Hervey Bay, Australia
Flats Fishing for Marlin and Longtail Tuna
The sheltered waters of Fraser Island and Hervey Bay offer one of the very few places in Australia that has an overlap of southern and northern fish species. Snapper, barramundi, flathead, threadfin salmon, longtail tuna, GTs, queenfish, juvenile black marlin, golden trevally and more can all be caught fishing here.
Year-round fishing
The guides at Hervey Bay Fly and Sportfishing Charters offer access to the fish-rich waters in the bay and along Fraser Island. There are wonderful fly fishing opportunities for both flats sight fishing and bait-balling tuna.
Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world lies to the east, helping to shield the bay from the south easterly trade winds. With this protection, and the maze of creeks in the Sandy Straits, the Hervey Bay area has plenty of options for all weather conditions.
The flats of Hervey Bay are renowned as one of the birth places of flats fishing in Australia and in the summer months its not unusual to see a wide range of species coming up to feed. From tailing golden trevally, cruising queenfish, big GTs, yellowtail kingfish, black marlin and longtail tuna just to name a few. Targeting these species on fly and lure will certainly get your heart pumping.
What really sets this part of the world apart, is it is one of the only known places where you can see juvenile black marlin cruising the shallow flats. Chasing these ‘little black torpedoes’ with a fly can be incredible.
Range of accommodation options
The town of Hervey Bay offers a range of hotels for anglers and we can advise on everything from simple self catering to more comfortable accommodation with sunrise views over the harbour.
Easy to reach from major cities
Hervey Bay offers a great add on for those visiting Australia as part of a longer fishing or non-fishing itinerary. There are direct flights daily from both Sydney and Brisbane on Qantas and Virgin Australia.
It is also possible to build Hervey Bay in as a stop-off as part of an east coast self-drive itinerary along the Gold and Sunshine Coast. It is approximately 3 hours 30 minutes by road from Brisbane.