Ross Creek Mouth (Yeppoon)

Ross Creek runs through the middle of Yeppoon and meets the sea at the south end of Main Beach, between the town and Cooee Bay. The last few hundred metres are framed by rock walls on both banks, with a park, barbecues and a boat ramp on the western side, so it is the easiest estuary on the Capricorn Coast to fish with a coffee in hand. The creek and its partner, Fig Tree Creek, drain a mangrove system that fills almost to the brim on the incoming tide, and the fish ride that water in. Whiting, flathead and bream are the everyday catch; jacks, grunter and the odd barra come out of the mangrove reaches. The resident flying foxes upstream supply the soundtrack at dusk, free of charge.

Fish the incoming tide from the rock walls at the mouth: a lightly weighted yabby or worm drifted along the sandy channel edge is the whiting rig, and a soft plastic or small vibe hopped down the drop-off finds the flathead. Bream sit tight against the rocks and take a peeled prawn on a short leader. Bring your bait — bought yabbies, prawns or worms. The sandbars south of the bridge sit right on the channel edge, and this is croc water. Upstream of the bridge the creek turns muddier and the mangrove edges hold jacks — a live poddy mullet or a shallow hardbody cast tight to the roots on the top of the tide is the method. Mud crabs live there too; in croc water, set pots from a boat rather than wading the mangrove edges.

Sand whiting, dusky flathead and yellowfin bream make up most catches, with grunter, mangrove jack and the occasional barramundi in the upper creek. Sand whiting are 23 cm minimum in a combined possession limit of 30; yellowfin bream are 25 cm, also combined at 30 with tarwhine and pikey bream. Dusky flathead are a 40–75 cm slot with a possession limit of 5. Mangrove jack are 35 cm, limit 5, and grunter (barred javelin) 40 cm, limit 10. Barramundi are a 58–120 cm slot, limit 5, and closed from 1 November to 31 January. Male mud crabs only, 15 cm across the shell, limit 7 per person — female mud crabs are no take.

The creek fills fast, so arrive an hour or two before the high and fish the push. The water outside the mouth is part of the Great Barrier Reef marine parks' Conservation Park (yellow) zone, where you may use only one rod or line with one hook per person — stick to that if you fish the beach side of the walls. Crab pots and dillies are limited to four per person, tagged with your surname and address — set them from a boat, not from the mangrove edges. Weekends and school holidays bring the ramp crowd, so dawn on a weekday is the quiet window. Put fish frames and bait scraps in a bin rather than over the wall.

The mouth is off Anzac Parade at the south end of Yeppoon's Main Beach, with car parks beside the boat ramp and Merv Anderson Park. The western wall is a short, flat walk from the car park; toilets, barbecues and the town's cafés are all close by. The foreshore paths suit prams and wheelchairs, but the walls themselves are rock and need sure feet. It is a good family spot provided children are kept well back from the water's edge.

The mouth opens north-east into Keppel Bay, so the usual south-easterly trade wind blows along the beach rather than straight in, and the walls stay fishable on most trade-wind days. A strong north-easterly pushes swell onto the bar and colours the water. The incoming tide is the key; the bottom of a big low leaves the lower creek as sand and mud. After heavy rain, dirty water from the catchment moves the bream and flathead down toward the mouth.

Ross Creek is in crocodile habitat. Stay at least 5 m back from the water's edge where you can, never stand in the water to cast or to free a snag, don't stand on logs or branches over the water, and only throw a cast net from a boat or jetty. Reel fish in quickly and step back, and cut the line if a crocodile takes interest in your catch. Shark control nets or drumlines operate off Yeppoon's beaches — stay more than 20 m from them; it's an offence to be inside the 20 m zone. Marine stingers, including box jellyfish and Irukandji, occur here, typically November to May; carry vinegar. The rock walls are slippery at the waterline, and boats use the channel to reach the ramp.

Mainly sand whiting, flathead and bream at the mouth, with grunter, mangrove jack, mud crabs and the occasional barramundi upstream in the mangroves. Barramundi are closed from 1 November to 31 January.

Bring bait with you: bought yabbies, peeled prawns or beach worms. Ross Creek is croc water, so don't pump the sandbars. Saltwater yabbies have no possession limit.

Yeppoon is inside Queensland's crocodile habitat, so treat Ross Creek as croc water: stand back from the edge, don't wade, and keep fish scraps away from the water.

Inside the creek, Queensland's general rule is up to three lines and six hooks per person. The sea outside the mouth is a marine-park Conservation Park (yellow) zone, where the limit is one rod or line with one hook per person.