Burrum Heads

Burrum Heads is a holiday village on the southern shore of the Burrum River mouth, where four rivers — the Burrum, Isis, Cherwell and Gregory — drain into Hervey Bay through one channel. The beach along the village faces straight onto that channel, so a big tide pushes a lot of water and bait past a short cast from the sand. Flathead and whiting work the edges, bream and trevally patrol the drop-off, and queenfish come through on the run. The village has a boat ramp, a caravan park and a lot of people who will tell you it was better last week.

Fish the beach along the channel on the last of the run-out and the first of the run-in, casting soft plastics or baits down the drop-off for flathead. Whiting take yabbies and worms in the shallower gutters on the rising tide. Throw metal slugs or poppers into any surface action on the run for trevally and queenfish. Jacks and grunter are mostly an upstream, boat or kayak proposition, but the rock and timber near the ramp are worth a dusk lure in summer.

Dusky flathead are 40–75 cm (5) and sand whiting 23 cm (combined possession 30). Yellowfin bream are 25 cm (combined 30). Trevally have no size limit but a combined possession of 20, and queenfish are 50 cm (5). Barred javelin (grunter) are 40 cm (10) and mangrove jack 35 cm (5).

The beach looks onto two Great Sandy Marine Park zones: the habitat protection (blue) zone along the bay shore, where standard Queensland gear rules apply, and the Burrum River conservation park (yellow) zone in the channel about 100 m off the beach, where the limit is max 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person. Fish to the yellow rule if you're casting into the channel. The river is also a declared Fish Habitat Area, so only a hand (yabby) pump may be used for digging bait. The Burrum River system holds barramundi, which are closed 1 Nov–31 Jan and have a 58–120 cm slot outside the closure.

Burrum Heads is about 30 minutes' drive west of Hervey Bay. Park along the foreshore and walk onto the beach; the village has a boat ramp, toilets and a caravan park. The sand is firm and easy walking.

Tides are big — Hervey Bay springs move more than three metres — and the channel runs hard mid-tide. The beach faces north-east across the river mouth; southerlies are offshore and calm it, while a north-easter puts chop straight onto it. After heavy rain the rivers run brown and the flathead stack up at the edge of the dirty water.

Marine stingers, including Irukandji, are a risk in Hervey Bay waters, especially November to May — cover up if you wade, and carry vinegar. The channel current is strong, so don't wade out past knee depth on a run-out tide. Shuffle your feet on the sand for stingrays, and watch for boats using the ramp.

Flathead, whiting, bream, golden trevally and queenfish from the beach along the river mouth, with grunter and mangrove jack upstream.

The Burrum River system holds barramundi, mostly upstream. Barramundi are closed 1 Nov–31 Jan in Queensland's east coast waters, and outside that the slot is 58–120 cm with a possession limit of 5.

Yes. The bay shore is a habitat protection zone and the river channel a conservation park (yellow) zone of Great Sandy Marine Park, where the limit is max 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person.