Rockhampton's coastal kayak fishing playgrounds

Soon after arriving in Rockhampton I was cautioned about the presence of crocodiles in the Fitzroy river, which dashed any plans I had of fishing it from the kayak. After speaking to the resident croc counter in the Rocky Tackleworld store I was convinced it would be wise to keep the kayak out of this river - especially during the time of my visit, which was right around their nesting season. Apparently this is when males become highly protective, presenting a greater threat than they otherwise do. Nearby Yeppoon and Emu Park, however, both offer some fantastic grounds for kayak fishing and are well worth investigating. So to are Corio Bay and Cawarral Creek by all reports, although many would tell you not to go kayak fishing in them alone, as crocodiles are present in these estuary systems as well. I spent my short time in this area focusing on the coastal grounds for this reason, although if I had someone with me, I'd be equally keen to investigate parts of the estuaries as well. Monster Flathead, Barramundi, Grunter and the occasional Threadfin salmon can be caught in both of them and although crocs are about, at the time of writing, there's not a hell of a lot of them.

I'm glad that I did concentrate my efforts on the coastal grounds around Emu Park and Yeppoon, because those few days amounted to some of the most exciting kayak fishing I've ever done. This included reeling in my first southern bluefin tuna, which gave me the fight of my life somewhere between Iron Pot rock and Cooee bay.

Bluefin tuna caught at Yeppoon - note the rope I had to secure it aboard with

Kayak Fishing Emu Park

Estuary cod in close

Iron Pot rock in the distance - view from Rita Mada

Kayak Fishing Yeppoon

A short distance to the north from Emu Park is the township of Yeppoon, which is the bigger of the two. With it's gaping main beach there is plenty of room for a relaxing kayak launch through the surf. Even more ideal to launch from is Cooee Bay, of which has a small but promising stretch of reef on the northern most point. There are also rocky shores on the southern point, although it was suggested to me by a local that the best bet is to concentrate on the northern point.

There is a large marina just to the south of Cooee bay, which is an ideal spot to launch from in the event of rough conditions. The protective breakwalls offer good protection from north, south and east and sometimes bait fish come in here for shelter to - often followed by trevally and queenfish. Bream are also caught in close to the breakwalls around the marina as well. In more accomodating weather, this is also a perfect spot to launch from to reach the highly recommended Iron Pot rock, which juts out like a sore thumb a couple of km's to the south. Large pelagics are a real chance along the way from the marina to the rock and Mackeral are commonly caught around the rock itself. Iron Pot offers a small, but effective wind barrier, making it a pretty good destination for the ocean-bound kayak fisherman. This is a suitable spot to be equipped with an anchor of some sort as the chances are you will want to remain in the calmer side if it gets windy and current will eventually draw you back into on coming breezes. Not only are anglers likely to be treated to large fish around Iron Pot rock (I caught the above pictured tuna nearby), there is also some spectacular scenery along the coastline as well.

Summary

Emu Park and Yeppoon are so close together that it felt right to just slice them into the same report and as such I've probably done neither of them true justice here. Indeed, I only went out on four trips between each destination. I did, however, talk to a few knowledgable locals at depth, including a friendly local at Yeppoon who offered to put my kayak on his boat and take me to out Findlay's reef (thanks Derel) and a local kayak fisherman in Emu Park, who pointed me in the right direction. While there are other areas to explore in these parts, the specific destinations mentioned above (and marked in the following page) are probably worth investigating first. Aside from fish, the obligatory assortment of sea turtles can be spotted along the coastal edges around these parts and a little further out shark sightings (and catches) are relatively common as well.

If one was so inclined, it would be easily possible to catch a ferry (from the marina in Yeppoon) to nearby Great Kepple island and launch a kayak fishing adventure around it's spectacular shores. One could also paddle to North Kepple Island to do the same, although care must be taken to observe the green zone. It's almost a 15km stretch to, so you'd want to be pretty fit to attempt it.

Fighting a 10.5kg tuna, Findlay's reef

Victor, TKO!

• Fishing reports & GPS Marks
• Recommendations