Northern Beaches

 
river-walk

The recently finished river walk provides great access to some great views and area along the foreshore.

To the north of Mackay, Bucasia, Dolphin Heads, Blacks Beach, Shoal Point and Eimeo make up the Northern Beaches. Each is unique and beautiful in its own way. There are great facilities at all of these locations, including BBQs, picnic tables, playgrounds and public amenities all of which make for a great day by the water, and they are generally less crowded than the town's most popular Harbour Beach. To experience the best view the Northern Beaches has to offer the Eimeo Hotel is the place to go. Perched atop a cliff overlooking the beach and azure blue water, The Eimeo has a view like no other, throw in a cold beer, a good meal and a relaxed, casual atmosphere and it's a true Mackay experience.

Fishing

All of the Northern Beaches produce species like whiting, flathead, bream, trevally and snub-nosed dart. During summer the small mackerel will also come right in to the beaches and are great fun to target for land-based anglers.

Close inshore on the rocky reefs just off the northern beaches reef species like cod, large mackerel and tuna are available. Red fish like sweetlip and nannygai and tuskfish can also be caught throughout the area.

Further offshore around the larger islands such as Saint Bees, Keswick, the Goldsmiths and the southern end of the Whitsundays produce all the best fish the Great Barrier Reef has to offer, such as reds, coral trout, tuskfish, Spanish mackerel, tuna and cobia. In the Shipping Channel in the deep water small marlin and sailfish as well as huge red emperor are local trophy catches.

Pioneer Valley

The Pioneer Valley is home to the majority of the regions' sugar cane farms and the valley's rich, fertile soil has sprouted many little historic townships like Pleystowe, Marian, Mirani, Pinnacle, Gargett and Finch Hatton on the banks of the Pioneer River. Driving through the luscious can fields dotted with these quaint country towns offers a unique perspective of the Pioneer Valley. At the foothills of Eungella Range is Finch Hatton Gorge, one of the regions most spectacular natural attractions. The Gorge has excellent walking trails through the rainforest to the Araluen and Wheel of Fire waterfalls. Cool off with a refreshing swim in the deep, natural swimming holes that are surrounded by the high gorge walls and rainforest. After a day of swimming and walking through the rainforest cool off with a drink and a famous Pinnacle Pie at the Pinnacle Hotel. The hotel is located at the bottom on the range, just below Teemburra Dam and has become a local valley icon, and is known for the best pies in the region.

Fishing

There are many great fresh water options in the Pioneer Valley including two impoundments, Kinchant and Teemburra Dams, as well as the Pioneer River and its many creeks and offshoots. One of Mackay's local gun freshwater gurus and accomplished tournament angler Daniel Grech thinks his home region is one of the best in the state to fish. “The dams around Mackay are foaming with fish due to the hard work put in from the Mackay Area Fish Stocking Association (MAFSA) that delegates huge amounts of a variety of fish into the fresh water dams and rivers around Mackay.” Both Kinchant and Teemburra dams are stocked with barramundi and sooty grunter and also have native populations of spangled perch and saratoga. Daniel says Kinchant is the big fish dam of the region. While it was traditionally a water sport lake and is popular with water skiers, over the last six years or so anglers have also been descending on the lake. The barra that have been stocked in Kinchant now measure more than 1m and always fight hard. Teemburra also produces metre plus barra and has a hefty population of sooty grunter. Teemburra Dam is fed by three creek systems Teemburra Creek, Middle Creek and Pinnacle Creek, all of which offer spectacular scenery and great sooty grunter action, in addition to plenty of barramundi. The Pioneer River has also been stocked with barra and sooties and has a healthy natural population of muscling sooties. The scenery is gorgeous in the river's upper reaches with overhanging gum trees, endless amounts of native flora and fauna and lots of fishy locations.