Magic Mulgrave - some days are diamonds!

Last week was a “bitch”………as readers would know, it rained all day, every day……over 400mm!

This week was a little better with rain easing to showers but with persistent, strong south east winds. It was cold, cold by Cairns standard anyway.

As is usual, I met Kevin at the “Old Folks Home” (that’s Cazaly’s Sports Club to the unfamiliar) after work on Friday night. It’s a great place to have a few beers, enjoy great food at very economical prices, especially if you are a member, watch the AFL / NRL / Super Rugby, soccer or whatever takes your fancy. It was still raining, but we decided to plan a fishing trip for the Sunday anyway. We would watch the weather, ring each other on Saturday evening and make a decision as to whether we thought it was worth while to go.

This past weekend also saw the Cairns Home Show (incorporating the Caravan, Camping & Boating Expo) being held at the Showgrounds. I was keen to check out those u-beaute  camper trailers – you know, the ones that you can put your tinny on top, tow behind the 4WD but have all the comforts of home once set up and the tent pops out; along with the annex, fresh water supply, gas cooker AND yes, kitchen sink. I looked out of my office window at 2:00PM to see the sky completely leaden, pissing down with rain and thought – I’m not going any where in this and it looks like the fishing would be off too!

Kev rang at approx. 7:00PM to discuss our plight……..what the heck, we might as well just give it a go and see what happens. Better than sitting on my arse all day Sunday watching the footy eh!

The alarm screamed at me at 5:30am. I gingerly crawled out of bed (it was still dark), donned my fishing gear and went down stairs to pack the boat & esky. My beautiful lady Debbie made me breakfast, morning tea and lunch – most partners will greet you with something that sounds like “Turn the bxxxxy light off and don’t make any noise”. But not Debbie, she is a real gem and I am so grateful for having such an understanding woman to share my life & love for fishing.

By the time that I had picked up Kevin and headed down the Bruce Highway, the sun was up and the sky was looking amazingly clear – apart from a few fog patches hugging the valleys. This was a very good sign – you see, if there is fog, it means that there is NO WIND! Amazing! You beauty! Fantastic!...all those sorts of things come to mind. We launched my little 4m Cairns Custom Craft at Deeral, in the mist, and headed upstream.

It’s a good thing that I know this river like the back of my hand as I have never experienced such conditions………low cloud / fog was hugging the valley making travel quite difficult. We gingerly pushed on up, past the lagoons, past the island, past the drains and gutters, past the Aloomba railway bridge, past the broken timber bridge………up and up we went………right up until we reached a magnificent looking calm backwater. I just had to take a few pics as we surveyed the scene. Man, it was great to be alive in such a magnificent location………would the fish cooperate?

Top of the Mulgrave - how god is this!

And this!

It was too cold for barra, maybe even too cold for jacks. But the sooty’s and JP’s should surely bite in these conditions. We decided to leave the baitcasters (still rigged mind you – just in case!) and picked up our light 4kg spin sticks. I hooked on a shiny bright orange / gold Rapala SR5. These lures are dynamite in the fresh and catch all manner of things when the fish are on the chew and it wasn’t long before I was hooked up to a respectable Mulgrave sooty.

First sooty of the trip!

NOTE – light tackle freshwater spinning is not the favorite angling method for most Tropical Queenslander’s. But I firmly believe that during certain times of the year, especially during the winter months, its much better to scale down your tackle and target what’s “out there”, rather than persisting with the heavy barra gear for zilch. Sure, they are generally of a much smaller size. But on the light tackle sooty’s, JP’s , tarpon and the like put on a surprisingly dogged fight. They can brick you in an instant, pull drag like the best of them and fight honestly all the way to the boat. I JUST LOVE IT!

And so we started our slow drift back down stream to the boat ramp.

I should also mention at this point “why I decided to fishing this river under these conditions”.

1. The barra were out – too cold
2. The salt water was out – with a low at approx. 2:00PM of .16m we would be fishing in mud
3. With the rainfall that we have had lately, there should still be plenty of water coming down to allow access to high up the river
4. The sooty’s and JP’s etc. should give us the action we desired
5. All other local rivers had impediments (refer No 2) to successfully getting back to the ramp at a reasonable hour

Nice sooty from under the trees

Check out the lure / reel (matching colours too!)

I was having a blast………sooty after sooty was smashing the SR5 like there was no tomorrow. So much so that after several offerings of a similar lure to Kevin (same lure, different color), he too decided that that was the lure of choice for today. Kev clipped  on a green backed model with orange belly and was immediately into the action.

Kev and his best for the trip

 We drifted slowly though rainforest country, we picked up speed occasionally as we were swepped down shallow rapids and crashed gently into bridge pylons….sorry about that! But all the while the tally was mounting…….sooty’s, JP’s, jacks and tarpon, they all gave us a hell of a lot of fun.

There's a reason why Kev is using the cloth - those spikes are sharp!

A magnificent fresh water jack - way upstream

Good JP Kev!

Typical river tarpon

Tarpon - check out that huge tail, there's power there

What was most obvious to us today however, was that the good majority of the fish came from under the trees and in the shady side of the river. We figured that as the river was so clear and clean, and that there was hardly a cloud in the sky, most fish sought refuge in the shady side………worked a treat for us!

JP - a pretty little specimen

As the pictures hereabouts attest to the magnificent country we were drifting through, Kev & I both thought that we were very privileged indeed. How many people come to North Queensland (or locals for that matter) and never get to experience this…..to see the beauty of this unspoilt landscape……to catch these lovely little battlers on sporting spin tackle. To share the journey with a likeminded fishing buddy…..one who shares in the whoops and hollers from a man so possessed, that he can thrill at such of nature’s offerings. And for that matter, how many of us have lived her for years and never caught a barra? We hear it all the time!

My sincerest advice to every fishing nut out there………don’t get too focused on the “holy grail”…….sure barra are a magnificent creature and I am obsessed with catching them. But, if they are not on the chew, if conditions are not right for a successful assault on the day…….try something different. You just might find another love to occupy your angling needs until September! We landed over 60 fish that day!

PS – there are not many anglers knowledgeable enough, not with the right vessel, to experience what Kev & I do on a regular basis. This is not criticism…..if this is you…….do yourself a huge favor. GO FISHING WITH AN EXPERIENCED GUIDE AND LEARN, LEARN, LEARN!

Good fishing, catch you on the water

Regards, Les Marsh 

www.fishingcairns.com.au

"Some Days are Diamonds!"