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

Russell River Rambling!

Well, I know this little report is late...hell, work gets in the way of  a good story sometimes!

Last Sunday was a great opportunity to test the upper reaches of the Russell River. Having had heaps of rain the previous couple of weeks, plus a high tide of over 3.3m at approx. 9.30am, the river would be high and navigable well into the "high country"....way upstream anyway.

My rig in the early morning light - Russell River

Cruising upstream

I launched my little punt from the bank, dropped the rocket launcher rod rack so that I could get under the bridge, and once clear, re arranged my gear and off I cruised. It was my intention to just zoom way upstream as far as I dared. It was a breeze cruising over a few rapids ( it would be a bit trickier coming back down as the falling tide would make the river flow a lot quicker). But this just adds to the excitement!

I am always cautious however; and always err on the side of safety where water is concerned...rock bars, rapids, sunken timber and the very real presence of crocs. You just don't take a risk, a calculated one is OK if you are proficient on the water and know your vessels capabilities.

I was surrounded by absolutely stunning scenery. The upper Russell has got to be one of the prettiest places in the Tropical North and thankfully, not many people access it. I usually have the place all to myself, but this day another keen angler had made his way upstream. We shared pleasantries and off he went...it was his intention to go even further than I had. But then, I had miles of unspoilt river to fish and he would likewise...a win / win for all.

How's this for a morning coffee spot!

My rigs - Quantum 2500 spin and baitcaster outfits on 6kg Green Arrow blanks

This cane train bridge was covered during the week

Clipping on a "new" Savage shallow runner, I cast to the bank and cranked my lure back towards my drifting boat. Right on cue, a feisty little JP climbed all over it and was quickly brought to hand, de hooked and released. I could feel it; it was going to be a good day!

A healthy little JP & Savage minnow

Chunky little sooty!

Check out that backdrop - what a place to fish!

Fishing came relatively easy that day - Sooties, JP's, tarpon and jacks were on the chew and my tally was mounting. In all I counted 36 fish landed with heaps more lost or missed at the strike. At one stage I even had a double hook up on JP's, only to have one of them free itself while I was trying to sort the camera. Alas, by the time I was ready, only one was left, it would have made a magic photo.

JP's are such a beautiful little fish - notice that lure change?

But what really thrilled me on this day was the backdrop to my fishing, the surrounding vista enveloped me in all its glory. Clean flowing jungle water, beautiful stands of proud rainforest stood tall and sentinel like over the stream, bankside grasses held it together and I was content just being there. The fish were a bonus - I even managed to hook a nice barra right at the end of the day but it too shook the hooks as I was fiddling around with my camera - one of the drawbacks of fishing alone I guess. Brett Parks, Keith Graham, Kirby & Britney Marsh - where were you?

Oh by the way, Debbie was working...bloody real estate gets in the way of life sometimes eh babe!

Guess what, after lunch I switched to my favourite fresh water lure...bet you can't guess what it is!
I'll let the pics hereabouts tell the rest of the story...another great day!

Catch you on the water,
Regards, Les
www.fishingcairns.com.au

A healthy little Russell River sooty

This was two JP's a second ago!

Close up of the business end of a prime river sooty - love those SR5's

A plucky little tarpon

Well there it is...love this place!

Daintree Dreaming!

The Daintree / Cape Tribulation region had copped a heap of rain last week. One local tour operator at the boat ramp mentioned that over 380mm had fallen in 24 hours.

Now that's a lot of water!

Heading north to fish the Daintree is always a bit of a gamble at this time of the year. A heavy overnight downpour can drop inches of rain and the resultant run off turns the river to tomato soup like colour - not good for lure fishing I can assure you.

But in spite of the aforementioned heavy falls, the river looked a treat as we rounded Humbug Bend on our way to the township. This is the first spot to get a glimpse of the river through the trees and its always a bit of a lottery - will it look clear / clean or dirty? We were in luck.

We launched without incident, had a quick chat to the local tour guide - he told us that the river has had five recent "Flood Events" this season and showed us how high it had reached earlier in the week. Thankfully the river drops quite quickly without monsoon rain or cyclonic conditions off the coast so we were soon on our way, whisking upstream as fast as my little punt would carry us.

Up past the little island, up past the rocky outcrop, up past the main island divide, up past the CREB track......way, way upstream we travelled and all in relatively ease. The river was still quite high and the further up the narrowing valley we travelled, the more "compressed" the river width so hence, a easy trip over the many rapids until we dared not go any further.

We settled up under a shady rainforest tree and had a welcome cup of coffee.

 

Brett at the "top" of the Daintree

 

My new Quantum spin reel - a beauty!

My god mate, Brett Parks, was with me this trip...he had never traversed this far upstream before so was quite impressed with our location, the surrounding beauty of this unspoilt stretch of tropical rain forest and of course, my boating skills!!!

Clipping on my favourite flat jack lure we got down to business. Now the river up here was flowing quite quickly, we had to have our wits about us. Cast too far upstream (behind structure) and you will hook up and have to start the main motor to power back to extract it. Such a pain!

Cast to fast flowing water and you're likely to suffer the same fate, you had to be quite particular, look for and cast to likely fish holding "locations". Remember....its not where you fish, BUT how you fish!

Too many anglers ask me "where to go" as if there is a magic location / a snag / a junction - like this "SPOT" will guarantee them a prime barra. Sure there are a few such locations that can regularly produce a fish under certain condition / tide cycles / river heights / water temps etc. etc.....get it. But it is far more critical to "THINK LIKE A FISH" and work out consistently where barra & other targets might be feeding!

After years of fishing, I recon I have a pretty good handle on this vital bit of info...but I am still not perfect (I can't walk on water). Colour changes / back eddies / weed beds / under trees / some snags etc. do hold fish. You have to keep travelling, keep trying, keep casting and eventually you will find feeding fish - and learn from the experience, put the "scenario" not the specific "location" in your memory bank and eventually you will build a data base of info that will guide you to more catches and a better angling experience. That's why it is called Fishing and not Catching!

A little juvenile from the backwater

No 2 for Brett

Brett was first to hook up to a lovely little juvenile, it came from a backwater that was overflowing through some paperbarks. A quick pick and back into it. Darn, he was hooked up again....and then for the third time. Hell this was not fair...I was guiding him but hey Brett, give me a go too Ha Ha !

Now that's enough mate!

I was stoked for Brett, to take a keen angler to relatively new waters for him and have him land some lovely barra was so rewarding in itself. But hey mate, it was my turn to shine. Drifting round a gentle bend we found a perfect scenario. A calm backwater with discoloured tea coloured water soaking into the main river. There was plenty of weed here as well to provide cover. Brett was first to hook up to a legal sized barra, it struck his lure with gusto....tore off towards the centre of the river and jumped....free!



My best for the day - check out that lure

Sorry Brett (man that would have been four nil).....I cast to a little gap between the drowned grass, right where the tea coloured water joined the main river....boof....I was on. This barra too did a similar dance, leapt and was gone. I cast back to the same spot and to my surprise, I was on to a quality barra that jumped several times before settling down to a strong steady fight.

She was not a huge fish but certainly a keeper....and it had been ages since I'd landed a legal barra (well, a few weeks anyway) so after a dogged fight, and a quick pick, she was into the live bait tank.

Nice JP Les!

We continued our journey back down the rive; we found schools of plucky little jungle perch up under the shade and actually had one strike right at the boat. We found barra on the grass edges and landed a dozen or so. It was a good day.

By five o'clock we made the decision to pack it in and headed back to the boat ramp, it was two very happy fisherman that made the journey back to Cairns.....where will we go next weekend?

Catch you on the water,
Regards, Les
www.fishingcairns.com.au