary fishing. Barra are on the chew across multiple rivers, queenfish are back smashing surface lures while Spaniards are thick on the reefs, and coral trout have been red hot, plus a few marlin in the mix!
Reef Fishing
Calm weather saw a rush offshore, with coral trout in big numbers across reefs like Thetford, Elford, Batt, Gibson and Yamacutta. Nannygai (large and small-mouth), red emperor, spangled emperor, reef jacks, grass sweetlip, bar-cheek trout and cattle dog cod added variety to mixed reef bags. Fingermark were caught on coastal reefs, with freshly caught squid and live herring proving irresistible.
Spanish mackerel have been the big drawcard, taken on trolled deep divers, rigged gar and floated pilchards. While Spaniards are thick, sharks continue to rob plenty of hooked fish. Small black marlin and sailfish are still being caught in the open paddocks adjacent to Oyster Reef and the eastern grounds off Fitzroy Island, adding some real excitement to the offshore scene.
Largemouth nannygai have been caught in good numbers off Cairns recently with Reef Runner Charters.
Plenty of trevally around keeping the rods bent
Louise Lark and mates enjoyed a successful reef fishing adventure with Cairns Reef Fishing recently, landing multiple coral trout and trevally.
Islands & Headlands
The Family Group Islands turned on great fishing with school mackerel, Spaniards, sweetlip and bar-cheek trout in the mix. Spanish mackerel are also stacked around reef edges near the islands and the usual haunts around Dunk Island and Fitzroy Island, but again, the sharks are thick and decimating catches. Slow trolling wolf herring and garfish along with deep-diving lures has been effective. Floating pilchards and trolled silver spoons have been productive on the schoolies. The coastal reefs are seeing some nice trout, and decent painted crayfish have been speared.
Spanish mackerel have continued to take floated pilchards while bottom fishing on the trout bommies.
School mackerel have been regular captures around the southern Islands.
Rivers & Estuaries
The barra bite has been much improved. The Endeavour, Daintree, Cairns Inlet, Barron and Cooktown Wharf all produced quality fish. Lakefield National Park also fired, with hot sessions casting lures in the rivers and lagoons. Live prawns, mullet, pike and soft prawn imitations have all been winners in the estuaries and harbour.
The Cairns Inlet and Daintree have also turned up solid mangrove jacks, while queenfish and trevally are showing again around the Daintree mouth and further south in the Russell and Johnstone Rivers, smashing surface lures. Mourilyan Harbour produced grunter, and the Hull River offered a few barra and jacks. Mud crabs are again finding their way into pots after a quiet spell.
Mangrove jacks have been actively taking live mullet in the Cairns Inlet snags with Fish Tales Charters.
Queenfish have returned to the rivers and Fish Tales Charters clients have enjoyed some hot sessions on surface lures.
This young angler celebrated his birthday fishing with All Tackle Sport Fishing in the Cairns Inlet and landed this ripper 105cm barramundi. What a great birthday present!
Fresh Water
Tinaroo Dam has been quieter this week on big barra, but with the first quarter moon building to full from Sunday, these monsters should fire back into action. Large soft plastics, vibes and surface lures cast around the points holding the warmer water are the prime target locations. Pre-dawn is generally the prime feeding period as bait rises to the surface and the barra start hunting.
Weekend Outlook
Small boat anglers should make the most of today’s glassy conditions before the weather shifts, with winds forecast to climb to 15 to 20 knots across Saturday and Sunday. Larger boats will still get out wide, and the neap tides will play in their favour, with coral trout and nannygai the main drawcards in deeper water country. Spanish mackerel might quieten off until the bigger tides push in ahead of the building full moon next week, but fish will still be found around pressure edges for those putting in the time. On the light-tackle front, the early run of small black marlin and a few sailfish are already being worked around the bait schools, as crews fine-tune their tactics ahead of the fast-approaching Cairns Bluewater Billfish Tournament on September 10.
Closer inshore, the neap tides create ideal conditions for river and estuary fishing. Fingermark and trevally are the prime targets in the deeper holes on live baits, while barramundi will respond well to prawn-profile soft plastics dragged through deep river timber structure. Clean, slow-moving water will also give surface lures a workout, with queenfish and trevally expected to show up in good numbers across the Daintree, Russell, Johnstone and Tully systems.
Looking ahead to next week, the building full moon should light up the action on Tinaroo Dam and see the big barra back on the bite. Barra and mangrove jack activity will also fire across estuary and river systems as tidal flow strengthens and water temperatures continue to climb.
Big barra like this fish by Jai Irwin will be targets dredging soft plastic prawns over the deep river timber.
Fingermark will be a prime target live baiting the deep Estuary Holes this weekend
The major river mouths will be prime locations to target a big queenfish on surface lures this weekend
Need gear, bait or just a bit of local advice?
Swing by Cairns Tackle World at 172 Aumuller Street, Bungalow to chat with your local independent fishing experts.