# Saltwater Croc's - how far south?



## scoman (Oct 4, 2010)

At the risk of sounding a little uneducated and a tiny bit toolish im after some advice on how far south salt water croc's inhabit. :?

You see I am possibly relocating at the end of the year to secure a primary teaching job and am looking at the central to north coast for economic and lifestyle reasons. 

I love the idea of chasing barra and jacks in the rivers like barrabundy but am a bit timid to do this if I am sharing the creek with salty's. :shock:

I have heard that their are occasional sightings around Mackay and by cairns they are pretty thick

So part of my criteria for a region to target for work when i finish uni this year is hot fishing and few if any croc's.

Genuine advice required.


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

There have been a number of reliable sightings over the years along the inside of Fraser Island around Garry's anchorage but these are probably the Southern most sightings that I am aware of. Most waterways from Rocky north have warnings for estuarine crocodiles.

Kev


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## Brownie (Aug 15, 2007)

There is confirmed sightings further south than Mackay, all the way to Rockhampton where they haunt the Fitzroy river.

Whilst working the flood relief at Rocky there were 2 sightings in around the flooded houses that I have no doubt were factual.

Whilst between Mackay and Rocky the sightings are rarer the crocs are definitely around.

Shoal Water Bay and around St Lawrence are perfect habitats for the salty and further north, the Proserpine River have been enough sightings for the occasional eco tour


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Scoman, I'll also be heading north at the end of the year but to a secondary school. I'm looking to go super-remote, cape or gulf. Obviously the yak will be staying here though, and I'll be getting a boat.


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## FishinDan (Jul 3, 2006)

Gladstone is pretty much the southern end really.... There are some that occassionally get spotted further south, but they're pretty rare, and not always factual.


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## scoman (Oct 4, 2010)

I guess for me its about finding a compromise between personal safety and hot fishing. The gladstone to mackay region is the area Im thinking about at the moment.

What protection should i have if fishing these areas? Is a good knife strapped to the leg sufficient or should i go murd style and pack some firepower?

Any gladestone to mackay yakers with any suggestions?


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## mangajack (Jul 23, 2007)

Seen a pair of beady red eyes under spotlight whilst picking pots at Middle Creek near 1770 about a decade ago. Didn't get any closer than about 20m from them before they went underwater. Never seen any other signs of one in that system though. Seen a few at Corio Bay near Yeppoon and in aligator creek where the freeway crosses it near Yaamba, (mate had the house right beside the new freeway there right on the banks of the creek).
Further south than Middle Creek, I personally have not seen anything, although there are a few reports that could well be true.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Short answer to your question, I don't know.

DERM I think has a croc-watch page, as referred to above, which lists sightings. I'll post a link later tonight.

As for where is safe and whether you do or don't, I can't answer that.

According to everyone I know I'm mad and they may or may not be right. I've sighted crocs a few times, twice while in the kayak and 3 times while on foot in a place I kayak fish. Of the times in the kayak, one was about a metre long and about 10m from me and my son. The other time it was much bigger and much further away and I've never been back there. I carry a firearm in these places more for peace of mind than actually believing it will do me any good.

The place Ive seen them on foot happens to be my favorite spot.....my wife has now banned me. 

Every single person I speak to tells me about a croc in every place I go. I've lived and fished here all my life and in 43 years I've never heard of an attack locally. I've seen a few dead ones and I've heard of people "catching them" in cast nets and crab pots. They've been killed by trains near Giru and can be spotted in the Haughton River off the bridge on the highway.

The risk of me being bitten by a venomous snake while at work is so much higher that the risk of being taken by a croc pales into insignificance. Still, it is a risk but a calculated one I'm prepared to take at times. One day I'll be rocking in a chair, dribbling down my chin and reflecting on my fun times in special places fishing from a kayak.

Everyone views things differently but I'm normally so conservative it's not funny. Like i remind my wife, "I don't drink drive, I don't sky dive, I don't visit brothels. I don't beat you, I'm a reasonably good father, I respect others, Ive never been to jail......just allow me to fish from my kayak"

Your question is still unanswered though


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## bundyboy (Sep 6, 2009)

Lived in Bundaberg most of my life and never really heard of crocs around there. Moved up to Rocky for uni and although this was before I got into yakking I heard they are pretty thick around the Fitzroy in Rocky. Fished Baffle Creek (lower reaches) and have heard people say there are crocs in the upper reaches but not sure how far up or how true this is...definately didn't see any towards the mouth. Mates of mine have fished most of the creeks and rivers around Agnes/1770 for quite some time and actually recommended these as good spots for kayak fishing/camping so doubt they would be very active croc spots. Don't have that much knowledge of the area between 1770/Agnes and Rocky. North of Rocky and I know they become a little more frequent but in saying that I am yet to see one yet in Mackay however I have been avoiding the known croc hotspots around the Mackay area. If I was going to frequent river systems North of Mackay I would contemplate getting a firearm or a boat, or both.


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## theclick (Jun 25, 2007)

If you are really that interested, there are a few reports on the DERM site which report on the number of crocs, and average density of different sizes of crocs along the creeks and rivers of Queensland. Basically, the report stated that the most south they went was about the Fitzroy in Rockhampton, with suspected territory being down to the Boyne at Gladstone (however, no sightings were reported in the Boyne). The density increases as you go further north.

Whilst there have been 'reports' on crocs both on the inside of Fraser and Nudgee beach (the later of which was a complete load of shit), the people who know (ie: the Crocwatch people from DERM) have checked this out and not found any sign of crocs (including slides). Keep in mind that alot of the time people like to embellish the truth (ie: talk rubbish).

Check these out for info:

http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/wildlife-eco ... t_0910.pdf

http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/register/p02143aa.pdf


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

@ the click, Ive spoken to one of the guys who was assisting with that survey, he works for QPWS, and he to this day tells me that anyone who kayaks up creeks in this part of the world is mad, how does he arrive at that after looking at the survey? Admittedly the distances covered in some of those creeks were pretty small. The Burdekin has about 11k of stream before you even get to the end of the tidal zone.

My personal opinion is that everyone likes a good croc story so they re-tell someone else's regardless of whether they've seen one themselves or whether it's fact or fiction :lol:

Where Murd travels is a totally different situation though :shock:


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## theclick (Jun 25, 2007)

Barra, I'd have to agree with the guy on that one. I'd never kayak in a tidal creek (or some fresh water ones) north of about Rocky - begging for troubles. By the time ya get down to around gladstone though its is pretty ok.

The survey is just that, a survey. In some instances it didn't cover far, but it does give a good understanding of where crocs are, and where they arent. I would not rely on it saying 'only one 1m+ croc in so and so creek'. There are probably likely to be more.

Having said, that, I used to kayak quite often in Hedlow creek north of Rocky, which was a fresh water creek which was cut off by vast expanses of flood plains. However, after it flooded I was pretty careful because i knew how far these crocs can walk! Beaut creek through that one.


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## gonetroppo (Jan 29, 2011)

Thanks for putting up them links, the reports are very interesting. Looking at the figures I think there is _alot_ more around than what they found, I see some creeks with only hatchlings and immature sightings, these little fellas must be coming from somewhere. Im sure alot of us could put a few more dots on them maps too!
Personaly ive seen many crocs fishing in central qld over the years, I would not take a kayak in anything besides the Pioneer River.


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## michjfro (Nov 24, 2007)

If only crocs were the only worry in the Logan River these days...


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## scoman (Oct 4, 2010)

Is going to be interesting im sure. The wife is already onto me about croc's. I guess I will have to gather as much info from the locals and AKFF members when i move, then make some decisions about where to and where not to go in my yak.
Anyways this has been an interesting thread so keep the posts coming.


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## Slide (Oct 25, 2007)

Most people work out which rivers they are comfortable fishing and which they are not. This comes with local knowledge and an acceptance of a degree of risk, which is not the same for all people. I guess if you take a gun you may explore more widely than if you just had a knife. I accept what I believe to be a small risk when fishing the Pioneer river in Mackay. I will not fish the creeks north or south of Mackay, but others might. You'll notice that not many saltwater barra get reported on this website (Barrabundy and Murds NT trips excluded). Perhaps because the barra and crocs tend to be found in the same places and most yakkers aren't fishing these locations.


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## murd (Jan 27, 2008)

Oooh, a croc thread!
The furtherst south I've seen/paddled with crocs is on the inside of Hinchinbrook Island, and along the Cardwell coast. I covered all this area in 1998 and had several encounters, though nothing too large.

You can't really go shooting crocs there because people are around and its probably illegal to discharge a firearm near daytrippers. If going into more discreet rivers/coastline then some hardware would help but I didn't take my rifle on that trip. Again, luckily the salties I saw weren't the Gulf monsters.

Lesson number '1' if giving it a go - remember the binocs and beware the one which comes from below! :twisted:


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