Tackle

All tackle is supplied on the charters run by our company, however many people when travelling wish to bring their own tackle, myself included, so here are a few suggestions.

Fishing at Hinchinbrook & Cape York, while both are very different locations and styles of fishing differ, tackle requirements are very similar.

For the flyfishers, inshore work requires an 8 or 9 weight, a reel capable of holding 150 to 200 metres of backing and an intermediate line. Other rods from 7-11 can also be of use depending on your target species. The clear intermediates lines are good but not a necessity. Sinking lines or shooting heads are sometimes necessary when targeting pelagics in deeper water or fast currents.

Flies can range from small clouser variations, pink thing, decievers to quite large flashy profiles. Including shrimp & crab patterns, top water flies such as poppers & crease flies. Some form of weed guard is necessary when targeting Barramundi and the like in the tight situations. Tippet material ranging from 6kg fluorocarbon to 60lb Jinki.

Below are some samples of flies that are in everyday use at Hinchinbrook and Cape York. The first picture shows some flies used in the estuaries targeting Barramundi, Threadfin Salmon, Mangrove jacks etc. They all have some form of weedguards, two on the left are from Ken Culgins collection and swim hook up and the other two have mono weedguards of different forms. The 2nd shows a variety of flies used on the flats targeting Trevally, Queenfish, Permit etc and the 3rd shows some profile flies used for chasing larger pelagics in wider deep water.

For the lure fisher, casting all day I personally prefer smaller overhead/baitcaster reels. The low profile types such as Shimano Curado or Chronarch are very good or smaller traditional type, ABU 5600, Calcutta 200, Diawa Millionaire etc. Spooled up with 30lb braid and a 40-50lb leader. Matched to a 6ft 4-6 kg rod will stand you in a good position to land that trophy fish.
I would bring two of those outfits and one 4-6kg light spin outfit to cast light slugs, soft plastics and poppers to GT, Tuna, Queenfish etc.
Lures; lots of variety from small metal slugs, 3-4 inch poppers and minnow lures such as Killalure Flatz Ratz, C Lures, Halco Laser Pros, Storm Thunder Sticks, Gold bombers, B52s etc. Soft plastics have their place, Flick baits, Shads & Atomic prawns with assorted heads and worm hooks for Texas rigging.

Travel
Travelling to remote locations is not always easy as there are luggage restrictions. My best suggestion is bring only one large soft travel bag or large sports bags are the best. Pack all your tackle and clothes in the same bag using tackle trays etc. Pack your rods into a good tube and you won’t have any troubles, take hand luggage as well if you need. Cape York flights have a limit of 20kgs.