Recreational fishing rules
Size and possession limits - fresh waters
General possession limit
There is a general possession limit of 20 for all tidal species not listed on this page.
In Queensland, there are minimum size limits and also some maximum size limits. Find out how to measure your catch.
A possession limit is the total number of fish that one person can legally take and keep at any one time – it is not a daily limit. This includes any fish that you have at home in the freezer.
Return undersized, oversized, no-take or closed season species to the water immediately to ensure they have the best chance of survival – watch our top tips for catch and release.
Bait rules apply
- If you catch a fish to be used as bait, it must comply with all recreational fishing rules (e.g. size and possession limits, closed seasons etc.).
- You can’t use no-take species as bait.
- Fish that are not native to an area (non-indigenous and noxious fish) must not be put back in the water even as bait.
- You can’t use bait from the marine (saltwater) environment in fresh waters unless it has been frozen, cooked or preserved. This is to prevent the spread of disease and parasites in Queensland’s freshwater systems, and to protect native fish populations and the future viability of freshwater fish stocking programs.
- You can’t use fish and crustaceans as bait (dead or alive) outside their natural environment or range. This is to prevent species becoming established in foreign habitats and causing environmental damage.
- Freshwater prawns or shrimp (Macrobrachium australiensis) are found throughout Queensland and can be used as bait in all areas of the state.
- Prevent movement of fish by catching bait where you fish. Don’t put invasive (pest) fish back in the water or use them as bait, even if caught at that location.
Freshwater species
- Australian bass
- Australian lungfish
- Barramundi
- Cherabins
- Cling goby
- Cod
- Eels
- Freshwater catfish
- Garfish
- Hardyhead
- Mangrove jack
- Mullet
- Perch and grunter
- Rainbowfish
- Redclaw
- River blackfish
- Saratoga
- Spiny crayfish
- Yabby
Australian bass
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | 30cm min Limit of 5 |
All | 30cm min Limit of 2 |
Australian lungfish
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | No take |
Barramundi
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | 58cm min 120cm max (1 fish can be greater than 120cm at all times in waterways exempt from the closed season) Limit of 5 per person / 10 per boat (with 2 or more people on board Limit of 1 per person / 2 per boat (with 2 or more people on board) during the closed season in exempt waterways |
Cherabins
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | No size limit Combined limit of 10 in total of Macrobrachium lar and M. rosenbergii species |
Cling goby
Refer to the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 for protected goby (search Stiphodon species).
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
Cling goby (of the subfamily Sicydiinae) | No take |
Cod
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
Bloomfield River cod | No take |
Mary River cod Can be taken upstream of the walls within Cressbrook, Ewan Maddock, Hinze, Maroon, Moogerah, North Pine, Somerset, Wivenhoe and Wyaralong dams; lakes Dyer (Bill Gunn Dam), Clarendon, Manchester and Kurwongbah (Sideling Creek Dam); Caboolture River Weir; Enoggera Reservoir and Robina Lakes | 60cm min Limit of 1 |
Mary River cod No take in Queensland fresh waters except the waterways listed above | No take |
Murray cod (Queensland part of Murray-Darling Drainage Division) | 60cm min Limit of 2 |
Eels
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
Longfin, Pacific shortfin (south Pacific eel) and Southern shortfin | 30cm min Combined limit of 10 in total of all species |
Freshwater catfish (eel-tailed catfish, Tandanus tandanus)
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All (exception follows) | 35cm min Combined limit of 5 in total of all species |
Other freshwater catfish (genera Anodontiglanis, Neosilurus and Neosiluroides) Examples: black catfish, Cooper Creek catfish, falsespine catfish, short-finned catfish and Hyrtl’s tandan | No size limit Combined limit of 5 in total of all species |
Garfish
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | No size limit Combined limit of 50 in total of all species |
Hardyhead
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
Edgbaston hardyhead and | No take (Thomson River) |
Mangrove jack
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | 35cm min Limit of 5 |
Mullet
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
Freshwater, Diamondscale and Sea | 30 cm min Limit of 20 |
All other mullet (except diamondscale, sea or freshwater) | No size limit |
Perch and grunter
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
Golden perch (yellowbelly) | 30cm min Limit of 10 |
Jungle perch and Spotted flagtail (northern jungle perch) | 35cm max Combined limit of 1 jungle perch or spotted flagtail |
Silver perch, Barcoo grunter and Welch’s grunter | 30cm min Combined limit of 5 in total of these species (including maximum of 2 silver perch) Silver perch is no take in Paroo and Warrego river basins |
Gulf grunter and Sooty grunter | 28cm min Combined limit of 10 in total for Gulf, sooty, khaki and lake grunter species |
Khaki grunter (khaki bream) and Lake grunter | No size limit Combined limit of 10 in total for Gulf, sooty, khaki and lake grunter species |
Rainbowfish
Refer to the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 for protected rainbowfish (search Melanotaenia species).
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | No size limit Limit of 20 of each species |
Redclaw
In its natural range including Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage Division and from the Jacky Jacky River basin south to the Normanby River basin on the east coast of Queensland.
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | No size limit Limit of 40 in natural range Natural range: Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage Division and the following river basins in the east coast drainage division – Hann (river basin reference number 1050), Jacky Jacky, Lockhart, Normanby, Olive, Pascoe and Stewart. Redclaw can only be used as bait in its natural range. It must not be used as bait or returned to the water outside its natural range. No take: Females carrying eggs or young must be returned to the water within their natural range |
River blackfish
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | No take |
Saratoga
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
Northern and Southern | 50cm min Combined limit of 1 northern or southern saratoga |
Spiny crayfish
Refer to the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 for protected spiny crayfish (search Euastacus species).
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | No take |
Yabby (blueclaw crayfish, Cherax destructor)
Species | Size and possession limits |
|---|---|
All | No size limit Limit of 100 Yabbies can only be used as live bait in their natural range: Murray–Darling, Lake Eyre and Bulloo–Bancannia drainage divisions, and some river basins in the East Coast Drainage Division (Balonne, Barcoo, Belyando, Border Rivers, Bulloo, Condamine, Cooper Creek, Dawson, Diamantina, Georgina, Isaac, Macintyre, Maranoa, Moonie, Mulligan, Nebine, Paroo, Severn, Thomson and Warrego). No take: Females carrying eggs or young must be returned to the water within their natural range: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre and Murray–Darling drainage divisions, and the east coast drainage divisions of Belyando, Dawson and Isaac. |
In this guide:
- Fishing gear
- Closed seasons and waters
- Size and possession limits - tidal waters
- Size and possession limits - fresh waters
- Previous ( https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/activities/boating-fishing/rec-fishing/rules/limits-tidal )