Toogoom (Beelbi Creek Mouth)

Toogoom is a quiet beach village west of Hervey Bay, and Beelbi Creek meets the bay at its western end through a wide mouth of sand banks and channels. On a falling tide the creek drains across the flats, and whiting, flathead and bream line up in the channel to meet it. Further up, the mangrove banks hold jacks, grunter and mud crabs. It is the kind of place where the main traffic jam is two pelicans and a tinny.

Fish the channel edge at the creek mouth on the run-out, casting small baits or lightly weighted plastics onto the drop-off for flathead and whiting. On the run-in, follow the water back up the beach and fish the gutters for whiting with yabbies or worms. For jacks and grunter, work the deeper bends along the mangrove edge upstream around dusk in the warmer months. A yabby pump on the flats will keep the bait bucket full.

Sand whiting are 23 cm (combined possession 30) and dusky flathead 40–75 cm (5). Yellowfin bream are 25 cm (combined 30), mangrove jack 35 cm (5) and barred javelin (grunter) 40 cm (10). Mud crabs are 15 cm with a possession limit of 7, and female mud crabs are no take.

Beelbi Creek, including the channel at its mouth, is a conservation park (yellow) zone of Great Sandy Marine Park, while the open bay beach is habitat protection zone; fish to the yellow-zone limit — max 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person, and no more than 4 crab pots or dillies per person. The creek is also a declared Fish Habitat Area: fishing and bait gathering are fine, but no digging tool other than a hand (yabby) pump may be used. Crab pots must carry a tag with your surname and address and a light-coloured float marked with your surname. Never break or prune mangroves to get to the water.

Park at the western end of Toogoom and walk onto the beach and banks at the creek mouth. At low tide the sand banks can be walked; at high tide most of them are underwater. Upstream access is limited by mangroves, so the mouth is the main land-based spot.

The tide range here is big — Hervey Bay springs move more than three metres — and the flats drain a long way on a spring low. The beach faces north across the bay, sheltered from southerlies; a north-easter puts chop on the mouth. Rain upstream colours the creek and turns the flathead on at the mouth.

Wading means stingrays and soft mud — shuffle your feet and wear footwear. The incoming tide refills the channels between the banks quickly; don't get cut off on a sand bank. Marine stingers, including Irukandji, are a risk in Hervey Bay waters, especially November to May. Sandflies and mosquitoes are thick around the mangroves at dusk.

Yes. It is a conservation park (yellow) zone and a Fish Habitat Area: max 2 rods or handlines and 2 hooks in total per person, max 4 crab pots, and only a hand pump for digging bait.

No. Female mud crabs are no take anywhere in Queensland. Males must be at least 15 cm, with a possession limit of 7.

The run-out tide, when the creek drains across the flats and fish wait in the channel at the mouth.