If you have ever wanted to go on a fishing adventure of a lifetime then this is a great place to consider. Cape York is situated at the very tip of northern Queensland and is home to a vast number of fish species. The near by Torres Straight Islands create a haven for millions of bait fish and in turn provide outstanding fishing for large pelagic fish.

Traveling down the Western side of the Cape the first main river system you find is the Jardine River. The mouth of the Jardine River is very shallow and just after the run off from the wet season the watercolour is a very dark from the Tannin stain. This dark shallow water is packed with baitfish and attracts huge predatory fish like Giant Trevally and massive schools of Queenfish. On our last visit we even had huge Permit to around 20 kg feeding around the boat (where was my fly gear when I needed it?). To be anchored on a dropping tide in a metre of water with no wind and glassed out conditions is a good day out in itself – but to be surrounded by nonstop action on these rampaging fish is something very special.

The sessions on Queenfish here can be extra ordinary. I have fished this spot on four occasions now and each time I have captured literally hundreds of massive Queenfish with the biggest going around 24lbs. Watching your popper scooting back to the boat and then getting totally smashed by these dynamic fish is great fun. If you have caught Queenies before you will know how exciting a fish they can be to capture. They will often leap five or six times in an attempt to throw the hooks and often they do. With screaming runs and incredible acrobatics in the shallow water it makes for sport fishing at its best.

The temptation to fish super light is always there but often very late in the afternoon the Giant Trevally make there way into the shallows to cause some havoc of their own and light gear just won’t stop them. I’ve learnt this lesson the hard way when I hooked a GT estimated at around the 80lb mark on 10lb braid. Soon after the incredible first run of around 300 metres it was fairly apparent that I was not going to stop this bad boy from making his way back into the deeper water and unfortunately into the mouth of a waiting Tiger Shark. The initial run from a big GT is unmistakable and provides for a serious adrenalin rush. A reel screaming for that amount of time at that pace is something I think as fisherman we all long for.

I did however, the following day go back to the Jardine after that disappointing result and make up for it on a Giant Trevally of around 50lbs which wasn’t a bad consolation prize.

On the surrounding beaches that flank the mouth of the river is a whole other world of fishing action. The species on offer here is one of my favourite in both its eating quality and it fight and that is the Blue Salmon. There are several more fish species to catch along these beaches but in my book nothing else compares to the strike and hard core run of a thumping Blue Salmon on super light gear. Salmon will take plastics, flies and minnow type lures but I have found the best results are with a metal slug retrieved at speed. The Salmon just can’t resist the fleeting action at speed.

The mouth of the Jardine River is just a very small part of the adventures to be had in this region of Australia. At particular times of the year massive schools of Mackerel pass through the straights and are so thick and crazed on bait fish its not uncommon to have a Spaniard leap into the air after a garfish and land in your boat. It really is that full on.

You can’t forget the Long Tail Tuna either during winter that pass through feeding in giant schools. There is no doubt that casting metals at these fish provide the best results but to see a Long Tail leap three feet in the air with your popper in its mouth is visual fishing beyond explanation. Couple that with super fast screaming runs and a very tough battle and you have a pocket rocket that will test your endurance. We have had daylong sessions that are simply incredible and are very rarely seen anywhere else.

The Cape also offers very good estuary fishing as well but that’s a whole other story. If you want to know more about a trip to Cape York give my mate Gary Wright a call on +61 7 40693400. Gary is always up for a good chat and will help you plan a fishing adventure I am sure you will never forget.

Mark Berg

Posted by Carl Vanderpal in Feature Story, Fishing Destinations
Tags: Cape York Australia, Fishing Adventure of a Lifetime, Fishing Videos, FREE Fishing Videos, Giant Trevally, Jardine River, Mark Berg, Queenfish
On Thursday, April 3rd, 2008