Family fishing holidays on Hinchinbrook Island

My extended family met in Lucinda to celebrate my mum’s 80th birthday. Some travelled 1400km from South East Queensland with boat in tow while those of us short on time flew to Townsville and hired cars for the 90-minute drive via Ingham.

We stayed at the Lucinda Fishing Lodge, which is set on the water’s edge and has a private pontoon where guests can leave their boats in the water. The waterfront grassed area with barbecues is the perfect spot to relax as you watch the sunset in a kaleidoscope of colours. The lodge also has plenty of parking for vehicles and trailers, as well as fish-cleaning facilities.

Across the road, the Channel Inn convenience store sells local produce, including a tasty array of seafood.

Just a stone’s throw from the fishing lodge, the Dungeness Boat Ramp is a four-lane concrete, all-tidal facility with heaps of trailer parking. There’s often a line-up at peak times. A short walk takes you up the stairs of a viewing tower for spectacular views of Hinchinbrook Island.

On the other side of town, Lucinda Jetty is the longest service jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, stretching 5.76km out to sea and serving as a bulk-sugar loading terminal. Nearby, there’s a holiday park for caravanners and campers, as well as a local café.

We were excited to learn that the chef at Lucinda Cove Resort, our chosen venue for the birthday lunch, would fillet and prepare our catch of the day. The challenge was on to catch fish, preferably big barramundi.

We chose to book a fishing charter with Nathan Kemp of Full On Fish’n Charters, who has fished the Hinchinbrook Channel and the Herbert River estuaries his whole life. Nathan runs most of his charters out of Dungeness and picked us up in his 6m punt at the lodge’s pontoon.

Nathan’s deep understanding of the tides, bait movement and fish behaviour was very helpful as we looked for structure in the water and tried our luck with livebaiting with floats. Depending on the time of year, look for structure and dirty current lines as fishing techniques will vary whether using bait or lures.

Target species include barramundi, mangrove jack, fingermark, threadfin salmon, estuary cod, queenfish, trevally and grunter. The warmer months are the peak periods, from September through to April (excluding Queensland’s closed barra season from November 1 to February 1).

We had a lot of fun hauling in a variety of species, including black bream, mangrove jack and grunter. My hubby was determined to cast his float just a centimetre or two from the closest log when suddenly – bang – the fight was on. Nathan grabbed the landing net, the barra broke the surface to perform the iconic jump and flick, but hubby kept calm and we all celebrated the centrepiece of our birthday feast.

Nathan warns boaties to be wary of the bigger tides, which create low-lying sandbars when they recede, leaving boats stranded until the next incoming tide. It’s also imperative that boaties keep a close check on the weather conditions and, as always when in central and northern Queensland waters, be croc-wise at all times.

Access to Hinchinbrook Island is only by boat or ferry, and the only way to get around is on foot or by beach-hopping in a boat or kayak. For those who like trekking, the Thorsborne Trail is a challenging (Class 5), 32km multiday hike that includes campsites that you need to book online.

Ingham local John Schmidt runs Absolute North Charters, which ferries hikers and day-trippers to and from Hinchinbrook Island. Accommodation is limited to camping, and some sites are reserved for boat-based camping and others for sea kayakers or for people who have booked the Thorsborne Trail.  

Just one hour north of Townsville and half an hour from Lucinda, Ingham is known as ‘Little Italy’ for its Italian culture and heritage. Here, you can stock up on supplies and plenty of tasty treats from the delicatessens and bakeries.

It’s well worth the 1hr drive west of Ingham to Girringun National Park to see the Wallaman Falls, Australia’s largest single-drop waterfall plunging 268m. Meanwhile, a 20-minute drive south of Ingham, the Jourama Falls offer swimming holes and campgrounds.

At Ingham, the TYTO Wetlands are home to 240 species of birds and various other animals. The rehabilitated wetlands offer extensive walking tracks, viewing platforms and an 11m-tall observation tower.

• Hinchinbrook visitor information: hinchinbrookway.com.au
• Book campsites: parks.qld.gov.au
• Lucinda Fishing Lodge: lucindafishinglodge.com.au
• Nathan Kemp’s Full On Fish’n Charters: fullonfishn.com.au
• Absolute North Charters absolutenorthcharters.com.au

The full version of this article ran in the August-September (Volume 41.4) issue of Club Marine Magazine. Find out how you can  subscribe to Australia’s leading marine lifestyle magazine here.