Have you ever dreamt of catching a metre-long, 25kg fish as the sun rises up before you above the deep-blue tropical ocean?

Well, Far North Queensland may very well be the best spot in the world to do just that.

Coral trout, nannagai, Spanish mackerel, giant trevally, dolphinfish, black marlin, cobia, barramundi cod - the list is as long as that huge fish you’ve always been dreaming of catching.

Fishing charter operator Jason Knack, of Akula Sportfishing, says the waters off Port Douglas include some of the biggest and heaviest fish in the world for the amateur angler to attempt to catch.

“This section of the reef is some of the most productive fishing in Australia,” Jason says.

“It’s just the species that it attracts.”

The warm tropical waters and Great Barrier Reef play a big part in the abundance of huge fish.

“The reef fish are all year round.”

Less than a month ago a 25kg red emperor was caught on Jason’s charter boat - he says the fish are just as plentiful now as he has seen across the past about 20 years.

“I’ve only ever seen fish like that as a young guy caught off Fraser Island,” he says.

“It puts it in perspective of what's getting around out there.”

Fellow Port Douglas fisherman Andy Fenwick has thrown the line in at many places across the world, but this is the best place ever in terms of the “outstanding fishing”, he says.

“(There is) the pure size of the fish, and good eating fish are plentiful up here,” Andy says.

“It’s hard to go past.”

Andy lists his favourites as coral trout, nannagai, Spanish mackerel, red emperor and mahi mahi (dolphinfish), although he says the blue cod in New Zealand gives them all a run for their money in terms of best flavour.

But, although he loves catching food for the table, the next challenge for Andy is to snare a catch-and-release game fish such as a marlin.