Fishing in Prince Regent National Park

Prince Regent National Park sits in the remote north-west Kimberley of Western Australia, accessible only by boat or aircraft. There are no roads in.

The park covers roughly 630,000 hectares of sandstone ranges, gorges, and coastal mangroves, and its waters run from tidal estuaries and mangrove-lined bays through to freshwater pools deep in the ranges.

The Prince Regent River is the spine of it all — 106 kilometres of near-straight channel carved along a fault line, running between near-vertical cliffs before emptying into St George Basin and Hanover Bay.

The Prince Regent River itself is the water most visitors fish. Barramundi are present, and licensed commercial barramundi boats have worked these waters — a sign of what the river holds.

The tidal lower reaches and mangrove edges are also crab country, and the park's coastal position within the Lalang-garram/Camden Sound Marine Park means the saltwater fishing extends into one of the Kimberley's most significant coastal systems.

Saltwater crocodiles are abundant and some are large; this shapes how and where you fish throughout the park.

Access to the river and its tributaries — Bachsten Creek, Moran River, Calder River, and others draining the ranges — typically comes via expedition cruise vessel or by flying in. Most anglers arrive on small ship cruises that use tenders to work the river.

Independent access by private vessel is possible but demands serious passage planning given the remoteness. The park overlaps with the Lalang-garram/Camden Sound Marine Park, and fishing is permitted outside sanctuary zones within that marine park.

Sanctuary zones are closed to fishing entirely. Before you go, check the current zone boundaries and confirm which waters are open — the zones matter here in a way they don't on most Kimberley rivers.

Bag, size, and possession limits apply; get current rules directly from the park or the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). This is not a place you drop into for a day session.

The reward for the logistics is fishing water that sees very little pressure, in a landscape that has changed little since the river was first charted by European vessels in the 1820s.