Glassed Out in Cardwell

Sunday Morning over Hinchonbrook Island (background) at Cardwell

Les Marsh's other half reporting in! I haven't had time to go fishing for a few weeks but his ex, Pam Marsh, enticed me with an invitation to join her and her fellow members of the newly formed Cairns Social Fishing Club to a bash down at Cardwell this past weekend. The social part of the word got me, but fond memories of the crystal clear ocean waters of the Hinchinbrook got me excited too! Yes, quiet boys...I can hear you all getting excited about me, (the girl) getting excited about fishing...you know I love it!

Les and I scuttled covertly out of the office at 3 pm Friday night and headed for Cardwell. I was so delighted about finally going fishing again, I merrily downed 3 rum and cokes on the way while giving Les, what I thought, was interesting narrative about how beautiful the sunset and skies were shining over the rivers and cane fields on the way. It was going to be a glorious night, and I am sure, a glorious day on the water tomorrow. For those of you who like to stay in air conditioned comfort after a long hot day in the tropics, the Cardwell Beach Motel is perfect and affordable with the hospitality fantastic thanks to the hosts, Steve & Janet. We parked our boat out the front of the Motel..."prime position" - check out the photo.
 

 

Cyclone Yasi did a real job on the town but it did clear the beachfront for outstanding views all the way out to the Islands....just breathtaking! A few beers and a quick meal in town, we walked back to the motel to dream about the next day.  

 

Next morning we found ourselves lined up (5 deep!) at the Port Hinchinbrook boat ramp with dozens of fellow utes and boats....the weather was perfect.There are acres of great fishing spots in this area, no one was fazed by the numbers. If this was the Daintree ramp, I'd be feeling rather depressed at this point!

  

You are all familiar with Les's little 4 metre Custom Craft..Les is not a great fan of getting salt water on her. I'm Miss Adventure...crank her up Les, let's see some action! Zoom, zoom! And so we did! Glassed Out conditions with low clouds protecting us from the harsh sun. The water was sitting at 31.6 degrees, high tide, a bit warm for our targets but nevertheless, a splendid sight out on the water.

 

We clamped on our favourite Flat Jac's. Les is like an old father...have you got your sunscreen on, have you sharpened your hooks, check your leader, check the drag....hmmm...how long have we been doing this for Les?? Flick, flick, God that feels good! Flick, flick.....Holy Geesus ( girl shrieking!) A Barracuda attacked as I brought my lure to the surface, nearly landing in the boat. Those giant teeth would give you nightmares. First one for the day, zippppppp....! A 35 cm barra. Undersized is better than zilch.
 

 

Les pulled up a nice cod...where are the big barra? We were on the north side of Hinchinbrook Island. Yasi ripped and ravaged this place up. The vast majority of the mangroves were dead. Was the water too hot? Or were they sitting under shady trees around the corner where there were leaves on the trees? It is shallow throughout this fishery, lots of rocks and there was a 3 metre tide running. Les caught another nice size cod, they look like fun to catch but I'm not into the scraps. Les loves to catch and release all fish. We joked about how I would only be catching barra today; he can get his thrills with the little stuff.
 

 

We moved the boat around to the next bay, zippppppppp........! I was on again, this is where they were sitting. A 55cm. Nothing to complain about! At this stage I was 4 barra up on Les. Cool. And he's on, and he's on again, and again. Then I'm on, on again. Were we having a ball? 50cm, 35 cm, 56cm...lost a few, Les caught a couple of nice little Grunters. The tide was dropping, we were running out of water. We turned off into the deep to go for a spin around the other side of the island. You never get tired of seeing the incredibly beautiful turtles in this place, they come up alongside the boat gasping for a breath, spin off twirling in the clear waters...Gods country for sure. Amazing, crystal clear water, rugged cliffs and mountains, rain storms scuttling through the valleys, barra ramming lures!.....Hinchinbrook Heaven.

 

 Last time I was down here, the famous Terry Holman showed me a secret spot..sorry, I can't tell you about it, he'd kill me...but it involved a rock. Where's the rock Les? My big barra is waiting for me, I can feel it! I clamped on a Leads Highjacker.I know, we were only in just over a metre of water, but what the hell, it seemed appropriate at the time. Second cast...BANG! Whooooaaaa! I'm on! What a beauty, what a thrill! Up she went ( of course it's a "she") shimmering in the sunlight, peeling off the line, trying to get back into the rocks. Les reversed out, a beautifully coordinated retrieve let's say! I still freak out that I'm going to lose the big ones close to the boat. Les's soothing voice was in my ear. "Let her play Debbie, tire her out, hold your rod up, face the fish, relax...enjoy the fight, enjoy the moment" "Get the boga grips Les!!!! Oh my God, help me get it on board....quickly, quickly!"  I'm screaming. Cool cat makes me do it myself. I'd die missing that one...it's an 80cm, I 'm sure it was a metre long in the water! What a load of fun that was..I'm rapt. We're eating it too! To be flogging Les is one thing, to catch the biggest one on the day is another. We are fiercely competitive when we are fishing together....well I am! I'm a real estate agent, what do you think?

THE BEST - Deb & 80cm of prime saltwater barra!

 The other side of the island was a little disappointing at first. The water was far too low for any action so we dropped the pick, had lunch...and had a sleep for an hour in the middle of the channel...now that's a first. The weather was delightfully overcast with storms booming all around us. Les woke himself up snoring actually! (can I write that?) We wandered over to one of our favourite little islands seeking some deep water to fish in. How terribly sad to see so much of it in such a mess post cyclone. It looked like an atomic bomb had blown up our island. Gone were the lush forest branches reaching over the sea. Gone were the flowers and birds. It's a mangled mess with no hope of recovery for many, many years. Funny how one bank of a river can be pristine and perfect, the other destroyed. That's nature I guess, like it or lump it.

The tide turned, we were on again, more barra, but all undersized. They definitely favoured the shade of the trees that still had leaves on them. The water was more shady, and cooler. we searched for structure. By end of day, we'd totalled a catch of 23 with 15 barra, 6 cod and 2 grunters (thanks Les :)) nothing flash, but a ton of fishing fun. We forgot we were supposed to be in a competition...honestly, we don't even know who won it! I believe Pam is seeking new members for the club though.

 

We had to leave at 9.30am next morning because we had a swag of appointments involving selling real estate from Bramston Beach north...the only real estate chick to turn up at Open Homes with a full fishing rig in tow! I'm ever so lucky to live with a fish whisperer, we never run out of conversation! (Oh, he did flog me by 3 fish in the end but I caught 9 barra, he caught 6) YESSSSS!!!!!!! I'm on!

See you on the water, Debbie
www.fishingcairns.com.au

 

 

Check out some more pics taken just before we left this paradise!