The Things You Catch While "barra" Fishing!

Well readers, its been a while..........not since I've been fishing. Hell I go almost every weekend barring trips to Adelaide, home renovations etc. But to find something different and interesting to write about can sometimes be a bit difficult.

In fact several weeks ago I almost penned an article titled "The Things You Catch While "Sooty" Fishing". I even posted a few pics on my Facebook page but it created a bit of controversy (great to see readers are passionate) and I did not get around to it.

That article was going to be about how my good mate, Terry Holman and I, fished the upper reaches of the Johnston using light 4kg spin outfits armed with the mighty little lure, the Rapala SR5 (now fast becoming my favourite fresh water lure).....of how we genuinely targeted sooties in the rapids....and landed a fantastic "mixed bag" consisting of;

• Sooties
• Jungle Perch (J.P.'s)
• Trevally
• Mangrove Jacks
• Archer fish
• Silver grunter & of course
• Some beautiful barramundi

A magnificent fresh water barra - on sooty gear too!

Quality sooty mate!

And a good jack too!

Last weekend however, was the opening of the barra season and I was determined to get my legit barra fix after the frustration of several months of smaller targets!

I was also taking my daughter, Kirby and her partner, Schaefy out together for the very first time. Kirby and I had conspired at Christmas time and bought him a brand new baitcaster outfit and lures...he was keen to christen it!

If you can remember back that far, that Sunday was the day that Telstra "pulled the plug" on North Queensland (along with channel 7 the evening before....no Aussie Open final Grrrrrrr!) so I could not confirm with them the night before. I just rocked up at approx. 7:30 am and hoped they would be ready. Well not quite....they just got out of bed and quickly dressed. We'll get breakfast on the way I explained.

So off we went to the Johnstone again and for a very good reason.

The high tide in the morning would give me access way upstream, and with a low late afternoon of approx. 1.3 m, still plenty of depth to come home on.

We actually made it! Way up to the South Johnstone township; even though we had to take it slowly over some rocky bars and have Schaefy perch himself way up the bow for ballast. Thanks mate!

I clipped on my favourite gold SR5 and suggested my guests do likewise....we began our drift. Casting to bankside grass and snags it wasn't long before we started to catch a few. Kirby was first with a lovely little JP caught from under an overhanging tree. They just love the shade during the hot summer months and a well placed lure can see up to half a dozen JP's tear after the little offering.

Kirby and her very first JP

It was my turn next and a lovely little sooty crashed my lure near a grassy overhang. The secret to success here is, to cast as close as you can to the bank, twitch the lure and "BANG" your on! Now read that again?..........Cast as close as you can........as close as you can!

And so it was that yours truly had hooked up to about 20 fish before Schaefy had raised a scale. Kirby, being a girl (ladies always have some luck) was on the board with 5 fish too. But to his great credit he did not wavier, in fact he made a decision to swap outfits. Schaefy put down the light spin gear and picked up his brand new weapon, a lovely Shimano baitcaster and hooked on a bright purple Classic shallow runner. Being a much heavier lure, it was much easier for him to cast but on the first couple of attempts he had not found his range and was casting way behind the boat...back to where we had already fished.

You're wasting your time back there I advised.......and right on cue, Schaefy hooked up to one of the best sooties of the trip. I'd better shut my mouth before I have to eat more "humble pie" I thought.

Is he happy......darn right he is!

Following was an endless procession of sooties / JP's / mangrove jacks / archer fish and the occasional juvenile barra. We had a blast!

It became quite hot and humid during the middle part of the day and I stopped in the shade to give my guests some respite from the heat on more than a couple of occasions. Mid-afternoon however, saw a great big thundercloud build up behind us and block out the sun. There were cracks of lightening towards the hills and I was sure that we would soon be drenched. Not to be.........the rain stayed away, the cloud blocked out the sun and the temperature dropped markedly. Conditions were very pleasant indeed.

So pleasant that Kirby and her mate found new-found enthusiasm. I could not get then off the water now and it was a late retrieve of the tinny back at the ramp.

We had had a magic day, with my daughter encompassing her new found passion for lure fishing; with her man stoked with his new outfit and the number of fish we landed. It was three very tired  but satisfied anglers that hit the bitumen back to Cairns that evening.

Later that week I received a text from Kirby...........dad, is there any chance you could take Schaefy and I fishing again this Sunday?

Unfortunately I was already booked.......a trip that had already been postponed by Keith the week before so I could not let him down. And Keith had a very special surprise waiting for me......we were going to field test these brand new soft plastic prawn lures that everyone was raving about, the Zerek Prawn lure............now that's another story so watch for my next post!

Catch you on the water, regards Les
www.fishingcairs.com.au