What a Difference a Day Makes!

How did my recent trip to Cairns go?

It was fantastic to catch up with my beautiful daughters, to take them to the movies (I love the movies - I watched 6 in total. Two on the plane over, two while in Cairns and another two on the return journey), to go to a magic restaurant at Palm Cove and to have a lamb roast with the family and friends....sort of!

Oh...almost forget, had a private viewing of the brand new REMAX office in Cairns. It was an old church...and now its been renovated into the state of the art real estate office. Congratulations Tony Williamson, Asta and staff...you will all love working there. (Couldn't find my desk!)

As for the fishing :

Monday - Daintree – it was a pleasure to go with a guide. Will from Fish Hunter is a good guy and I certainly have no problem recommending him to potential clients and have conveyed that to Pam (Fishing Cairns). I would love to fish with him again.

Launching at Daintree Ferry Crossing

Guide - Will from Fish Hunter FNQ

Cruising up the Daintree

Will Pritchard - Guide

Keith Graham - Bransfords Tackle Shop

That's me....1st Barra!

The boys

Pick me....Pick me....alright Keith, settle down!

Tuesday – Russell – it was a dog of a day. Fished with Brett. We went a fair way upstream and did the sooty drift. We saw hundreds of fish, darting out from the logs, bankside and weeds – but they just wouldn’t hit our offerings. We tried poppers, SR5’s, minnows etc. I only caught 2 fish for the day while Brett landed 6.

Wednesday – Russell – After much deliberation and consideration of the tides and potential for rain, we reluctantly decided to go back to the Russell. Mainly because that shallow patch above the Innisfail township would have meant that either a very early exit of around noon, or a very late return after 5pm would have been on the cards if we fished the Johnstone. And I had commitments for dinner at Palm Cove at 6.30pm.

 

Launching - Bellenden Kerr - New Ramp Too!

Is that the smallest Trevor?

That's better...a reasonable barra on light spin gear

Pretty little JP on Bomber lure

Sooty!!!

liquid silver....tarpon

What a difference a day makes!

Upon launching at Bellenden Kerr it was obvious that they must have had a fair bit of rain overnight down that way. The river was noticeably higher and a bit discoloured – not dirty, but the colour of weak coffee. The previous day the water was gin clear!

 

We were able to motor right up under the highway bridge – quite a rare feat I might add, and start our drift. We both hooked on poppers and immediately we were having success. My first fish was a lovely little (very little) trevally, then came the sooties and every now and again that bright silver flash from a tarpon excited us. At the mouth of Eubenangee swamp I was smashed by a feisty little barra…whoo hoo! By lunch we had landed 20 fish….we were stoked. 

And after lunch, the hits kept coming. I decided to experiment a little and clipped on that little gold / black bomber 6cm shallow lure and was instantly rewarded….again and again. I gave it to Brett as he was so impressed. 

We even pulled the pin early as I had to get to that dinner engagement (got stuck in the highway road works on the way home and just made it in time)

And the tally for the day was a very respectable 43 fish….WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!

On reflection there were two main differences between Tuesday & Wednesday’s fishing;

1.       There was a rain event overnight which made the river rise a foot or so – just enough to traverse higher upstream.

2.       The water clarity – this I believe was the crucial factor. Monday’s water was too clear - if that’s possible? As they say, “If you can see the fish, then they can see you” These fish live in their river and are very aware of what’s happening in their environment. They can probably see / feel your presence bobbing downstream way before you arrive at the casting location. On Wednesday we hardly saw a fish before they struck our lures – they were actively hunting food today.

There you have it…did I enjoy it?

You bet I did!

I love our tropical rivers, and just being there is amazing. It does wonders for your soul …being amongst the green, the rainforest, the grass, the water…and dodging crocs too is thrilling. I LOVE IT!

Hold on Keith, Will & Brett…I’m already planning my next trip.

The Holy Grail

Easter is out of the way, all the holiday makers have gone home, it’s time to go fishing. Hitched up the tinny and headed off down the highway, the radio said it was already blowing 27 knots out on the reef. Not to worry, where I fish I get some protection from the riverbanks.

The river was down a bit, so heading into the upper reaches was out of the question (lost a prop last week for that very reason). The river had cleared up, it had been very silty due to the rains. So after navigating my way over all the usual snags that were closer to the surface now I pulled up and began fishing.

Stared with my go to lure the Rapala SR5 Bluegill, it took around ten minutes before I had my first bit of interest, it was going to be a quiet day. Still twenty minutes in and I hadn’t landed a fish, worse still I’d hardly seen a fish. Time for a change of tact, a green and orange popper, let’s see how we go. Nothing, for another ten minutes, it’s going to be a long day.

Was just about to retrieve my lure when something caught my eye on the other bank, then bang, a hit, looked back and there’s a massive Barra sitting on the surface, we did the dance for less than 30 seconds, a couple of jumps but a pretty lacklustre fight, I thought I had pressure on him when the lure just fell out of his mouth, even the Barra was unsure as he jumped again to try and throw the lure, then he swam back off into the deep water. Bugger, but a least I’d seen some action.

By this time it had started to cloud over making the popper my preferred method of attack. First up was a nice little Sooty, followed by a Jungle Perch, two more Sooty’s then a nice Barramundi, the morning was looking up.

A bit later I jagged a small Mangrove Jack, and to my surprise just after that as I was bringing in my popper on a fast retrieve to get another cast in, and the line started singing, luckily I was in a wide part of the river with no snags as this thing nearly made the other bank, about fifty metres away, you guessed it, a marauding Trevally, after a nervous fight I managed to land it, all the time aware of the light gear I was using.

 

It dawned on me I was one fish short, again, of my Holy Grail. A Barramundi, Jungle Perch, Mangrove Jack, Sooty Grunter and Tarpon, all great sport fishing species. But alas, time was getting on and I decided it was time head home, cruising home I turned a bend a came across a known Tarpon habitat, it can’t hurt to have a few more casts before I head off. A shower of rain came across dampening my enthusiasm as Tarpon tend to lurk in the deeper pools and the lack of light may make a strike considerably less likely. Anyway, one last hundred metre stretch of river then I was done. Around cast number six I got a flash, yes there’s a chance, peppered that spot for a while with no result. I bagged a Sooty about ten casts later. Then bang, I was on, the Tarpon showed itself and the battle was on. Tarpon are notorious, in my experience, for throwing lures with their aerial acrobatics.

After a very nervous fight I lifted the spent fish into the boat and celebrated my triumph of achieving the Holy Grail, my Holy Grail anyway. Not a bad days fishing afterall….

Brett Parks

The Uncanny Angler

Ph 0459 704666

I LOVE TO FISH....by Brett Parks

No rain for a couple of days, the river will be dropping and the water clearing up, it’s time to go fishing. “Morning Parksy, great day to wet a line”) I’d picked up my mate Brod Osbourne (at this point he had no idea what a fantastic day it was going to be) and headed of down the highway in search of the elusive Jungle Perch. Brod had spent a good part of his youth growing up in Babinda (50-60km south of Cairns), and despite spending many weekends on the river had never caught a JP.

It was beautiful morning, a light breeze was forecast and there were only a few wispy clouds in the sky. We hit the river and headed upstream. My trusty Quintrex Explorer knew the way, as it had been up here plenty of times. Brod held his breath a few times as we traversed some gentle rapids and he saw the rocky bottom of the river flash past only inches from the prop. There was still plenty of fresh water coming down the river,  that meant we could get further upstream.

We finally arrived at our starting point, way up river, the furthest point I had been so far, and I’d only gotten here once a few weeks back. That particular day this part of the river did not produce many fish, but on that day also I had to contend with a crop duster spraying crops for the local farmers. We pulled in to the bank at a small back eddy and set about attaching lures to our rods. Directly across the river was another larger piece of backwater and we proceeded to cast our lures into it, second cast and bang I was on , third cast for Brod and he was on, I brought in a lovely little JP, and Brod landed a nice little Sooty Grunter. Hadn’t been fishing for five minutes and we were both on the board, time for a quick photo, a fast release, the back into it.

They were on, I got another, Brod got another, then me, then him, the tallies were starting to rack up. I’d put four JP’s in the boat and Brod had landed five Sooty’s, the Sooty king was not happy, he was yearning for that first Jungle Perch. What made it worse was, a few times my casts were bringing out into the open small groups of JP’s all chasing the lure. Jungle Perch love to lay in wait for their food in shaded areas, generally near the bank, so fishing for them requires some precision casting at times. Hit the right spot and the fish are on before the bail arm has time to be flicked back over. They are great little fighting fish, and hit the line hard, but they also have to be one of the most attractive looking fish going around. Their distinctive marking make them the fish I love to catch the most.

We were using the Rapala SR5 lures, I had on a light/dark green version, and Brod had the gold/black, by morning tea he’d realised he was probably on the wrong colour, so he changed over the same colour as me, the elusive JP had steered clear of his offerings so far. Brod’s mum had made a cake and we enjoyed a nice cuppa and some lovely sponge cake and chatted about our success so far, we were both sitting at around eight fish each.

I love this type of fishing, sight casting, casting into shadows, casting under trees, using light gear with the drag set just right. Sootys and JP’s hit hard and you need to let them take line on that initial run, this is especially the case when Tarpon are on the bite, they are very soft around the mouth and you lose a lot more Tarpon than any other species. A good percentage of fish landed are actually seen taking the lure, its heart in your mouth stuff and really gets the adrenalin pumping.

Not long after morning tea the inevitable happened, I was putting Brod onto all my favourite spots, getting him to cast here, cast there, then it happened, he landed his first Jungle Perch, he was wrapped and so was I, it’s a great thrill to land a species for the first time, and he was over the moon. The achievement is made all the more thrilling because you know the skills you have had to employ to land this fish. Casting in under trees and between branches trying to coax a strike, you’re aim getting better and better with each trip, until you can land a lure within inches of its intended target.

The ice was broken, on we went, we came to a stretch of faster flowing water and swapped our crankbaits for poppers, three casts and Brod was on again, a nice solid Sooty. Subsequent casts had plenty of interest with several fish thrashing about the lures. Until the dream of many fisherman, Brod nailed two fish on the one lure, a Jungle Perch and a Sooty, he lifted them into the boat and the celebrations begun, what a day this was turning into. The poppers continued to produce plenty of interest and land lots of fish.

It was early afternoon and time for a swim, we picked a shallow sandy area, had a quick scan for the giant lizards that inhabit these waterways, then plunged into the beautifully refreshing waters to cool off. By this stage the poor electric had drained the battery, we had spent a bit of time powering back upstream retrieving lures from snags and out of tree limbs, my theory is, if you’re not getting snagged up, you’re not trying hard enough. But it was time to head home, the trip home saw us shadowing a Jabiru in flight, and witnessing three giant Sea Eagles squabbling over a fish, and some sensational scenery.

What a day.

Brett Parks

I LOVE TO FISH – Coming soon, one on one charters, ph 0459 704666 for info.