And Then It Gets Even Tougher!

Last week I penned a little article about my recent trip to the Johnstone River with Keith Graham. Well, last Sunday I had an even tougher day on the Mulgrave River with my partner, Debbie.

We certainly headed off in high spirits....why not, we live in paradise!


Boat Ramp - busy but orderly

The short trip south to the Bellenden Kerr boat ramp passed without incident - even finding the car park chock full was no deterrent as most trailers were of the "reef boat" size....readers will know that I'm primarily an "upstream man". With a high tide of 2.7m at approx. 7:00am it was just perfect for a zoom as far upstream as my little punt would carry us.
 

Allomba Bridge - even at high tide quite shallow

Thankfully the tide was high and still rising as we passed under the Aloomba road bridge - man the river was shallow though, and we badly need some decent rain to flush our river systems. This was as far as I dared venture as with the falling tide, we would have a slow trip back down over some pretty shallow areas I can assure you - not a trip for the unfamiliar!

What a picture...awesome!

Great to just be there!

We found a steep undercut bank with plenty of overhanging trees....their sweet blossom filled the air and birds sang above. What a pretty scene this was!

We tried small poppers / small divers / blades and chrome slices - all manner of things to little effect. We did manage a couple of small jacks & a sootie and Deb also had a sizable tarpon on for a while. It gyrated all over the place, as they do on light tackle, and just as she reached down to gently lift the silver beauty in for a quick pick, the leader broke right at the snap and fish and lure were gone.

By now the tide had just turned, maybe this would be the signal for the fish to start biting but alas...no such luck. Heading back downstream we tied all my favourite spots - weed banks here / undercut banks there / fast runs between sand bars and swaying ribbon grass.

At one stage we counted half a dozen fish scattering away from the shallow weed beds, but they were not the least bit interested in our offerings (and we tried many).



How small do jacks get?

Nice tarpon Deb

We pulled the pin early....the fishing was, er well crap!
But the river scenery was just magnificent, the weather superb and the drift down just a delight.

Back at the boat ramp there was a bit of a line up but ramp etiquette soon sorted it out and we were away in no time.

Jabiru....what a beautiful bird and Australia's only true native stork!

Boat ramp @ 4:00pm

I made a promise to myself - I WILL NOT FISH THE MULGRAVE AGAIN UNTIL WE HAVE SOME DECENT RAIN....or I get bored need a quick fix close to home Ha Ha!
Fisherman - we are a funny lot!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to family / friends / associates......where are we going on Sunday Keith?

Les Marsh
www.fishingcairns.com.au

We did have to wait and cool the tyres down....Fisheries Falls Pub!