Farewell my lovely – A reflection on the Daintree River and More!

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!

 I know this river like the back of my hand, I know its moods, its water flows, its hiding places and where to catch a fish (on most occasions)…but today it felt strangely different. In a way I was saying goodbye, not forever mind you, but at this stage I have no idea when I would fish these waters again.

 

 

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.

 

And so it is with very mixed feelings that I sign off from this Blog.

God bless you all, see you on the water!

 

Kind regards, Les