Packing up
and preparing to leave your country of birth brings many emotions to the fore.
And having
to wait for weeks before you actually board the plane has many frustrations,
especially when your boat has gone, your fishing tackle is boxed up and on the
transport; you don’t even have a hat, polarised sunnies or a long sleeved
shirt…let alone your own vehicle.
But thanks
to good mate, Keith Graham from Bransfords Tackle Shop, who loaned me all this
gear, we found ourselves cruising up the Cook Highway on Sunday morning heading
for the mighty Daintree River. It was a strange feeling!
We were
fishing in Keith’s punt, but I was basically showing the way and telling him
where and when to fish…and hey presto, we were having success. We cruised
upstream this day and fished the shallow flats near Barratts Straight…Keith
landed a lovely river trevally after a prolonged and dogged fight on light spin
gear. A few casts later there was an almighty “boof”, a spray of water and a
huge swirl but alas, the leader knot pulled through the double and whatever it
was, was gone. The Rapala popper bobbed up a few moments later and at least he
got his lure back…only damaged pride.
By now the
tide was building and we commenced a slow drift upstream. Casting to bankside
weed and swaying ribbon grass, my favourite haunts were still producing
fish….it was as if time had stood still all these past 30 years as I was landing
fish from the exact spots that I had done so for years. Had it really been that
long…when would I do it again?
We had
morning coffee under the shade of the overhanging rain forest, birds and
butterflies flew by and it was just like yesterday (1989) that two old codgers
chatted about politics, the economy, the footy, Aquis and Cairns real estate.
Even Pauline Hansen got a run, again! And by lunch time we had landed half a
dozen silver jacks (baby barra), real jacks, GT’s, queenies and spotties (archer
fish).
Sure I was
happy to be there, in a magnificent environment, on one of the prettiest rivers
in the world, with a great mate having great conversations….but my thoughts
were drifting off to the snapper and kingies of New Zealand. What tackle
techniques would be successful over there, would I be able to use my beloved
tinny over there or would my fishing be dominated by the blue water scene. Hell
I love my river and estuary fishing here in OZ! Keith was a great listener, and
offered heaps of educated advice…advice like “You get over there Les and sort
it out before I come over and fish with you”.
The
afternoon drifted by and the usual targets were in their usual locations…it
wasn’t easy fishing by any stretch of the imagination, but for me it was like fishing
in a “dream”….years and years of memories came flooding back. Remember that day
when we landed……what about the time when….how about that time……all of a sudden
it rained and we clung to the cliff face and overhang to stay relatively
dry. More chat time, more reflection on
all the magic times that I had had fishing this wonderland of Tropical North
Queensland.
I have had a
very lucky life up here, and God willing, there is more to come.
I have
fished from the Hinchinbrook Channel to Thursday Island – from Seisia to
the Gulf…across the top end; Kakadu and the Kimberley have very special
memories.
And that’s
only in the top half….the trout of the Snowy, the snapper of Whyalla (where I
was born) and the tommies from the Ardrossan jetty…man it has been fun. And I
must also give a very special mention to a dear friend from the States – John
Oatley - who took me under his wing and showed me his back door; the Florida
flats, 100lbs of tarpon, red fish and jacks. We even went to the Arctic Circle
and fished for lake trout and pike, what an adventure that was.
There are some
very special people still here that I must thank, and apologies to anyone that
I might have forgotten to mention. You’ll just have to remind me of your worth
and I’ll let you come over to NZ and fish with me in my new home.
Keith Graham
has been a rock…a very special and dear friend and companion. Not only have we had some amazing fishing,
just check out Bransfords Tackle Shop’s web site and look up his CD collection.
Its not a co-incidence that our combined exploits feature quite regularly! But
Keith has also been there during the “dark days”…thanks heaps mate! A very warm
thank you to his son Mat too, we have witnessed this young man grow in all
facets of his life and I, as well as his dad, are very proud of him.
Then there
are my fishing buddies of long standing, some of you have dropped off the scene
of late but the memories of past exploits still sit vividly in my brain…the
likes of Kevin Venese, Brett Parks, Capt. Kim Andersen and Rob McCulloch…and I
could not leave out Holman!
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.
Many of you
have followed my exploits over the years, I know that I have influenced your
fishing choices, your tackle selection and hopefully guided you in some way to
better fishing…I sincerely appreciate your fellowship and goodwill…Heff from
Port Douglas / Lineburner fame has been a big player in this regards also,
thanks mate.
I am heading
off to New Zealand shortly with my beautiful Debbie and a whole new world to
explore, sail and fish. It will be challenging to find “what works” in my new
domain, but it’s a task that I am extremely excited about. We will be based in
a little farming / tourist region called Matakana, approx. one hours drive
north of Auckland. If you are ever in the region please look us up, I’d love to
have a beer or two and if you’re a keen angler, why don’t you bookmark my new
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/lesmarshfishingnz
and see what I’m up to.