Heading back to Cooktown for another tourist season so now this being my 3 rd year heading up that way I thought I’d put a post in relation to what to expect , local knowledge is your friend up this way and realising that weather plays a massive part in fishing I thought I would give a bit of a rundown on may experiences in recent times . Cooktown is windy 7 months of the year especially from the end of March on till about September and I mean windy consistently where you won’t get out of the Endevour river in anything other than a trawler or a large fishing vessel , so fishing the rivers and creeks are the go to at these times . A lot of locals still fish the wharf as it’s out of the wind and you can catch a large array of fish from this point on any given day ,everything from bream ,trevally , jacks , Barra ,and mackerel depending on the clarity which is usually clear as . Most of the locals use herring which are easily obtained most of the time useing a cast net or bait jigger which is my preferred method as I only want 8-10 per session and more are available if you want them ,cast netting for them is almost a sure thing if you want to gather enough for a few sessions and use them as dead bait later . A live bait bucket with a airbubbler is a great idea or alive bait bucket with a rope attached is the local way of keeping them alive and anymore than 8-10 in the bucket will see most of them die . Most people explore the areas of river in the Lakefield National park during the windy times for Barra and jacks and they can be prolific early in the windy season at least before nettles get in and rape these areas ,permits are required for camping in this spectacular area and are available at the parks and wildlife building just out of town heading towards hopevale permits are a must and they do patrol the area looking for illegal campers and fisherpeople . PLEASE BE AWARE THAT HEAPS OF CROCS inhabit the creeks and rivers up this way ,always be croc aware they are sneaky buggers trust me I have seen them heaps of times and some are massive . The Lure Shop in Cooktown is a great source of local information and are more than willing to give you tips on where and how to catch the fish of a lifetime in this area, they also do shooting trips similar to a charter if your into that sort of thing . Off shore action is spectacular in the fishing season up that way and you don’t have to travel far to get the smiles but it’s not going to happen unless you get up their before the wind comes up or until the wind dies of later in the year as stated above . Cooktown has plenty of camping and caravan facilities where you can stay but most downtown have midges and mozzies that can be really bad at times , I stay at the Cooktown Caravan Park and it is about a kilometre from town but midge and mossie free as it’s always windy which makes for a cooler stay , I personally would leave the big boat at home and bring a decent sized tinnie up here during the winter months as you won’t get out off shore and you will only leave with disappointment in your mind as I’ve seen heaps of times now .
Did I say be CROC [emoji246] aware at all times near the water as some are monsters and there are lots of them . If you are going up this year I personally would make a booking ahead as they are going to be busy with the Cooktown festival this year and pre bookings are out the window hence why we are going up early this year ,most parks can deal with campers as in finding a spot to throw your tent or awnings but be aware the place is windy and plenty of ropes and pegs are recommended.
I will leave it at that for now but yeah I can’t wait as I will be back up in a couple of weeks and will get a couple of offshore trips in before the mighty Cooktown winds arrive , In closing I will say that it can be frustrating catching some days as anywhere but when it’s on hang on because the fish are spectacular and some of the action I have seen and been involved in is nothing short of unbelievable .
I won’t get into fishing tackle as it’s too long winded and everyone has different ideas but all I will say is watch and speak to locals and your catch rate will be much better .
Thanks for reading I hope it’s of some help to the people who love to fish and want to get into some less explored and exploited areas of this great country . Matt
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Originally Posted by CT
