Australia's 5 top trailer boat fishing destinations

So, nominating five favourite fishing ports from the vast length of Australia’s incredibly diverse coastline is certain to generate a degree of heated debate, and I fully expect some readers to howl down my final list while enthusiastically proposing their own string of alternative contenders. 

That’s fine. Each to their own, I say! I gladly acknowledge the highly subjective and very personal nature of my final selection, but I would also argue that it’s difficult to deny the piscatorial pedigree of any of my top five picks. Here they are:

Exmouth, Western Australia

The location of this remote township — close to the tip of North West Cape in Western Australia —  provides an incredibly fortuitous combination of geographical features that almost seems to have been designed by a committee of keen fishers.

With the warm shallows and extensive flats of Exmouth Gulf to its east and the wonders of Ningaloo Reef and its adjacent tropical ocean currents and steep submarine drop-offs extending to the west, Exmouth is blessed with world-class, year-round fishing. 

Only the occasional cyclone seems capable of shutting down absolutely all options. At other times, there’s almost always a sheltered shore or stretch of sea to explore.

Every species of billfish found in the Indo-Pacific region visits these waters each year. Sailfish and black and blue marlin are especially prolific at times, as are several species of tuna and mackerel, trevally of all shapes and sizes, cobia, wahoo and a host of delectable reef species as long as your arm.

Closer to shore and inside the Gulf, big queenfish and spangled emperor swim cheek-to-gill with mangrove jacks, sweetlip, barra and far more exotic targets such as bonefish and permit. 

Anglers are truly spoilt for choice in this lucky part of the wild West!

Weipa, Queensland

If Exmouth has an eastern states’ rival for the crown of Australia’s fishing heaven, it’s definitely the mining town of Weipa, on the western side of Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland.

Weipa makes the perfect base camp and stepping-off point for exploring vast tracks of coastline, numerous mangrove-lined estuary systems and the shallow, fish-rich Gulf waters to the north, south and west, not to mention offshore reefs and gamefish grounds.

Red hot fishing action can begin as close to town as the Embley River and the Weipa harbour channel markers within a long cast of the town’s boat ramps, before extending in day-tripping distance and beyond to all corners of the compass.

The larger estuary systems to the south of Weipa are renowned for their saltwater barra fishing, while smaller systems stretching north to Seisia, near the tip of Cape York, represent a Mecca for fly and lure fishers hunting the tidal flats for golden trevally, giant herring, queenfish, permit and a host of other highly desirable target species.

Bermagui, NSW

One of the historic homes of game fishing in Australasia and a favourite base for legendary American angler and Western novelist, Zane Grey, during his visits in the 1930s, Bermagui has gone on from those early days to become a vibrant fishing port servicing both the commercial and recreational fleets.

Each year, from October until June, Bermagui hosts a string of tournaments targeting the prolific billfish, tuna and sharks that sweep south on the East Australian Current before concentrating over bait-rich grounds where the Continental Shelf narrows dramatically north and south of Montague Island.

But there’s more to Bermagui than adrenalin-charged bluewater sport and game fishing. Its reef and gravel beds are rich with kingfish, snapper, morwong, pigfish and flathead, while nearby estuary systems from Dalmeny, Wagonga and Wallaga in the north to Cuttagee, the Murrah, Wapengo and Mogareeka (Bega) in the south provide excellent results for those targeting bream, whiting, flathead, luderick, mulloway and estuary perch.

Portland, Victoria

Located four-and-a-half hours drive west of Melbourne along the gob-smacking Great Ocean Road, Portland is a gorgeous maritime town featuring distinctive and historic bluestone buildings and a snug, safe harbour. 

It sprung to prominence in Victorian game and sport fishing circles during the 1980s due to a string of successful light tackle bluefin tuna tournaments, but the fishing is certainly not limited to chasing tuna (which, by the way, have staged a dramatic comeback in both numbers and sizes across the past decade).

Yellowtail kingfish and several species of sharks, including some very serious makos, regularly visit Portland waters, while its reefs hold some great snapper at times. 

Inshore, King George whiting, squid, Australian salmon, trevally, pinkie snapper and garfish are abundant, while much further out, the deep drops at the edge of the Continental Shelf and beyond are home to some of the most consistent fishing for blue-eye trevalla to be found anywhere in southern Australia, not to mention the odd broadbill swordfish!

Note that Portland currently has restrictions on where you can fish due to an outbreak of abalone viral ganglioneuritis.

Port Lincoln, South Australia

A string of coastal ports on the Eyre Peninsula stretching all the way from Whyalla to Coffin Bay could each reasonably vie for the title of South Australia’s best fishing town, but it’s hard to go past Port Lincoln in terms of infrastructure, overall services, boating facilities and access to a broad range of recreational fishing opportunities.

The islands and inshore waters northeast and southeast of Port Lincoln are home to vast schools of delectable King George whiting, along with plenty of squid, garfish, leatherjackets, snook and other tasty treats.

Sadly, pink snapper are off the menu at the moment throughout most of SA, due to a closure of the fishery to help rebuild depleted stocks, but when the fishery re-opens again in a couple of years, the snapper action should be extraordinary!

Further south and out around the rugged offshore islands, big yellowtail kingfish, samson fish and southern bluefin tuna share the often rough seas with the most majestic super-predator of the world’s oceans: the mighty (and completely protected) great white shark. Fishing out here is not for the faint-hearted, but it can be incredibly rewarding.

As already stated, my list is a personal and highly subjective one,  Some of the coastal towns that very narrowly missed out on inclusion in my final tally include Hervey Bay in south-eastern Queensland, St Helens on the northeast coast of Tasmania, Port Stephen in NSW and Nhulunbuy (Gove) in the Northern Territory, as well as too many others to mention… I’m sure you could add a few yourself! 

The bottom line is that we’re truly spoilt for choice in this country when it comes to fishing opportunities.

So, what are you waiting for? Hitch up the boat and get going!

Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling is one of Australia’s best known and most respected fishing communicators.

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