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Awoonga Dam was created by damming the Boyne River with a  rock filled structure faced on the lake side and with a concrete skirt to mitigate erosion in the case of overflows.

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Even though South Trees Inlet is connected to the Boyne River it is a separate water course in its own right. Historically it was an inlet with a problematic braid linking it to the Boyne River but the transfer of water from the Boyne River to the inlet was very light. Between 2002 and 2005 around 400 meters of the braid toward the top of South Trees Inlet was excavated to create a canal which realigned that part of the braid and therefor to allow for a permanent flow of processed storm water and treated water from the Boyne Island Aluminum Smelter from the two large settling ponds which are often referred to as the 'Red Rock Ponds' as well as an easier flow from the Boyne river. Interestingly, without the very minimal braid from the Boyne River, and subsequently the canal, between the Boyne River and South Trees Inlet Boyne Island may have ceased being a true island.

Despite the fact that little water flows from the Boyne to the Inlet except at the times of floods South Trees Inlet has many of the same characteristics to parts of the Boyne River. The only road bridge is Harbour Road Bridge which links Parsons Point to South Trees Island. That road and bridge are not open to the public. As part of the industry only road system South Trees Island is linked to Boyne Island where the aluminum smelter is located by Handley Drive and the Handley Bridge over the second and smaller braid of South Trees inlet.

There are two other 'bridges' over the main arm of the Inlet. One is just south of the boat ramp and the second is about half way between that bridge and Parsons point. Neither of those are traffic bridges and instead carry service pipe works associated with QAL and the aluminum smelter. These bridges are however significant from a fishing point of view as they do provide additional structure within the inlet and of course they break the river up into sectors making it easier to identify hot spots.

The boat ramp with the upper pipe bridge in the background.

Handley Bridge between Lilly Island and Boyne Island.

The pilons ... just outside where the main arm of South Trees Inlet meets the harbour.

The river has a range of habitats from sand and mud flats and banks, overhanging mangroves for the lower reaches and trees and scrub as you progress toward the Boyne River. It also has some sand bars and a significant rock bar on the south east corner of the point creating the two arms to the inlet. There is also occasional drowned trees and large rocks throughout and of course of the river.

How to get there

South Trees Inlet can only be fished from the bank at the boat ramp or from the area accessed from the stopping bay about 200 meters north of the boat ramp and consequently most fishing is boat based.

Boat launching

The only boat ramp is about half way along the Gladstone Benaraby Rd. It's a 2 lane concrete ramp with parking for 20 or so cars with trailers and whilst I have never had a problem launching there it is described as sometimes tide dependent.

Closed season

Throughout the Queensland east coast a closed season applies to barramundi from midday 1 November to midday 1 February, except in and from waterways upstream of Awoonga, Burdekin Falls, Callide, Eungella, Fairbairn, Fred Haigh (Lake Monduran), Kinchant, Koombooloomba, Lenthalls, Peter Faust, Teemburra, Tinaroo and Wuruma dams.

There are also closed seasons for other fish that you can check out at http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/rules-regulations/closed-seasons-tidal-waters

Services & facilities available

South Trees Inlet basically links Boyne Island with Gladstone Harbour and both the town of Bayne Island and the fast growing industrial town of Gladstone have a reasonable range of services. There is also fuel, accommodation and lesser services at Benaraby which is where the Bruce Highway crosses the Boyne River and at Tannum Sands just east of Boyne island.

Target species

Being linked to the Boyne river below Awonga Dame and therefor subject to major overflows from the dam the Inlet has all the species that the dam holds. That list includes Barramundi, Bass, Mangrove Jacks and of course Fork tail cat Fish.

It also boast coastal species such as various Trevally, Queenfish, Tarpon and occasionally even Spanish Mackerel that run up from the sea and of course estuary species including Flathead, Bream, Whiting, Mullet and Estuary Cod.

Stocking

Since 1996, over 2.5 million Barramundi fingerlings and 470,000 mullet fingerlings have been released into Awonga Dam and as noted above many of those fish finish up in the Boyne River and consequently South Trees Inlet when the dam spills.

The Gladstone Area Water Board has a fish breeding program in place and breeds Barramundi and Mangrove Jack for stocking into Lake Awoonga as well as some of the surrounding waterways. Approximately 200,000 fish are released into Lake Awoonga each year (200,000 Barramundi and small numbers of Mangrove Jack).

The fish are bred at a purpose-built fish hatchery in Gladstone, operated jointly by the Gladstone Area Water Board and the Gladstone Ports Corporation.

The Board has a continuing fishery monitoring program in place using net surveys, to evaluate the success of the restocking effort.

South Trees Inlet also has a healthy population of Mangrove jack. They are basically a summer target especially when there is an afternoon storm looming which often puts them into overdrive. Target them on the ebb of the high tide tide when they are well up in structure. As the tide falls away from the mangroves and other shore structure the jacks retreat to deeper pools and generally go quiet. Hits are generally hard and fast followed by dramatic runs back deep into structure.

Food chain

A major nursery you will find bait fish throughout the South Trees Inlet system which are a dominant element of the food chain from a fishing point of view. There is however a well well balanced phytoplankton and populations of prawns and shrimp as well as a range of crabs and other crustations or also on the menu. Drowned terrestrials including, beetles, hoppers and cicada are significant to the food chain during summer.

Techniques

Choice of rods is important. If you use your trout gear and hook up to a Barramundi your gear will in most cases probability 'explode'. I suggest rods in the #9 or #10 weight range are best suited to fishing the Boyne River unless your fishing small delicate flies to the like of whiting or mullet. If your targeting Bream or Flathead on your #6 to #8 weight gear don't assume that you want get a Barra or a Jack as I have been surprised by big fish taking flies just 50mm long.

Reels and backing are important also and large arbor reels with an efficient drag system and a full complement of backing are certainly the go.

My main fly outfit (and the one I would carry if I could only carry one outfit) is based on an 8 foot 3 inch #10 weight rod matched with a saltwater fly reel. I like modular reels and mine allows me to carry intermediate, floating and T14 shooting head lines each set up on modular spools that can easily be swapped over onto the reel. As well as the line each spool has room for around 200 meters of 50lb braided backing. Each line has a 30cm to 40cm of 40lb leader nail knotted to it with a loop at the business end. For all three lines my preferred leader is generally around 7 foot of 25lb or 30lb Maxima Ultragreen. The leader is connected to the loop knot with a locked open loop. I use a Lefty's loop knot to connect all my flies. Finally, indispensable if you encounter the likes of Spanish mackerel I do carry some 30cm to 40cm shock tips of 50lb maxima ultra green and others that are 50lb wire. In both cases they have a roller swivel at the end that can be connected to my leader and a snap clip at the other end to connect to the fly.

I don't enjoy fishing when the tides are running hard and generally only fish in South Trees Inlet an hour or so either side and during the ebb of high and low tides.

Fly suggestions

Fly choice will certainly depend on species targeted. Bass and Mangrove Jack, pretty well universally, respond well to the types of flies in my My Bass and native Species fly box and My saltwater fly box.

Hot spots

This is a very fishy inlet with plenty to offer:

• There are two locations associated with the Red Rock evaporation ponds on Boyne Island.

• The first is above the Top Pipe Bridge and just before the canal starts. There is a little bit of industrial structure located there and a 'pump' type structure there that has a small discharge into the Inlet ... the area around that is always worth a look.
• The canal above that is only navigable at high tide but about one kilometer up there is an underwater discharge into the inlet.

Throughout the system when the tide is retreating from the mangroves and mud flats target the gutters for ambush predators like flathead and barramundi and the colour line for trevally and queenfish.

At higher tides and of course the ebb of the high tide consider working up the various back waters. Barra, jacks and flathead will have moved in with the tide and will be actively hunting.

As you get to know the river a little better you will identify individual pockets of drowned timber. These are prime positions for mangrove jack during summer.

I mentioned the four bridges above. All of the pilons for those bridges provide structure for bait fish and consequently predators and are great fishing locations particularly on the ebb of the tides.

These are the best areas in the southern arm of the braid:

• Just as you enter the southern braid there is a rock bar and rocky shoreline on the northern bank that often holds ambush predators. Directly opposite that there is a back water that holds a lot of bait fish at times and barra, queenies and trevally often congregate in front of during falling tides.
• Lilly Island is on the south east end of South Trees island and just east of Handley Bridge. Whilst it has island status on most maps Lilly Island presents as part of South Trees Island at lower tides. In any case a popular fishing location is colloquially referred to as 'The Lillies' and is along the south edge of Lilly Island. Best time to fish that is on either side and during the ebb of high tides.
• Above, below and under Handley bridge itself there is good water that often holds queenies and trevally.
• At low tides it's generally not possible to access the harbor from the Southern braid but when you can the channel heading into the outer extremities of Gladstone Harbour and the sand bans on either side are often worth a look particularly during the winter salmon season. If you do get stuck out there because of a falling tide you can either wait for the next high to open access to the southern braid or as long as it calm, and you and your boat are set up for open water, you can travel out and around the outer harbor berths and return back into South Trees inlet just short of the pilons and under Harbour Drive Bridge.

Others than back waters from my perspective there is only one main structure in the northern arm of the braid. That is just at the end of the island that splits the river into two braids where a sand and gravel bar provides structure that is always worth a prospect. The two braids also link at this point so you can of course access this sand and gravel bar by motoring across from Handley Bridge.

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The Narrows is a 40 or so kilometre stretch of water that runs between the mainland and Curtis island.

For me the southern end of the Narrows as far north of the Crossing just below Ramsay Crossing is the gem of the estuary fishing in Gladstone. The reason I focus on that area is that it presents plenty of great fishing options and it is easily accessible.

To fish the Narrows I suggest that the best place to launch is the ramp adjacent to the Gladstone Power station. It is basically an all-weather, all tide ramp, has a pontoon between the two ramps and plenty of sealed parking.

Alternatively on The Narrows itself there is a ramp on Targinie Creek but I don’t use that one because the waters adjacent to the ramp are quite shallow and most small craft including tinnies can bottom out at anything below a half full tide.

As long as you’re following your charts (such as those in Noel Patrick’s Curtis Coast) and are ever cognizant of structure and tides that, if in the opposite direct to the prevailing wind, cause chop to stand up and to be challenging it certainly worth exploring.

There is a second boat ramp on that gives access to that The Narrows above Ramsay's Crossing which is about 25 kilometers north of Gladstone Gladstone. I haven't used that because it only gives access to a small part of the Narrows north of Ramsay Crossing and you can only negotiate down the narrows through the Crossing toward Gladstone on high tides.

In any case it's about 200 meters after the Gladstone to Mt Larcom Road intersects the Bruce Highway turn right onto the outside Mt Larcom take The Narrows Road. Follow that gravel road for around 30 kilometres until the road intersects with the Narrows. Alternately you can get to the narrows road by taking the Targinie Road turn off just outside Yarwun on the Gladstone to Mt Larcom Road as if you were going to Phillipies Landing but when you get to where the road slits take the left fork which 20 kilometres along intersects with The Narrows Road.

When to fly fish The Narrows

For me the tide determines when and where to fish in The Narrows or if fishing in The Narrows is really an option.

The best time to fish the narrows is during the ½ moon tides so that the movement of water on the build and ebb of the tides is at a manageable pace. That is because the tidal variants are smaller thus avoiding the big fast tidal runs that come along with the big tidal variants and fast tidal runs of the New Moon and the Full Moon phases.

Even then it is important to remember that regardless of where you decide to fish in the narrows the water depth varies dramatically depending on the tides and there is plenty of structure like rock bars, sand bars and outcrops that are not navigable in some of the lower tides.

After taking all that into account my preference is to fish in the Narrows from an hour before high tide so I can fish the high tide neap and then fish the falling tide until I can fish the low tide neap. The neap being the tide changes when tidal runs are slowest.

For all sorts of fishing, regardless of what the tidal coefficient is outside that two hours before and after the half tides the Narrows is harder to fish.

That is particularly the case for fly fishing and consequently I limit my fly fishing to the the neap of the high and neap of low tides and generally revert to lures including, hard body lures, vibes and soft plastics at other times.

It doesn't matter if your bait fishing, lure fishing or fly fishing the bigger the tide and tidal coefficient, the shallower the low tide making any type of boating potentially less safe.
 

Target species

Barramundi
Mangrove Jack
Threadfin Salmon
Blue Salmon
Flathead
Bream
Whiting
Fingermark
Grunter
Queenfish
Trevally
River Jew Fish
Cod
Sharks
 

Boats and gear

I can fish The Narrows out of either of my own two boats.

The first is a 4.29 Rampage tinny with 30hp four stroke, sounder and electric motor.

The second is a 5.3 Polycraft center console with a 115hp four stroke, 3 sounders including live scope and a electric motor with anchor lock … my preference of course is the Polycraft.

That’s a biggish boat that I can carry heaps of gear in but if you’re setting up to fish The Narrows the key gear you need is as follows.
 

These are the outfits I take with me when fishing in mates boats and may give some guidance to you if your new to The Narrows

1)A medium spin or bait casting rod set up specifically for bream and flathead. I like a 20lb braid backing that is connected to a 3 meter leader of 10lb Sunline FC rock fluorocarbon with the connection between the two being a FG knot. I use a size #2 round snaps on the tip so I can easily change lures.

Soft plastics and lures that you choose for this set up should favour the species you are targeting on the day and of cause match your gear.

The common "by catches" when fishing lighter gear may include Mangrove Jack, Fingermark, Grunter, Whiting, smaller Blue Salmon and of course Cod. So, keep that in mind when setting up you light outfit you may want to go a little little heavier with the line weight if that will help your confidence in boating target fish or by catch fish. Conversely if your confident you can drop your line weight and that will increase the bite rate of fish.

2)A heavier spin or bait casting rod specifically set up for Barramundi and Threadfin. I use a 15lb/50lb Vennom spin rod for all my fresh and saltwater Barramundi and King Salmon and Blue Salmon fishing. That has 30lb braid backing and a leader connected to the braid backing with an FG knot of one rod length of 50lb Sunline FC 100 fluorocarbon. Again I have a clip on the tip to facilitate quick lure changes but this time I use Mustard #3 or #4 Fastach clips.

3)I am into my fly fishing so I always have a fly rod with me. For the narrows it’s a #10 weight Redding Predator which is 9 feet feet long. After plenty of experimentation I have found that I can use that across a wide range of species by just swapping leaders to suit the target species.

That rod is loaded with a #10 weight intermediate line. My leaders are rod length long and have a loop knot on one end to allow quick loop to loop connections between the fly line and leader and the leaders have a size #3 or #4 Fastach clip on the business end.

I carry a couple of different of each of the lighter and heavier leaders described below, often rigged with flies on a close cell foam board to cover my different presentation requirements and to save time when fishing.

a) For larger species such as Barramundi, King & Blue Salmon, Barramundi, Rive Jew Fish, Queenfish, Trevally, Grunter and Fingermark I use my standard big fish fly leader.

b) For smaller species such as Bream and Flathead I use a tapered leader made up of three sections of leader. The 90cm butt section has a 5cm loop at one end is 20lb Maxima Ultragreen monofiliment. That put's just enough spring into the leader to get a comfortable turnover of the fly line and to make clean presentations. The other end is connected with a Surgeon's knot to the middle section of the leader which is also 90cm long and is 20lb Sunline FC Rock. That's connected to a 90cm tip section by a section is monofilament so that I can get The tip is 10lb fluorocarbon and that is 1.2 meters long with a #2 round clip on the business end to facilitate easy fly changes.

4) I am not a bait fisher, so I won’t suggest what those set ups will be, but needless to say both dead baits and livies are popular baits for The Narrows.

The areas I like best are set out below.

 

On the Curtis Island side of the Narrows and moving from the Gladstone end of the narrows these creeks and other features are all worth a look.

 

Graham Creek or Graham Arm

With the right tide Graham Creek is definitely an option for me in the four days either side of the half moons which occur roughly half way between the full and new moon. The half moons are of course shown on the BOM tide charts. At that stage of the lunar cycle the tidal changes are at their smallest so that the highs are smaller and the lows are not as deep. The difference between the high and the low is a reflection of the tidal coefficient. The reason these small tidal changes suit fly fishing is there is less water movement between tides because the water is not falling or building as much and consequently the speed of the water will be slower and will not stir up as much sand, mud or other detritus matter. At those times I like to fish the last two hours or so of the building tide, the ebb at the peak of the high tide and then the first two hours or so of the the falling tide. That gives me a window of fly fishing opportunity of around four hours when the waters in The Narrows are much more fish-able with fly and because you fishing around the high tide your assured of having a good amount of water under the boat in most places making it relatively easy to navigate.

From the Gladstone end of the Narrows this is the first feature as you enter The Narrows and with its two feeder creeks Rawbelle and Logbridge is a big body of water in its own right. This is undoubtedly the most popular fishing destination in The Narrows from the Gladstone end and has the added benefit of not being very far from either the boat ramp at the power station or the boat ramp adjacent to the Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) headquarters in Gladstone.

Boat Creek, Monte Christo Creek and Mosquito Creek

All the creeks and inlets produce fish at various times and you can expect these creeks to turn up in reports at any time of the year. They are all coastal saline creeks rimmed with Mangroves and punctuated with some rocky outcrops and shallow mud or gravel bars. They are very popular with crabbers but are also top spots for bream and mangrove jacks.
 

On the mainland side and moving from the Gladstone end of the narrows these creeks and features are all worth a look.

 

First rock bank
The rock bank is out from the concrete works outfall and when the tides are moving there is always an eddy on one side or the other of the point in the rock wall. Barra do hang in the eddies at different times selecting from the smorgasbord board of offerings passing the eddies. It is also worth having a search along the rest of the rock wall in those prime times of an hour before and after dawn and dusk.

Second rock bank
The pipeline gutter running up to the rock wall on the west side of The Narrows opposite “the” Creek. Fish this on a rising tide as the barra come up the gutter and wait for the tide to flood the shallows and then when the tide is nearly full move onto the shallows and move south along the shore to position 2. Got there just before the end of the building tide but did see some fish moving as they moved up onto the shallows. This location should fish well before and after dawn and dusk or during the big fish feeding time which is generally around midnight.

For a morning session the ideal is something like
High 7am 4.5 meters plus – barra will run up the gutter as the tide builds so the best fishing time here will be 5am to 8:30am

Concrete works outfall pipes
This is about I kilometre south of Location 1 and consists of a 3 or 4 large pipes which drain the shallows behind a rock wall which the pipes penetrate. Saw heaps of action there but it was middle of the day. This location should fish well before and after dawn and dusk or during the big fish feeding time which is generally around midnight.

High 6am 4.5 meters plus – barra know the time and will take up positions toward the end of the build so that when the tide starts to fall they are in position. When I was last there all sorts of bait fish were coming out of the pipes and I even saw 4 size mud crabs wash past the boat.

Targinie Creek

 
Targinie is an expansive creek system has a lot mangroves, gutters, sandbars and other shore structure which hold fish at different times. It also has an expansive sand bar at the entrance to the Narrows that, particularly on an outgoing tide, is a good area for bream, whiting, flathead, queenfish and salmon. Targeni Creek also boasts numerous holes that harbour schools of river jew fish and quite a few big flathead and cod. The best known of these is at the entrance of the southern of the three arms which heads in the direction of Friend Point.
 

Black Swan Island and Arm

Another complex area that is often overlooked. Pelagics are often found around the island and whilst the arm itself is muddy haven for crabbers it also has good drains that are often ambush points for barra, flathead, big bream and small sharks that are very targetable particularly if you set up a berley trail.
 

Deception Creek

 

Rock and Gravel hole

in the Narrows right at Ramsay's crossing.
 

The waters around Port Alma

 

Berke Creek

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