Cooktown is the closest town to the Great Barrier Reef.
So when conditions suit you can be fishing for coral trout, nannygai, tuna and mackerel on Dawson reef within 10 minutes of leaving port.
Heading north out of the harbour will bring you to Cape Bedford. Fishing options here are varied – throwing lures for barra and jacks around the mangroves, poppers for GT’s and queenfish, casting metal slugs for tuna and mackerel or jigging with soft plastics around the wrecks for big fingermark and nannygai.
Moving south will take you past Archer point and down to the Wet Topics coastline where the rainforest meets the reef. This is a remarkable environment. Crystal clear water floods the reef, seagrass beds and mangroves on a making tide bringing with it a host of fish species. Superb lure casting for mangrove jacks, tarpon and trevally with a backdrop that can only be described as breathtaking. Turtles, sharks and dugongs inhabit this World Heritage listed area.