Fish Tales Charters Review
Fish Tales Charters runs share fishing trips out of Cairns with Darryl, a local who has fished these waters his whole life. The easy start is a half day on Trinity Inlet, right in front of the city, for $150 a person with rods, bait and tackle included. Keen anglers can go further: a full day on the rivers south of Cairns, or a day on the reef for coral trout and nannygai. You share the boat with a small group, so it suits solo travellers and families as much as groups of mates.
Fish Tales fishing charters and prices
Estuary share charter, morning
Trinity Inlet, 6:30am to 11:00am. Meet at Marlin Marina, Finger D, Berth 2. Meet at 6:30am.
Estuary share charter, afternoon
Trinity Inlet, 11:30am to 4:00pm. Meet at Marlin Marina, Finger D, Berth 2. Meet at 11:30am.
Estuary share charter, full day
Morning and afternoon sessions with about an hour back at the marina for lunch (bring your own). Meet at 6:30am, back about 4:00pm.
River share charter, full day
Mulgrave and Russell Rivers and Mutchero Inlet, about 40 km south of Cairns. Cairns pick-up and lunch included. Pick-up about 6:30am, back about 4:30pm.
Reef share charter, full day
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, about 6:30am to 3:00pm. Lunch included. Meet at 6:30am at Marlin Marina.
Prices per person on a shared boat: up to 6 anglers on the estuary, 4 on the river and 5 on the reef. Reef trips add the Great Barrier Reef reef tax, which we confirm when you book. Lunch is not included on the full-day estuary trip.
What is included on Fish Tales Charters
- Rods and PENN Slammer reels
- All bait (live and dead) and tackle
- Cooled bottled water
- An experienced local fishing guide
- River and reef trips: lunch and an esky with ice
- River trip: pick-up in Cairns
Is a Fish Tales charter right for you?
How the day runs
How a morning estuary trip runs. River and reef days follow the same idea over a full day.
Before you go
The full review
Fishing is one of the questions I get most from guests staying with our hosts, and Fish Tales is the charter I send them to. It is small, it is local, and Darryl and Raewyn run it themselves.
If you have never fished in the tropics, book a half day on Trinity Inlet. You leave from the marina in the middle of town, the bait is caught with a cast net at the start, and you fish the inlet for mangrove jack, fingermark, queenfish and, in season, barramundi. Four and a half hours is enough for most people, and the morning trip leaves you the afternoon free.
The full-day river trip is the one for keen anglers. Darryl trails the boat to the Mulgrave and Russell Rivers south of Cairns, and May to August is when those rivers fish best. The reef day is the big one: a long day out, lunch on board, and a chance at coral trout. Remember that barramundi have a closed season over summer, and the reef has short closures for coral reef fish.
Why it earns Best Fishing Charter and a 4.5: small share boats, gear and bait included, and three very different days to choose from at fair prices. The catch: there are no guarantees with fishing, and the estuary full day does not include lunch.
Fish Tales Charters FAQs