23 April 2001 - Volume 5 Issue 3

Weather? What Weather? Part II

The offshore scene has been pretty dismal for a while; strong southeast winds have been blowing for almost a month and even forced quite a few cancellations. I guess we can expect this sort of weather at this time of year but it sure has put a gloom over the blue water stuff. Quite a lot of rain has been about also which has probably given the rivers their final flush out for this wet season.

Its not all doom and gloom however and with a change of tactics, a different focus on other piscatorial targets and the avid angler can still have a ball.

The Rivers

I have mentioned numerous times about the productive fishing period available a few days after heavy rain. Well, last week one of Cairn's best known guides, Terry Holman, took me to the North Johnson river for a bit of a play. The river was right up, backed up on a huge early morning tide as well. We hand to settle into some fairly unproductive fishing downstream of the main highway bridge while we waited for the river to fall enough to allow us to push upstream to the productive zones Terry was most anxious to try.

But in a little over an hour the water dropped just enough for us to squeeze under the bridge. Admittedly we had to remove the rocket launcher (rod holder) and lie flat on the floor, but we were soon on our way, scooting across the fast flowing water on our way upstream. You could see rippled zones on the water that obviously held rock bars and substantial structure but the water was high enough to not cause too many problems. Coming back down again might prove a different story though mused Terry!

It was not long before we were into our first fish, a medium sized sooty grunter (fresh water black bream) that took the 10cm gold Yozuri deep diver on my third cast!

It just got better as the day wore on. Sure we had a few quite moments where the fish went to sleep for a few minutes. But by drifting back downstream on the fast flowing current, casting to small eddys, rock bars, bank side weed verges and small feeder gutters we accounted for four barra, one mangrove jack, fifteen jungle perch and over thirty sooty's.

A great days fishing in anyone's view.

By the time we reached the boat ramp, the water had dropped over 3 metres. There was no problem at the bridge but those rippled zones I mentioned on our way up had turned to small rapids needing extreme care - hard rocks, a spinning propeller and fast shallow water can be the ingredients of a major disaster if not traversed with caution.

Many similar reports have come in from my guiding contacts; the rivers are firing. Not many big fish mid you but on 3 - 6 kg tackle the fish encountered will give you a spirited fight and some great fun in magical surroundings.

There have been some metre long queenfish at the river mouths however and they have been keen to perform their usual acrobatic display on surface poppers and fizzers. Some monster G.T.'s have been about as well with fish of over 30 lb handing quite a work out to some very excited Japanese clients. Quality barra to a metre have also come from some well-known deep-water snags.

Trinity Inlet

During the calmer periods experienced between the persistent 20 / 25 knot squalls descending upon this waterway, fishing has shown a marked improvement. Barra numbers are certainly on the rise with many guides reporting consistent hook ups of these prime fish. Staying connected is a different story however, with many being lost by the inexperienced angler. A metre of jumping silver barra is a beauty to behold - even when you can't stay connected due to angling skills not yet acquired by the "tourist angler".

Other captures include quality fingermark, in my opinion the best eating fish to come from the estuaries, king salmon, queenfish, flathead and of course the ever present grunter or javelin.

Blue Water / Reef Fishing / Game Fishing

What can I say, its not my fault the weather has turned nasty and not too many days have actually been spent on the water of late. There is however one very excited development - plenty of juvenile black marlin have showed up very early this year. These baby fish, around the 10 - 12 lb mark are a result of last years spawning and the game boat skippers are predicting the return of a Light Tackle season this year. This has been missing the past two seasons and fills the void prior to commencement of the Heavy Tackle stuff in September.

The interest being generated and the enquiry level being received for the Heavy Tackle season is red hot. Many game boats are already booked out for October & November - don't leave your decision too late.

The Cape

Well, I said it! The post-wet season is firing. When you have clients request, no plead with the skipper to move the boat away from the marauding schools of hard fighting tropical speedsters like long tail tuna & queenfish, you know your into a good fishery.

Being stretched by metre long queenies, finding it difficult to get the bait or lure past these fish to other species lurking underneath - well it has been the norm.

And the post wet season barra are queuing up to have a go at the "Pink Thing" or gold bomber lure tossed to any draining gutter, creek or river mouth - up to 30 fish a session. Some guides are reporting landing over 25 species in a week. From barras to jacks, GT's to cod, fingermark to mackerel, salmon to tuna....!

Check out our exciting range of Cape York options on our Charters Page.

New Packages

They are still rolling off the press - the Princess Charlotte Bay live aboard is going great guns. In fact I'm off this Sunday to try my luck on the post wet season barra, jacks, fingermark, queenies, tuna, salmon...a shitty job but my wife can't do it.

And if you want some real excitement, why not try a little Heli-Fishing with "Brazakka" - now he's a legend up this way and will take you to some rarely visited outback location up the Cape.

North Queensland is rapidly getting an international reputation as being THE hot spot for Salt Water Fly-Fishing. Whether your bag is wading along a secluded white sandy beach, sight casting to schools of golden trevally; to deftly placing the "pink thing" on the nose of a prime silver salt water barramundi hiding amongst the mangrove roots, to the ultimate thrill of landing a billfish on fly, our region can deliver all of the above and lots, lots more. Check it out.

Virus Alert

I have left this message as a reminder. We are receiving up to 4 viruses a day!

Unfortunately it's a sign of the times, computer viruses are here to stay and we must all be vigilant in our dealings with e-mails and Internet business. We are experiencing unprecedented numbers of incoming e-mails with viruses attached and thankfully have our virus protection continually up to date.

We have found it necessary to reject messages and quarantine files - some of which may have been booking and information requests from our valued readers. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, please re submit your enquiry if you feel this may have happened to you.

See you on the water,
Les Marsh