Captain
Darryl Wilson

Member since June 2014 Cairns, Australia
Background
Captain Darryl grew up in Adelaide fishing with his brother from a very young age. 20 years later, he arrived in Cairns, and every possible moment became all about fishing and exploring. Captain Darryl became the owner-operator of Fish Tales Charters over 20 years ago, and after a decade of successful guiding decided to build the Don't Know to offer a variety of fishing charters due to the high number of repeat customers.
Techniques
Captain Darryl loves lure and popper fishing for Queenfish over the winter months on the Mulgrave and Russell Rivers.

Hey, I'm Captain Darryl Wilson

Cairns, Australia
Background
Captain Darryl grew up in Adelaide fishing with his brother from a very young age. 20 years later, he arrived in Cairns, and every possible moment became all about fishing and exploring. Captain Darryl became the owner-operator of Fish Tales Charters over 20 years ago, and after a decade of successful guiding decided to build the Don't Know to offer a variety of fishing charters due to the high number of repeat customers.
Techniques
Captain Darryl loves lure and popper fishing for Queenfish over the winter months on the Mulgrave and Russell Rivers.
40
Reviews
11
Fishing Reports
Verified

My Charter Listings

Fish Tales โ€“ Don't Know

Excellent
4.6 / 5
(13 reviews)
Cairns
Trips from US $781

Fish Tales Charters โ€“ River Rocket

Excellent
4.4 / 5
(27 reviews)
Cairns
 Last booking: 6 hours ago
Trips from US $98

Fishing Reports

July 2025 Estuary Fishing in Trinity Inl
July 2025 Estuary Fishing in Trinity Inl
Jul 31, 2025 Cairns
Estuary fishing in Trinity Inlet of Cairns over the cooler month of July was at times surprising. At times our customers were able to see our resident estuarine Saltwater Crocodiles! So cool to see back Long Head Hairtails in the estuary-it`s been too long! (definitely from the dinosaur era)! Common caught fish species included Blue threadfin, Fingermark, Estuary trevally, Gold spotted estuary cod, Dusky Flathead, Mangrove jacks, Pikey Bream, juvenile Queenfish. Loved having the kids onboard over the school holidays!
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Sunday 13th October 2019
Sunday 13th October 2019
Oct 13, 2019 Cairns
Thanks so much to Laura and Michael for having the best day in Cairns. So good to meet you and to show you around. Target species Trout, Mackerel; caught and kept for dinner included Coral Trout & Spanish Mackerel-two of the best sportsfish with excellent eating qualities.
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Saturday 12th October 2019
Saturday 12th October 2019
Oct 12, 2019 Cairns
Only takes one Spanish Mackerel for Dave while reef fishing from Cairns. Guess the weight?
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Estuary fishing for Fingermark, Mangrove
Estuary fishing for Fingermark, Mangrove
Sep 27, 2019 Cairns
Weekending Friday 27th September 2019 Estuary fishing in Trinity Inlet, Cairns has been producing Fingermark and Mangrove jacks all of good size as well as Queenfish; all caught on live-bait.
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Reef Fishing from Cairns with Fishing Gu
Reef Fishing from Cairns with Fishing Gu
Oct 5, 2017 Cairns
Reef Fishing from Cairns, in Far North Queensland with fishing guide Darryl. Over the winter months in the tropics some years mother nature is kind too us with only a few days of South Easterly. This year we have been blasted with them; this lessen our day we can operate a reef fishing charter. However, we keenly watched the weather forecasts regularly and organise a number of charters. We eagerly waited until September for good size Spanish Mackerel to appear and on a few occasions where not disappointed. On one charter managed to catch and release a Rainbow Runner (normally seen in PNG waters). Most days where hard work and with a lot of hunting to find; all charters came back with a good selection of Large Mouth Nannygai and Coral Trout to name a few.
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Estuary fishing in Trinity Inlet, Cairns
Estuary fishing in Trinity Inlet, Cairns
Sep 19, 2017 Cairns
September 2017 As the day time temperature starts to increase, so does the activity of the Barramundi. They have increased there feeding to be ready for breeding over the summer months (our wet season). From 1st November there is a closure for Barramundi to allow them to breed; however if one is caught we release back into the water. We have noticed a mark increase on the bigger tides of Grunter being caught (and of good eating size); no mention a big increase in the amount and sizes of Fingermark (another excellent sports fish and table fish) as well as the ever present Mangrove Jack coming in bright to dark red in colour and of a bigger size.
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Customer reviews

Rating summary
Excellent
4.4 / 5
out of 5 stars from 40 reviews
See details
Boat
Excellent
4.4 / 5
Crew
Excellent
4.5 / 5
Experience
Excellent
4.4 / 5
Photos & videos by reviewers (32)
Jonny and his estuary fingermark
Brendan and his catch of a Common Coral Trout
Harry and his catch of a Common Coral Trout
+29
Angler rating
25
9
3
2
0
Anglers claimed
Good experience
79%
Friendly captain
100%
Recommend this charter
90%
Appropriate for children
89%
Satisfied with the boat
93%
Caught fish
57%
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Featured  
Showing:
5 of 40 reviews
Grace L.
Cranbourne, Victoria
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Half day trip with Darryl

VERIFIED   Half Day Trip (PM) โ€“ Shared on December 22, 2016
My 8 years old son caught a 68cm barrimundi fish the first hour.. Whole day we caught good size fish.. Will definitely...
Grace L. recommends Fish Tales Charters โ€“ River Rocket
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Anthony K.
Brisbane, QLD
Very good
4.0 / 5
Experience:
Very good
4.0 / 5
Boat
Very good
4.0 / 5
Crew
Very good
4.0 / 5
Overall

Half day fishing charter with Mike

VERIFIED   Half Day Trip (AM) โ€“ Shared on August 12, 2018
Good fishing trip mike was a good host and tour guide. Pity not catching more fish on a fine morning day.
Anthony K. recommends Fish Tales Charters โ€“ River Rocket
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Fiona L.
Brisbane, Queensland
Excellent
4.3 / 5
Experience:
Very good
4.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Very good
4.0 / 5
Overall

Fishing with Darryl

VERIFIED   Half Day Trip (AM) โ€“ Shared on January 20, 2018
Fiona L. recommends Fish Tales Charters โ€“ River Rocket
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Kerong W.
Brisbane, Queensland
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

December fishing trip

VERIFIED   Half Day Trip (PM) โ€“ Shared on December 21, 2016
Our guide Darryl is awesome, very friendly, patient, knowledgeable and experienced.
Kerong W. recommends Fish Tales Charters โ€“ River Rocket
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Kane F.
Australia
Very good
4.0 / 5
Experience:
Very good
4.0 / 5
Boat
Very good
4.0 / 5
Crew
Very good
4.0 / 5
Overall

Full DFay with Fish Tales

VERIFIED   Full Day Trip โ€“ Reef (MAX 5) on July 6, 2017
Day was suppose to be calm got out on reef rough as. We all got sick, but captain bought us back in to smoother waters where...
Kane F. recommends Fish Tales โ€“ Don't Know
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