Estuary & River Fishing

On a Cairns estuary fishing tour you can spend a half day or a full day exploring all the sink holes, mangroves and secret hiding places looking for that highly prized Barramundi, Grunter or Trevally and by booking a guided fishing tour you can be taken directly to the known hideouts of these fish and not be sitting and wasting time. Most of the Cairns estuary and river fishing boats have basic toilet facilities and offer a cup of tea or coffee for your afternoon or morning fishing tour. Cairns estuary fishing is a great half day activity for you and the kids or you and your mates.

Reef Fishing

Cairns is the fishing capital of Australia. The types of fish you catch on the Great Barrier Reef are some of the most highly prized table fish as they are white in flesh with a very mild and sometimes sweet flavour. When you charter a boat to go fishing on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from Cairns you will be bottom bashing and trawling for a large assortment of fish in these fertile grounds. Some of the fish types are Coral Trout, Sweetlip, Red Emperor, Cod Emperor and the large or small Mouth Nanni Gai, Tuna, Wahoo, all sorts of Mackerel, Mahi Mahi, Sailfish, Trevally Cod, Barracuda and much more.

Marlin Fishing

Cairns is the world famous place for the biggest Marlin catches in history. Marlin fishing is the big boys fishing and these highly prized fish are sought after by anglers from the world over. The oceans around Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef are known as one of the absolute best Marlin Fishing waters in the world and tournaments are held from Cairns up to Lizard Island. These giant Marlin move in from the Pacific to spawn in the months of September to December and the females can weigh over 1000lbs with 70% of all Marlin over a 1000 lbs being caught off Lizard Island to the north and Cairns to the south. The world record for Marlin is 1560lb and the Australian record is 1442lb.

Sport Fishing

Light tackle sports fishing is done mostly all year round on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from both the Port Douglas Marina and the Cairns Marlin Marina. You may jump on board a shared charter boat or pre-arrange your own private charter boat for a day out with your family or friends. Some of the Cairns fishing boats are fitted out with a little more comfort like air conditioned saloons and a team of hands to ensure you have a great day out fishing. From June to October you will be trolling inside the reef and from November to March you will outside the reef weather permitting catching a huge array of fish species for your table

Blue Water Fly Fishing

Cairns a favourite fishing place for Blue Water Fly Fishing. Blue water fly fishing sounds like a kids game but it is far from that as you are tangling with a very powerful Sailfish or Billfish on the end of your flimsy fishing pole as they shoot downwards to the depths of the ocean and take you for a ride for a few hours. You will be strapped into your chair and begin the fight between you and that big fish on the end of your fishing rod. You can chase these big fish on charter boats from both Cairns and Port Douglas but you will need to be prepared to book your berth in advance.