Daintree Lady - That's my little girl!

Readers will know that I was off to Aurukun last Monday.....took Keith Graham (Bransfords Tackle Shop) and Mike Harvey (Radio 4CA & Zinc) for a quick intro to fishing paradise. It did not disappoint although the big tides certainly made us work for the fish.

We still managed approx. 80 barra for the two days which is not to be sneezed at. To see how we went you'll have to jump to my Aurukun Fishing Charters Facebook page.

This article is about a fishing haven a lot closer to home......the lovely Daintree River in fact.

Last Sunday I was stoked to take my daughter, Britney, solo lure fishing for the first time. We had dabbled with a few sooties months ago, but this was a serious trip where:

• I was going to teach her how to use a baitcaster
• Show her where & how to catch a barra
• Teach her a bit about "reading a river"
• Show her what lure to use and why

We did all that and much, much more!

Lets get back to the beginning............my daughters are not little kids anymore. They are fairly grown up with their own jobs, boyfriends and life to lead. I don't get to see them as much as I would like as they live with their mum.....and their other men take up a lot of their time. When Britney texted me late on Saturday afternoon to confirm that "we were still on for the trip"....man I was stoked. I'm not sure how excited Britney was however when I told her that I would pick her up at 6:30am.

She must have been keen to come as she had had a fairly early night and was waiting on the steps outside her home when I pulled up right on time. So off we headed to the Daintree. We chatted about lots of different things, as fathers and daughters do and the trip north passed quickly. Here we were at the boat ramp having passed through some wet weather as we drove near Port Douglas. There was a bit of cloud around but the real problem was going to be the wind!

There was a strong wind warning issued for coastal waters nearby and this would make lure fishing a bit uncomfortable as the SE trades blow straight up the main river channel at this point.

We had a small window of opportunity to fish nearby, hopefully land a fish or two before those predicted strong winds picked up around 9:30 > 10:00 am (as is the norm). One of my favourite spots failed to produce, I did manage a small barra of another kind...see pic hereabouts. 

I had chosen to fish the Daintree this day because the tides were perfect.
A high of some 2.6m at 9:00am
A low of approx. 1.2m at 3:00pm
That's a steady 1.4m run....just ideal I recon!

But those pesky winds were doing their thing and I had to change my plans. I had hoped to venture downstream and fish the mangroves / overhangs and prickles (aerial roots) but this option was a blow out I'm afraid. Not to worry, I would head upstream instead, fish some sheltered spots out of the wind and hopefully, still provide sufficient action for Britney.

 

NOTE: I could have persisted in the downstream areas and probably caught larger fish, but the name of the game for today was not about quality... it was about giving my daughter the best possible chance to catch a barra or two, in fairly comfortable conditions and hopefully, where she had a good enough time to want to do it again. Remember that all you parents....you must not put your expectations onto your kids but rather be mindfull that they may not want to cast 1,000 times just to land one big one! They need fairly constant action to stay interested.

One of the best illustrations of this fact is to witness the success of the Bransfords Kids Fishing Clinic on the Palm Cove jetty the day before. Approx. 180 kids, over 360 fish landed, over 40 varieties...and not one complaint.

 

Back to the Daintree...........we landed a couple of small barra, we moved further upstream and cast to overhanging cottonwood trees. Bang, I was on to a feisty little juvenile. Drop the lead blob darling, there might just be a few more here I explained. And so for the next couple of hours we were thoroughly entertained by dozens of juvenile barra....I think we landed approx. 15 or so from this spot...how amazing is that and Britney was getting the fishing lesson of her life (more on that later).

We had morning tea and even lunch at this location such was the fishing activity. The tally mounted. Eventually the action slowed and came to a complete standstill....fish are not infinite and they do learn.

 

Lets head downstream baby, I have another "calm" spot to fish before we head for home.

Things were a little slow at first but after the first flash, persisting with the now famous "super shads",  we started to extract some more beauties. Not big fish, but a hell of a lot of fun in skinny water with a beautiful companion.

In all we landed 26 barra!
How cool is that....even with your dad.

 

As we drove home we chatted about the day, Britney expressed her genuine satisfaction and excitement for barramundi lure fishing. I had achieved my goal!

What did you learn today about catching barra I asked.........what was the difference in catch rates between us I queried. Well dad, you put more lures right up under the trees...........practice, practice, practice. You've got to get your lure in the right spot!

Catch you on the water,

Regards, Les
www.fishingcairns.com.au

PS - I could not see the point in posting pics of 26 barra!