And Then It Gets Even Tougher!

Last week I penned a little article about my recent trip to the Johnstone River with Keith Graham. Well, last Sunday I had an even tougher day on the Mulgrave River with my partner, Debbie.

We certainly headed off in high spirits....why not, we live in paradise!


Boat Ramp - busy but orderly

The short trip south to the Bellenden Kerr boat ramp passed without incident - even finding the car park chock full was no deterrent as most trailers were of the "reef boat" size....readers will know that I'm primarily an "upstream man". With a high tide of 2.7m at approx. 7:00am it was just perfect for a zoom as far upstream as my little punt would carry us.
 

Allomba Bridge - even at high tide quite shallow

Thankfully the tide was high and still rising as we passed under the Aloomba road bridge - man the river was shallow though, and we badly need some decent rain to flush our river systems. This was as far as I dared venture as with the falling tide, we would have a slow trip back down over some pretty shallow areas I can assure you - not a trip for the unfamiliar!

What a picture...awesome!

Great to just be there!

We found a steep undercut bank with plenty of overhanging trees....their sweet blossom filled the air and birds sang above. What a pretty scene this was!

We tried small poppers / small divers / blades and chrome slices - all manner of things to little effect. We did manage a couple of small jacks & a sootie and Deb also had a sizable tarpon on for a while. It gyrated all over the place, as they do on light tackle, and just as she reached down to gently lift the silver beauty in for a quick pick, the leader broke right at the snap and fish and lure were gone.

By now the tide had just turned, maybe this would be the signal for the fish to start biting but alas...no such luck. Heading back downstream we tied all my favourite spots - weed banks here / undercut banks there / fast runs between sand bars and swaying ribbon grass.

At one stage we counted half a dozen fish scattering away from the shallow weed beds, but they were not the least bit interested in our offerings (and we tried many).



How small do jacks get?

Nice tarpon Deb

We pulled the pin early....the fishing was, er well crap!
But the river scenery was just magnificent, the weather superb and the drift down just a delight.

Back at the boat ramp there was a bit of a line up but ramp etiquette soon sorted it out and we were away in no time.

Jabiru....what a beautiful bird and Australia's only true native stork!

Boat ramp @ 4:00pm

I made a promise to myself - I WILL NOT FISH THE MULGRAVE AGAIN UNTIL WE HAVE SOME DECENT RAIN....or I get bored need a quick fix close to home Ha Ha!
Fisherman - we are a funny lot!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to family / friends / associates......where are we going on Sunday Keith?

Les Marsh
www.fishingcairns.com.au

We did have to wait and cool the tyres down....Fisheries Falls Pub!

Its tough sometimes!

I know that a lot of my readers think that fishing up here might be easy, or that it appears that way.....yes, I seem to catch a few fish and have the pics to prove it!



Now that's a nice river trevor!....it slammed a popper right at the boat...it was exciting stuff!

But have you ever thought that I just don't write about the bad days!
The ones where we really struggle to find fish due to bad tides / high tides / low tides / strong winds / too much rain / not enough rain / water too cold or even too hot for that matter.....YES, up here the water can get too hot for fish to be actively feeding.

Well, yesterday on the Johnstone River, was one of those days.

Keith Graham and I set off with high expectations....it was a beautiful morning, still conditions and fair, clearing skies. The region had seen a couple of inches of rain during the week but certainly the river was very fishable. The water temp was a bit low for this time of year at just over 26c but it should warm up during the day I thought.

And now for that other all important factor - the tides!

Today was going to be a strange one....with a 1m run in till about midday, peaking with a high of some 2.3m (now that's OK) but with a low of approx. 1.2m at approx. 4:00am the next morning. Hell that means only a very slow trickle out at best. Maybe this was the reason, maybe the water was a bit cold and the fish were still in a bit of shock from a sudden cooling from a warm 30c on Wednesday....who knows....but man....IT WAS TOUGH!

Keith a JP

Using the making tide, Keith and I headed up stream. We were a little surprised to find the river so shallow and was even more so when a sudden "clunk" indicated an impact with a substantial river rock. But the auto thing kicked in and the motor jumped up as it should, avoiding any serious damage....just a few little dings on the prop and a bit of a scrape to my pride and river navigation skills. This is as far as we will travel today mate, lets have a cuppa before we start to head back downstream.

Jack....and that reel!

I was still testing the new Quantum EXO 25 spin reel so pinned on a little orange Rapala Scatter Rap. Keith clipped an a Bushy "Stiffy" popper just for variety and off we went....drifting down slowly using the river flow. We cast to likely looking grass verges, to fallen timber and back eddies....and we landed a couple of JP's and a sooty. But it was decidedly S...L...O...W!

We soon drifted down to the zone where the making tide met the river....the water was still with no real flow either way. Time to find some shade and have an early lunch.

Now KG just loves his food and as is the norm on these trips, Keith supplies the food and I supply the boat....great organisation I recon! It wasn't long before we hand down a beautiful fresh roll, Hungarian salami, King Island cheese and mild English relish....yum! The coffee wasn't half bad either. But we had come to fish and not to eat.

Sooty of the Scatter Rap

JP's love em too!

KG and a good solid sooty!

The weather was great, the backdrop magnificent, the river and its surrounds looked a picture....but the fish were just not that interested. Like two old codgers in a pub, Keith & I drifted downstream. We chatted about the Cricket, the footy, the economy, a fishing tournament, our work, our family and loved ones....and every now and again we hooked a fish....a JP here, a Jack there, and archer fish under a tree. We changed lures, tried poppers and deep divers, soft plastics and Zerek prawns....it was just one of those days.

Did this Archer fish want that Zerek?

Well.....this jack sure did!

And do you know what?.....the lack of fish activity didn't really matter....we were two old mates enjoying each others company. Drifting along on a river paradise....and every now and again our conversations were interrupted by that crimson flash of a jack or silver of a JP!

We pulled the pin at 4:45pm, retrieved the boat, washed off the river slime and headed home. The sun was beaming through the building cloud hugging the ranges. Man it was great to be alive!

Take care my friend, have a lovely Christmas and share it with family and loved ones and I will do likewise. I'll catch you on the river in a day or so....or a week...or a month....the fish will still be there and next time, we'll nail em!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

Regards, Les
www.fishingcairns.com.au

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dear readers, friends  & fellow anglers,

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year!

Can't wait for the barra season to open ha ha!

My Little Babies!

I love my fishing!
I love my barra fishing!

But I never thought I'd be so excited when my new "babies" arrived this morning.

Keith Graham (from Bransfords Tackle Shop) has been helping me with a little project and it all came together this morning when the guys from Barramundi Gardens delivered my new little barra.

My New fish tank - its a beauty - 240cm x 44cm x 60cm

I'm a grown man right?
But these little 20cm barra really are cute.
They have only been in my tank for about half an hour and they are already playing in the bubble jets.

This should be a lot of fun watching them grow.
I have read numerous article on how people can become quite attached to their fish.

If you look carefully you can see two!

I'll keep you posted with their progress.

Regards, Les.

Now stop being silly and get back to work - its almost Christmas.

Field Test - Quantum EXO 25PTi

Readers will know that I have been using the Quantum baitcaster for several months now. Its a fantastic reel and I just love it. It even looks "sexy" don't you recon?

Well, KG from Bransfords gave me this exciting new spin reel to try out as well - not that I asked for it, much! Its also one of those fancy reels with all the holes in it, space age metals and all that. But will it perform....only one way to find out!

Here it is - The EX25PT1 by Quantum

Last Sunday I headed south to the Johnstone River. Tides were a bit off with a low around 7:00 am. I usually like to fish the tide down but with this timing, I'd have to be in the river about 4:00am and that's too bloody early for my liking.

I launched the punt under the Jubilee bridge at around 8:00 am, putted under the structure for some shade while I applied sunscreen, pulled out a few lures and headed downstream. I'll just toss a few lures around the salt while waiting for the tide to start pushing back in. I found a few jacks and barra working a mangrove corner, landed a couple, and decided that it was time to head upstream.

As this was specifically a field test for this new beaut reel, I'd better head off to where I could put its quality to work (or more to the point - see if its insides were as good as it looked! ). Now this article is not about where to go, what lure to use, how to retrieve it to make it more attractive for my targets....you all know that right. You have read my previous articles about my favourite lures etc.

Coming off the plane I eased my punt towards the grassy bank and set the electric. I clipped on my new best friend, one of those Rapala Scatter Raps in bright orange colour and tossed it far up the grassy edge. Fair dinkum, I had only turned the handle twice before this beautiful bruiser of a sooty smashed my offering.

Now that's a quality sooty!

Now, any spinning reel can cast a mile; all you have to do is flick the bail arm over, right!
As long as its;

• Spooled correctly, just to the brim but not over it
• The right quality braid line is used
• The rod is matched to the reel / line size
• The lure weight is also matched to your outfit
• You can cast a country mile (light lures do not like windy conditions however)

Quantum spin & Green Arrow 6ks rod

But its what happens after you hook a fish that is the all important factor determining the quality of a spinning reel.

1. Does it "feel right", sit comfortably on the rod
2. Does the handle just fall into place
3. Is the winding smooth and without any vibration
4. Does the drag offer smooth release of line under load

Does the EXO 25PTi tick all the boxes - well on this first outing, sure as hell did.

Actually, at first I thought there was a little vibration coming from the reel; a little bit discerning until I worked it out. In fact these new Scatter Raps are so darn enticing with their in-built action (hence the name) that their erratic vibration was transferred right up the line, down the graphite rod and ended up in my hand - I could feel every little wobble - and this made every strike that much more enjoyable too!

J.P.'s smashed my lures too

I had an absolute ball and at the end of the day (I did stay a bit late) had caught;
3 mangrove jacks
3 J.P.'s
1 archer fish
4 juvenile barra &
15 sooties - some real horses to boot

A nice 40cm jack!

Now that's sooty fishing!

I can't wait to give the reel a decent work out on GT's, queenies, tarpon etc. but my guess is that it will perform admirably. I'll let you know.

Catch you on the water,

Regards, Les
www.fishingcairns.com.au

Just a lazy Sunday arvo!

Lovely, Little, Liverpool!

Was it a field test?
Was it a sooty trip?
Was it a day out?

Well..........all of the above!

And so Debbie and I headed down the Bruce Highway, took the Cowley Beach turnoff and arrived at the gravel ramp right on high tide. It was a big one of over 2.7m so an easy launch was had.

Liverpool Creek Boat Ramp - a dream at high tide

Its still not the "wet season" as yet (hope I don't bring it on with these ramblings) so we needed the high tide to enable us to travel upstream. The Liverpool is not a big river and without fresh coming down or a high tide, its darn near impossible to travel far upstream. We were in luck....we zoomed along, crossing shallow sand bars, drowned timber and a few rocks and powered down. Lets have a few casts around here babe, there was a bit of bait flicking about, and on Deb's very first cast to the shallow bank a nice flathead engulfed her lure.

Debbie's flathead - the fish I mean (sorry babe)

Its always a dilemma for Debbie as to which lure to use....hell I just pull out my "current" favourite....which happens to be the new Super Shad, Shallow design! Clip it on and away I go. But Debbie is more competitive than that. If she sees me catch a fish, she has to change her lure because hers is not working. Some days I have to wash and put away about 20 lures for her; while I have used 2 (maybe 3 max.) - a deep / shallow diving shad, a flat jack and a SR5. (read that again!)

We headed off again. This time travelling as far up as I dared in the skinny water. At times I held my breath as we crossed drowned logs but I have a fairly good sense of where the channel is so without incident I backed off and headed for a shady tree for a coffee.

How cool is this coffee stop!

Now at this time of year I do a lot of fishing way upstream in our beautiful tropical streams. The rec. fishing laws are pretty specific in that you are not supposed to deliberately target old bucket mouth...that's why we try to catch Sooties, JP's, Jacks, tarpon and the like and up in the fresh is the best place to be. Surrounded by rainforest, whistling birds, swaying palms, lovely fresh waters, swaying ribbon grass....ahhhh, I love it.

Shallows upstream - Liverpool Creek

But you can't stop a little juvenile barra from being competitive for tucker and we do catch a few of them. They are too small to be in breeding mode anyway so no harm done with a quick pic and release.

Typical juvenile barra!

 

 

My efforts were rewarded however, with a magnificent fresh water jack...it hit like a freight train and turned, trying to bury me in the log jam. With locked up drag on my baitcaster, and deft use of the electric, we managed to back it out of there. It was a keeper....and it actually became my meal last night. Thanks Deb, it was delicious.

Now that's a nice fresh water jack!

Back to the Field Test!
Readers will know that I have field tested a lot of lures for Mr Graham of Bransfords Tackle Shop over the years. And I can honestly say that this new shallow running Super Shad has fast become one of my favourites. Not all lures work in all situations so you must be a thinking angler to have consistent success. Use a shallow running lure in relatively shallow water situations - simples! (as the meerkat would say)

And as for colour choices, I am absolutely hooked on the new grey ghost colour (Ghost Flecto they call it). Debbie played with a gold one for about 5 minutes and after hooking up a small barra decided to change it.....again!!!! Why!!!!

Super Shad.....shallow running version!

These lures have basically the same body shape, cast ability and hooks as the deep diving version, but a much smaller bib and hence, the shallow running ability. I love em!

Was it a sooty trip!
We actually didn't see one sooty all day....I did hook up to a couple of JP's but they pulled the hooks straight away.

Was it a day out!
You bet! And what a wonderful day it was. The river is magic as the picks hereabouts show. I was in great company, Deb had prepared fantastic food (that Kiwi thing) and we caught some lovely little fish. I can't wait for some more rain, the rivers flood and then I can really get up to some rarely fished country.

Bring it on!

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

Oh by the way.....we finished up back at the ramp on low tide. Debbie had a couple of casts to some mangrove snags and pulled out this little silver barra....darn, its supposed to be a jack or queenie or trevally or salmon or fingermark or cuda or something. Anything but bloody barra!

What you smiling at babe!

Russell Ramblings!

My lady, Debbie, works in real estate. She is a workaholic (or the job demands it) and rarely has time off work, especially on weekends.

Well last weekend we "bit the bullet"....Debbie's lovely PA Tash, had given us one of those gift vouchers that included;

• One night accommodation in a hotel / resort in town
• Movie tickets for two
• Full breakfast and late checkout

WOW...just being in the hotel room felt like we were on holidays. We could have been anywhere in the world (well almost). The view up the esplanade from our balcony was lovely....we really do live in a tropical paradise.

We checked in.....late, because Debbie was doing open homes all Saturday!
We settled in....for about half an hour before heading out to another commitment
We had a few drinks and pizza for dinner
We drover around the Night Markets looking for a park....gave up!
We bought a couple of those magnificent ice cream things....yummmmm!
And were back in bed by about 10:30pm

Ahhh.....it was a magnificent morning!
The sun was rising along the Yarrabah Range....there was a bit of breeze fluffing the palm trees.
Time to get up and have that scrumptious, full service breakfast. We hoed in!

So babe, what you doing today, I asked?

1. Well, I have to go to the office by 10:00 to get some files
2. Then I have open homes from 11 - 5:00 pm
3. And to Gordonvale to check on Peter's house
4. Then cook a roast for dinner

Bloody hell..........a weekend off boiled down to quick night in a strange bed and a cooked breakfast.
Seeing as you're working darling, I'm going fishing!

And so it was that after an extremely late start....we checked out / drove home / packed the boat / fueled up and I was on my way by about 10:30 am. As I cruised south along the Bruce Highway my thoughts were racing as I tried to decide on which river to fish.

Beautiful Russell River - sunset on the mountain

I fished the Mulgrave last week and it was pretty slow!
I hadn't been to the Johnstone for a couple of weeks, but the tides were good for a trip up top
But Innisfail was a fair way off at this late stage so after weighing it all up, I decided to give the Russell a go. Its only a few minutes further that the Mulgrave and I hadn't been there for ages.

With a high tide of 2.6m at approx 11 am there should be plenty of water backed up so I could get upstream a fair way. With a low of 1.1m at approx. 4:30pm, I should have a leisurely run downstream and be back at the ramp by....hmmmm (I'm going to fish late)....lets just see what happens eh!

Babinda Creek - cool coffee spot!

To my surprise it was quite an easy trip upstream, the tide had backed up the river and I soon found myself zooming above submerged timber, sand bars and weed beds, under the bridge and powering down at Babinda Creek. This pretty little waterway often held sooties and JP's, so in I putted, tied up to a shady tree and had a cuppa and lunch.

What a beautiful day it turned out to be.
It was certainly windy however and I did have a few difficulties in keeping the tinny in line. But as I drifted slowly downstream on the ebbing tide I was just taking in the vista. Beautiful water winding through forests, tall palms and verging rainforest. The Bellenden Ker Range was the imposing backdrop as the sun streaked through the clouds; the light lit up various patches of bank side and cane.

SR5 & 50cm barra

Catching a fish would be a bonus here I mused...and when the little 50cm barra raced from the grassy edge and engulfed my little SR5 I was more shocked than expectant. It put up a spirited fight on the light 8lb braid but was soon photographed and released.

The next hit was quite different....drifting along a slightly deeper bank, I cast right to the edge. As is my usual pattern I tweaked the offering down deep, pausing now and again before continuing the erratic action so enticing to our river predators. BANG!....my lure just stopped dead.

A lovely fresh water jack

It took me several moments before I realised that I was hooked to a lovely little jack. It fought doggedly right to the boat....don't you just love the honesty of these wonderful fish - a quick pic. and it was gently released.

Drifting down I tried my usual haunts...a cotton wood tree here, a grassy verge there. I saw more barra than I hooked. The clear waters making them very shy and often they would dart from cover as my boat passed by. It was great to see that a healthy population was still in the river. All we need is a big flush and they will be on the chew.

I did miss a nice barra of about 70cm however...as I drifted past a creek mouth, I tossed the SR5 right to the bank and worked it past a huge clump of drowned timber. Out she came, a quick flash and a huge take. She was airborne in milliseconds and gyrated her body and flared her gills.....and just like that, she threw the hooks and was gone. I can still see her silver body dazzling in the afternoon sunlight when I think about it.

These are the magic moments that keep us fishing...keep us coming back for more, time and time again. I love it.

What a magnificent back drop!

I did manage a couple of smaller rat barra, dropped a few tarpon and had near misses on at least another 6 barra. But to my surprise I managed to hook and land two tilapia (which I killed). These fish are in the river in their thousands and are here to stay I guess. But they will take lures and an SR5's in gold are a real prospect.

It was late when I got home, I told you so............man its great to be alive and fishing up here in Tropical North Queensland.

Catch you on the water, regards Les

www.fishingcairns.com.au