A Break In The Weather!

Did anyone go to the Cairns Show?
Did everyone notice how atrocious the weather "always" is on show week....and this year was bad!
But what about Saturday!

Can you believe it....the very next day after the show...after putting up with 25-30knot winds howling from the south east....drizzly grey skies and overcast conditions. Open you eyes on Saturday and the weather is as magnificent as you can get!

Mulgrave ramp....what a glorious start to the day!

Not a cloud in the sky.
Not a breath of wind.
A balmy 26C....perfect.

I hope that the reef fisherman fared a bit better than we did because the Mulgrave was a real dog as far as catching was concerned. But it was a great day to be alive. To drift and zoom along in glassy conditions, with rain forest buzzing past and the mighty Walsh's Pyramid in the background....It was just so good to be there and be alive in natures glory.

Debbie had the day off too and its always a pleasure to have my lady with me while fishing. Hell she is a great cook, muffins and bickies, home made pasties and a hot cup.....Oh!, hold on a minute....we forgot the Thermos flask didn't we. We left it in the car so had to put up with cold water for a change.

We travelled upstream on the high tide as far as I dared go at this time of year (suppose to be the dry season) and cast to known barra holding water. Those cotton woods are a favourite, as are the ribbon grass and back eddies........but all was to no avail.

I even worked some current / dirty water lines!

But it was just too cold I think!

The water was crystal clear, a brrrrrr icy cold 20C and not a barra in sight.

It was a huge drop in the tides too so knew it would be tough. But not this tough.

We ventured downstream to the salt....what salt! We were greeted by brown stained fresh water flowing from the Russell and even on this current line there was nothing doing. OK babe, lets drift back on the tide and see whether there is something in Sorrensens?

There was; and sitting right on the muddy point, sunning itself was a huge 4m + croc. Check it out!

"Well babe, it looks like its not going to happen today" I announced. Lets just drift along this mangrove bank and cast to a couple of fallen trees. If there is nothing here we might as well...........CRASH / BANG......the rod buckled over right at the boat and a spirited fight ensured.
I was stoked to finally hook up to a fish, any fish, it didn't matter, but when I pulled the lovely jack from the muddy water I was a relieved man.

We followed the incoming tide and I landed another jack and a GT!

But as soon as it had switched on, it had turned off and nothing else was enticed by our offerings.

Lets go home babe......have a few beers, watch the footy and relax.

Now on reflection it was always going to be a tough day and for the following reasons.

1. We had had about a week or really lousy weather
2. Even though conditions above the water were perfect for us humans
3. It was lousy for the fish - at 20c too bloody cold for barra
4. There was a cold fresh in the system following days of drizzling rain
5. It was a huge run out to .0 m something
6. Followed by a rushing making tide of over 2.6m - a hell of a lot of movement
7. The "window of opportunity" in these conditions was about 20 minutes - spot on!

How good is this!

So the fishing was lousy! But man it was great to be alive, in paradise, with a beautiful companion who shares my passion for the water, the rivers, the environment and the scenery. On days like these, the fishing is a bonus.

Catch you on the water,
Regards, Les
www.fishingcairns.com.au
www.aurukunfishingcharters.com


PS - what about the footy (AFL)....the Suns beat the Pies!
     - the crows just hung on to beat the Cats!
     - and the Power beat the Saints!