Fishing:Conway Beach (Black Stump) Park

Hi Andy,

This is my neck of the woods - lived around there for most of my life. The creek to which you are referring is presumably, the Proserpine River and yes the fishing is pretty good on the right day. Trick is to pick your tides, incoming being the best. Also, you really need a tinny to get out on the water as the river is lined with mangroves making fishing from the shore difficult. You can expect to catch Barramundi, Salmon, Mangrove jack and some lesser fish. Trolling or putting out a bait to float in the current seems to get the best results.

Personally, I reckon the best thing was mud crabbing and this is a very popular pastime on the river. For this you will need either pots or dillies. Pots can be left overnight, whereas dillies are best left for say, no more than half and hour else the crabs can have a feed off the bait and get out of there before you pull the dilly up. Try to drop pots and dillies in holes which without a depth sounder is a bit hard to know, but at the very least in water not too shallow and not were the current is too strong (with the large tidal range, the current can vary quite a bit). We always used about 6 dillies, putting them out ,then fishing in between the time for checking them again. Never went home without a feed or fish or muddies or both.

Don't forget the midgie repellant.

Now feeling rather homesick...:-(

:o) Melissa

Andy, Melissa has told you about all the creatures around Proserpine except the crocs. She mustn't like you very much! Mal T.

My last answer fell into the black hole of computer hell! About 8 years ago I used to collect water samples for the Qld Govt. We never saw crocs but saw lots of the slide marks in the mud on the banks where they slide into the river. Locals also warned us about them. As croc numbers have been on the increase for years now I would not be taking any chances. Even fishing in the same spot repeatitively can be dangerous. That's my penny-farthings worth. Mal T.