They’re fishing-mad in Rockhampton. Why you may ask? Well when the mighty Fitzroy River flows right through the middle of town, there’s no excuse not to love it!
Even the mayor loves fishing! She even showed up to chat to us in a fishing shirt! Margaret Strelow is her name, and credits the current Fitzroy fishing frenzy to the removal of commercial netting a couple of years ago. Since then, the river has developed an abundance of Barra and BIG King Threadfin Salmon.
Cruising down the river it’s awesome to see boats loaded with mates, and families all having a crack. Even the little kids out with mum and dad. Imagine landing a meter threadie as your first fish! It’s all possible up in Rocky.
To tackle the Fitzroy, you’re going to need some gear. We’d recommend hard bodies for the barra. Cast them into or just in front of snags and work them back to the boat. Twitching a few times on the way back. A heavier leader is idea here, especially when dealing with rocky snags.
The Threadies will hit a variety of lures, even live bait! Can we recommend a soft vibe. The fish have long pectoral filaments, or to you and I, that’s the whiskers you see hanging from their gills. These filaments can pick up vibrations of lures in the water before they can see them, so a lure with a little bit of buzz to it will work well.
You can grab all this gear from your local BCF. The guys in the Rocky store are a perfect source of info to target the Fitzroy, as they do it themselves!
What about a stay at The Empire Apartments? The multi-award winning hotel is mere metres from the river. The rooms are all self-contained, meaning you can take your catch back to your room and enjoy it overlooking the EXACT river it came from! Talk about food miles.
