Tourism Australia promotes Aussie fishing experiences

There's no question that Australia has some of the best sport and game fisheries in the world. Cairns has always attracted Hollywood greats, high-profile sportsmen and women, politicians and PMs, all thanks with giant black marlin. But as Tourism Australia writes in its new fishing promotional page, the diversity of Australia’s fishing experiences is as vast as the country itself.

Any way you look at it, Australia is an angler’s paradise. A massive island with a sparse population, the country’s coastline stretches well over 30,000 kilometres (50,000 miles) and is surrounded by clean, lightly fished seas, Tourism Australia enthuses.

Not surprisingly, the richness and diversity of Australia’s fish life is nothing short of mind-boggling, with around 2000 marine fish species and another 280 freshwater varieties discovered so far (we’re still counting). Many of these fish are found nowhere else on earth.

These staggering facts lead into the first ever interactive guide highlighting some of Australia's best fishing experiences for inbound and domestic travelling anglers.

Tourism Australia says included in our catalogue of fishing riches are such glittering prizes as chrome-silver barramundi, massive Murray cod, the world’s greatest seasonal concentration of the huge black marlin, record-breaking giant trevally, succulent snapper and whiting, and some of the finest trout fishing to be found anywhere south of the equator.

Abundance, variety and diversity are the core characteristics of Australian fishing. Casting a line here is a giant lucky dip, and some of our tropical destinations have been known to yield well in excess of 50 species per angler in less than a week of fishing.

Not that you need to travel to the more remote and far-flung corners of Australia to experience fishing bliss, it continues, there are day-trip opportunities right on the doorsteps of our major cities. These allow you to mix the pleasures of fine dining, entertainment and cultural immersion with offshore pelagic fishing or river angling.

Better yet, because Australia is situated in the southern hemisphere, our seasons are reversed. While North America, Europe and much of Asia are experiencing winter weather, we’re enjoying summer sunshine. So come on down and wet a line. The water’s fine, the fish are biting and the locals are friendly.

At the same time, smart State Governments have been getting behind recreational fishing with record fish stocking and supporting infrastructure. All this has to a be a good thing for our charter boats, skippers and crews, and guides. And it makes us boat owners feel pretty good about our local fishing opportunities, too.

Check out the new Great Fishing Adventures of Australia landing page.