Keith & Les....Daintree Bound!

The "eyes" have it - Les (sunnies) and barra (red eye)

"Where do you recon we should go Les?", Keith asked.

"How about we go to the Daintree....I know she has been knocked about by the recent floods, but we do need to fish it and work out where the fish are. Their usual haunts have all but been washed away but there has to be fish still in the river, they have to be hiding somewhere?"

And so the decision was made late on Saturday night to head north to the Daintree. It is still one of my favourite local rivers, especially if barra is the main target. The southern rivers hold barra, but they also fish well for the likes of sooties, JP's, jacks etc....the Daintree IS a barra river in my book (Now if you are bait fishing, that's another whole ball game - I'm specifically talking lures here).

Heading up the Cook Highway, the sun was just peeking over the horizon...the golden rays were lighting up the scattered clouds and it was just a picture, glad to be alive and going fishing with a mate. It was going to be a glorious day. I pulled up at Keith's place a few minutes late - sorry mate! Packed the car, tied down the rods, filled the esky and it was off to Bransfords Tackle Shop JUST IN CASE! We always need a couple of new lures (even though I probably have 500 or so in my tackle box) and this trip was no exception.

I had been experimenting with these "new" soft plastic things with varying success. I know that many anglers have made the switch and just rave about them...but Keith and I are dinosaurs and have been a bit reluctant to take up this challenge. Not from lack of success, but more from the pure joy we get out of fishing floating, hard bodied, diving lures.  We were determined to give softies a decent work out today and crack the code.

It was a pleasant journey up the coast, past Port Douglas, Mossman and Hook - a - Barra....the seas were flat and calm, the sun glistening off the still surface...we couldn't wait to launch.

With a high tide at approx. 6.30am and a fairly big 2 m run out, we decided to follow the receding waters downstream.  Casting to bank side structure and looking for "new" barra holding zones we quickly realised that it would take some hard thinking to put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle back into place again. This downstream section of the river had not suffered degradation like upstream had, the broader waters obviously allowing the floods to spread out and slowly wash to the mouth. But what was evident however, was the fact that previously shallow runs had now become much deeper channels; the receding waters were flowing much quicker now and on checking the sounder it became evident. My previous productive fishing zones (i.e. shallow runs with plenty of mangrove roots, prickles and weed beds) had been completely scoured out and we were now drifting along in water 1.6m deep, even on low tide, and the waters were racing out.

Keith - 1st barra of the trip

Its "winter" - GT's in the river

This is not conditions that old bucket mouth finds comfortable, they are lazy buggers, ambush feeders and love being in slower moving water...just outside of the main current.

This was not to say that all of the river had been affected this way...just my highly prized, productive zones - you know, the ones that you have worked out over 30 years of fishing a particular waterway!

Just up ahead lay a big old mangrove tree, the banks were still intact here, shallow approaches, mangrove prickles and a deep undercut right under the overhangs - perfect!

As we drifted past we cast to the over hangs. BOOF!...right on cue, right at the boat, right under the branch, a beautiful silver barra engulfed my lure. It was a beauty and did all the right things...she jumped, dived, took me around the boat a couple of times and jumped again. But our skill prevailed and she was soon in the boat. In all this action we still managed to drop the lead blob to hold our position in the current...there may be more fish here eh Keith? And sure enough, there was!

65cm...best for the day!

 They were feisty fish too....Keith hooked up (or should I say, the barra mouthed his lure) jumped and was gone. Time after time quality barra hit our lures, tore off and jumped free. What were we doing wrong - hooks sharp, rod work exceptional, angler skill evident. It was just one of those things. After about eight hook-ups and near misses things went quite; we moved on!

Heading downstream we planned to fish a backwater. It often produced on the last of the run out tide and being a "backwater" the water flow would be much slower than the river proper and offer ideal conditions to present our soft plastics. It was a plan. Drifting along we cast our six inch plastic tails under the overhanging mangroves, let it sink down slowly (we were using unweighted plastic things) and twitch enticingly now and again. Did you see that flash? Sure did mate....back up, drop the lead and lets give it a good work over.

We cast upstream, we let the plastic wobble down, we twitched, and twitched, and twitched...we were excited and expectant. And there it was, another silver flash, a bump a failed hook-up. Cast again, twitch, pause, float, twitch....and right at the boat, about a metre down, this huge bucket mouthed thing engulfed my plastic. It must have been well over 80cm, a real prize for this river, and in the tea coloured water looked a real sight. But again the single hook failed to find its mark, another opportunity lost, but a real pleasure to see such a quality barra in the river. This scenario would repeat itself many times throughout the day.

The soft plastics, in some locations, sure enticed the barra to have a go...but due to inexperience, presentation, hook placement etc., failed to hook up regularly. Back to the drawing board.

It was lunch time by now and conditions so pleasant, we decided to  drift downstream and chose a cosy sheltered bank to have lunch. The Coral Sea just offshore, the majestic Thornton's Peak and adjacent ranges, Black Mountain and the mighty Daintree River. What a picture!

Keith...happy for a lunch break

Daintree - Thornton's Peak - looking upstream

Is this a magic spot or what!

Mouth of the Daintree - looking towards Port Douglas

OK Keith, I'm going to head upstream now and show you the damage caused by the floods. As we zoomed up past Lafferty's it soon became evident that this was a major even. Whole bank side vegetation had been peeled back exposing bare earth. Trees and roots piled up parallel to the water flow, whole islands where 90% of the trees had been smashed and piles of twisted timber, branches and vines lay like a grave site on the waters edge. It was so sad!

Just a sample of bank side destruction

Is that a snag pile

But nature has its way and even as I surveyed the scene, this was my third visit to the Daintree this past month, I could see evidence of life renewing. Green shoots were sprouting from what looked like dead timber, vines were creeping up and over supporting structure and even in the water, ribbon grass had tried to re-establish a presence. Everything happens quickly here in the tropics. It would not be long before the barra would return.

Nice one Keith...look at that structure

Soft plastics do work!

But in the meantime, we still had to work out where the barra were living, hunting, feeding...they had to be still there somewhere!

I took Keith right up to the township, we surveyed the bank side, we saw half a dozen monster crocs - the biggest a whopping 5m easily! In over 30 years of fishing the Daintree, I had never seen so many big crocs this high up. Whether they had been washed down from their previous  mountain hideouts, travelled upstream looking for easier pickings or just more revealed due to the lack of bank side structure to hide in, I don't know. Sure was an eerie sight though - hell, I only have a 4m tinny!

Now that's a croc!

At 5m easy...a real monster

We worked our was back downstream. I looked for river sections that still held the right conditions - out of the main river flow, with bank side cover, prickles and grass....and found the fish. Not big salt water barra, but feisty little juveniles that were obviously very hungry. They smashed our lures, they tore off along the bank, they jumped in defiance, and we landed quite a few. BUT IT WAS STILL TOUGH...having to re think and re programme my brain is not an easy task. I found myself drawn like a magnet to previously productive zones. But they did not exist in their former conditions and guess what, there was no barra there.

Conclusions:

• Forget where you used to catch fish (to a fair degree!)
• Think about what conditions might hold barra
• Search for new territory that offers these conditions
• Often it is the "opposite" bank to that previously fished
• Find the right conditions and we found the fish - in good numbers
• Think about how the river has changed - it varies from downstream tidal zones to upstream freshwater areas
• Take extreme care when travelling - new logs have appeared, sand bars are much shallower and deep channels are not where they used to be
• Look out for those BIG crocs, especially if heading upstream

Catch you on the water,

Regards, Les
www.fishingcairns.com.au

Family....Sometimes it helps!

Tropical North Queensland has been through a bit of a tough time of late. Not that we can complain too much, but the month of April saw a few negatives. With cyclone Ita hitting the coast near Cooktown, then skirting the coast all the way south with fairly moderate winds but dumping huge amounts of rainfall on the way. Then we had weeks of persistent rainfall, especially in the Daintree / Cape Tribulation area, that saw over a metre (yes...that's correct!) over a metre of rainfall for the month alone. Easter was a washout, so too was Anzac weekend, but lets not forget, these much appreciated long weekends are there for a purpose - to remind us of the sacrifices made by others in the past so that we can lead these wonderful lives - and have time off to go camping / fishing / BBQ's / drink a few beers etc. etc.

But hey, I haven't been able to go fishing for over 3 weeks....I needed a fix!

But what does this have to do with the Family thing you ask!

Apart from not being able to fish because of too much rain and flooded rivers, every spare moment of late had been taken up with painting our home. Why, because Debbie's sister and family were coming over from New Zealand to stay with us. We just had to make sure the house was freshly painted, cleaned from skirting board to ceiling, decks polished, lawns mowed and....beer in the fridge. And all this when they were staying for 1 & 1/2 days!!!! They came all this way to spend 1.5 days with their loving sister and me, buggers....and we never let them forget it either.

Debbie just loves organising things...like we were to pick Helen, Jim, Leon and Chantelle from Cains International Airport at approx. 1:00pm on Thursday.

• Take them to Skyrail at Smithfield
• Meet them in Kuranda (2 cars)...have lunch
• Do the boardwalk thing to the Barron Falls
• Drive 2 cars back down to the Yorkeys Knob Boat Club
• Have a couple of beers
• Drive into town an have dinner at Rattle and Hum
• Walk along the Esplanade - around the lagoon, the Pier, the Salthouse, the Marina, the Casino, the Night Markets
• Phew...and this was all in one afternoon

Yorkeys Knob Boat Club...a perfect watering hole!

 

But wait, next morning was going to be even better. After a good nights sleep in a strange bed, in the tropics, and after leaving Auckland in 5C....we were going to go fishing! Well, share the fishing somehow.

So after a hearty breakfast of home made porridge, chock full of nuts and berries and Greek yoghurt etc. we packed the boat, the eskies, the two cars and I headed north with Jim and Leon. The boys were heading off to fish the Daintree while the girls headed off to do "girlie things" ...like Rusty's Markets, and seeing the shops and SPENDING MONEY! All of this so that we could meet for lunch at the boat ramp at the Daintree township, swap passengers / anglers (Its my boat, so I had to fish all the time right?)

The boys arrived at the ferry crossing ramp and launched the boat. It was immediately apparent that the poor old Daintree had been through some ordeal this past few weeks. The banks were smashed up everywhere, trees broken and piled up facing downstream - all aligned by the flooding waters. Weed beds were gone, gutters destroyed, little feeder creeks were like open drains - the once beautiful overhanging rainforest totally gone! And as we travelled upstream I could see that once prized fishing zones were no more - where once slow moving waters swirled over fringing grass beds and mangrove root structures, deep churning water guzzled downstream - not the place for old bucket mouth to seek cover to wait for unsuspecting bait fish (or lures) to swim lazily past and have an easy meal!

Daintree River - flood damaged island

Typical bankside destruction

And in the broader sections, where once easily navigable sand bars held little danger, the huge volumes of silt had filled in channels and piled upon the river bed. I wondered how long before she would settled down and fishing returned to normal....read, start all over again and retrain your brain in order to "find" the fish!

My usual haunts just weren't working...it was all wrong. The river banks looked decidedly "sick", the weed beds all but disappeared and scoured away, and even back waters, where once huge overhanging trees provided shade and hiding places for fish, were devoid of all living thing...just a depressing stack of downstream pointing timber shards and mud. But Jim placed his lure in the right sport and he was on.

Jim's first ever barra!

He wasn't a big barra, just the usual river juvenile at 52cm, but he was sure very welcome. Jim handled his jumps and lunges with aplomb and soon had this magnificent silver streak swimming gently besides the boat - a quick de hook, a pic and a release. Jim was stoked...his first every barra for this visiting Kiwi...hell, I know people who have fished here for 20 years and are still barra virgins!

Time to head upstream to the Daintree township to meet the girls for lunch...right on time we all congregated at the ramp and sat on the rivers bank to survey the scene and partake of Debbie's famous Bacon & Egg pie (or is it Egg & Bacon...I always get confused)...I have mine with plenty of tomato sauce!

Family picnic - Daintree Town ramp

After much discussion about the fishing, the sad state of the river, the fact that the guys had not only landed a barra but seen a couple of salt water crocs, the decision was made that "the girls" only needed and hour or so to have a bit of a cruise, a bit of a fish and then back to the ramp to enable the real fisherman (i.e. the men) to get back to it. Now that's the democratic way....what's wrong with that?

Whilst fishing with the girls, I was lucky enough to land another little barra the same size as Jim's (it was actually 1/2 cm longer but who's counting) and not long after that the phone rang. Time to head back downstream and swap over, beauty!  Unfortunately the afternoon session proved fruitless, the river was just not in a mood to reveal her new secrets, her fish holding haunts, so we packed it in and made plans for our next adventure.

Yours truly, Helen and Chantelle returning!

On the way back to Cairns we dropped into Hook-a-Barra! Readers will know of my fondness of this place and as several of our party had not been successful with wild stock on the Daintree, we thought it would be a great idea to have a few casts in the pond. Our guests were absolutely stoked. Check out the smiles on these faces. If you think catching barra from a pond is not great fun, then think again.
They are challenging, they hit your lure hard an fight like wild horses. Really, just do it and see!

Chantelle with a b eauty!

Helen and that smile!

Hooked up...you beaut!

As usual, the girls out fished the men in this semi controlled environment...or was it that we were just being gentlemen and let them have 90% of the time! No matter what, it was exciting stuff. To see  quality barra boof those poppers, tear across the pond with screaming drags and jump half a metre into the air...awesome!

Well done Jim!

Leon...last fish, but a beauty!

OK...I had to catch just one!

Just as fascinating was a quick visit to the display area. Drop a food pellet into the pool and hear that "gun shot" of a take - great to hear the girls squeal too! And to finish off the afternoon we purchased one of our prime barra captures and took it home for dinner. Fancy coming all the way from NZ, travelling along the magnificent coast road to the Daintree, cruise the river with a local "expert", catch a couple of wild barra, spot a few crocs, visit the barra farm and have some fun - and catch dinner. 

Check out these albino barra in the display tank!

I was outnumbered in my own house that night, and at half time with the Kiwi's leading 18 - 12 in the rugby league Test, I was a little apprehensive. Even Debbie was barracking for the boys from over the ditch (or was it dutch...I could hardly understand them)....I was outnumbered 5-1!

This morning, at 6:30am, we took the party to the train station.
They were off to Townsville to spend a week on Magnetic Island
In one and a half days we had shown them the treasure that is Tropical North Queensland and helped reinforce in our minds how magic this place really is.

There they go...off to Townsville...SAD!

They had seen the sights, sampled the food, caught a barra - what more could you ask for?

Catch you on the water.
Regards, Les

www.fishingcairns.com.au

 PS - apparently the girls had done quite a bit of detouring! Check it out!

Mouth of Daintree!

St Mary's by the sea

Beautiful Port Douglas