Fishing in Moorrinya National Park

Moorrinya National Park sits in outback Queensland, centred on creek country in the region west of Hughenden.

The park protects a landscape of open woodland and Mitchell grass plains cut by seasonal watercourses, and it's those creeks — not lakes or impoundments — that define the fishing here.

Bullock Creek is the main water anglers visit, and it's where the park's campground sits.

Like the other creeks in the park, it runs through country that dries and floods with the seasons, so water levels and fish accessibility shift considerably between the wet and the dry.

Prairie Creek, Alice Creek, and Native Creek are part of the same system — shallow, often rocky or sandy-bedded channels that hold fish when there's water in them.

The species are native and typical of this part of inland Queensland: spangled perch, glassfish, and silver catfish. These aren't large fish by most measures, but they're genuinely wild, in country that sees relatively little fishing pressure.

Spangled perch in particular are widespread across Queensland's inland drainages and will take small lures and bait readily when conditions are right.

Access to the park is limited and the roads are unsealed — conditions after rain can make them impassable, so checking road conditions before heading out is practical, not optional.

The park is managed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, and the standard Queensland recreational fishing licence applies. Check current rules with the park before you go.

Fishing here is unhurried and unspectacular in the best sense — creek fishing for native species in remote country, where the drive in is part of the experience and you're unlikely to share a waterhole with anyone else.