Kakadu dreams..In search of new waters. pt 3

After the loss of the Heddon baby torpedo, I brought out the back-up lure; River 2 sea tango prop! A lovely, noisy little surface fizzer that quickly caught the attention of the river's inhabitants. This big Saratoga mistook it for something tasty. Note how unscathed the body still is!

After a few days on the river I managed to hurt my right leg, probably from jumping down a bank. It meant limping was the order of the day and after the first move of camp downstream I was pretty stuffed after pushing the bike for 10km. The weather was warming up too, which seemed to bring out many more blood-sucking March flies, which I wasn't really in the mood for! So a short siesta was in order.

As I passed a big Paper Bark swamp, I noticed a group of pigs working the margins, so I quietly sat down under a tree and watched as they came around the swamp in my direction. That's sometimes the beauty of the bicycle - it's quiet so you can come and go undetected whereas in a car it's usually over before you know what's around the corner. Eight adult pigs and 4 piglets intently dug and nosed the swamp until they were 40 yards from me. As you can imagine, being feral animals, they are not overly popular, particularly in the national parks. Along with the pigs, water buffalo and horses cause a significant amount of damage to the ecology of the park, so in the last decades culling programs have been introduced. Although many thousands of buffalo have been removed, judging by the spoors, many still remain.

Even if my bike had been less loaded and if my leg had been less painful, I probably would have still pushed for 50km on this track. An extremely uneven surface has resulted from buffalo wandering around on the clay in the wet season. Some short patches were smooth sand, but these were few and far between. At least I could pass the time counting numerous trees :)

I passed many swamps on my search for new fishing grounds and most were decorated with a few different types of water lily. These small flowers covered an area of a couple of hectares; a pretty sight indeed amongst the surrounding dry, brown bushscape.

My trusty bike that has so far carried me for 20,000 km around the world. A little overloaded at this point!!

Although the river wasn't particularly deep, I chose to remove my luggage to cross instead of pushing. The track on the far bank was deep bull dust (fine dust) that loves to stick to wet things. Not good for the drive chain so worth the extra effort to cross. It also seemed pretty crocodile safe, which was good, otherwise I could easily have waited for a day before a car came to help me across.

To find the river again meant leaving the track and pushing through the bush for a km or two -  sometimes open and easy, like here, and sometimes thick making it hard going. However, Graham had found some very detailed maps for me and had also lent me his GPS, which made things a lot easier. At least I wasn't stabbing in the dark, but had a fair idea of where I was heading.

Early morning trying to get over a night of mosquito trauma. My tent zip had given up on me the evening before after long service of maybe 700+ nights. Not bad going, and it had to happen sooner or later, but next to a Kakadu swamp wasn't the best place for it to break. At least Graham had left me a can of RID ... I owe you one mate!

Finding a fishing spot was often hard along the deep stretches of the river. Twisted bamboo thickets and other thick vegetation often cloaked the river bank, but where it was possible to make a cast, a hook-up would usually result. There was always the thought of sneaky, sly crocodiles watching me, so one spot would never be fished for too long or too regularly. The idea of getting plucked from the bank and dragged into the river was always on my mind so I stood in trees, hopefully far enough out of reach! On the Adelaide river there are famous jumping crocodiles tempted out for the tourists. Seeing those photos made me realise I was probably in easy reach for our reptilian friends, so maybe I'm just very lucky or too skinny for them to take an interest?
This lovely Saratoga was the second to take a liking to my home made spinner. NICE!

One day when I was idly lying around avoiding the hot sun at siesta time I spotted the Simpson's toxic fish lure hanging from my handle bar bag. Marion had given it to me back in Perth and, looking at it now, I started to wonder what would happen if I threw in the river. So I rigged it with a couple of Owner hooks and headed down to the water. It turned out to be a fairly effective surface lure and, after 20 strikes in around an hour, I was convinced! Unfortunately hook-ups weren't happening very often, probably due to it's shape, so I went back to the fizzer.

A decent Barramundi that took a liking to the toxic fish

The colours start to show on a fine Sooty Grunter as the sun begins to set

The insect life was rich along the river. This Praying Mantis came for a closer look at what I was up to and decided to clean its legs whilst sitting on my arm. The diversity of spiders was also vast and everywhere I looked a new variety would appear, usually on the lookout for prey. Not everyone's cup of tea, but paradise for me!

The Shallows, late evening. The great beauty of the river here is that there are many crossing points where the crocodiles can't make a surprise attack. I was convinced, though, that every night a crocodile moved into this area to feed on the abundant fish. I can't believe a kg Barra can make a splash like a man jumping into the river so must have been crocy. It was always late and I was always tucked up in bed and too lazy to go on midnight crocodile forays.

A lovely looking Archer Fish that had to have the little spinner

I quickly took this shot a moment after a crocodile had tried to annihilate my trusty frog. I got the distinct impression he didn't like the plop plop plop noise the frog kept making as it swam over his head. The strike caused a rather impressive splash and at the same moment I struck the lure out of the way.

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Kakadu dreams. Saratoga madness. pt 2

The more I explored the river the more potential started to show itself and good Saratoga like this one started regularly hitting the lures! Sometimes on every cast a fish would break the surface and try its hardest to chomp the lure. A step up to the rubber frog meant only the bigger fish would have a chance to get hooked..oh and crocodiles! After a while I discovered that often a few casts would be needed to draw the fish from their snaggy retreats. In one particular spot after maybe ten retrieves a crocodile suddenly appeared on the surface, in the path of froggy! I of course found this interesting and continued to wind the lure towards me...and as the lure passed by..SLAM the crocodile tried his best to nail it. In a spray of white water I jerked the rod and the scum frog flew to freedom! I'd already lost one lure to a reptilian friend and wasn't quite ready to part with the frog! He still had some work to do..

One of the better Barramundi that took a liking to the little surface lure. It seems the Baby Torpedo is just perfect for fish of this size to engulf easily!

After a few days of testing some different lures on the river I became convinced that an inline spinner would be absolutely devastating. I had tried to buy a spinner in the shops in Darwin but no one seemed to stock them - the closest I came was a spinner bait. So around siesta time when fishing was low and it was too hot to be poking around in the bush I set about building a spinner. A little length of 100lb wire leader, a spinner bait blade, a few crimps and hey presto a lovely spinner was ready for testing in the shallows! First cast and this lovely Saratoga was all over the spinner along with three of his mates.

Next cast and this feisty little Sooty Grunter had a go. Next two casts and two Barra took the spinner! not bad for a quick DIY lure. Further testing would follow later in the day!

As the sun began to sink towards the western horizon over the big paper bark swamp I made my way from camp downstream to the deeper darker water armed with my new spinner. First cast into the deep water and immediately a bow appeared heading in the direction of the little lure. After a solid hit this beautiful Saratoga erupted through the water's surface and cartwheeled through the air. Somehow the little hooks I had chosen for the spinner didn't bend and also held in the fish's hard toothy jaw, and after a few minutes of battle my prize and dream lay on the bank. Not bad for a makeshift lure.

Colours of the Saratoga

Another good Archer Fish nails the torpedo

And a big Sooty Grunter decided to venture from his hideout in a clear pool to check out the surface commotion...Big mistake!

A deeper pool on the river - home to a good shoal of Barramundi and big Mullet

A good chunky Barramundi that also couldn't resist the temptation to have a go at the surface lure. I will remember the sound of the take for a while..no gentle sipping from this fish. Just an all out engulfing munch.

Another game little Barra from a clear pool under the paper bark trees. The thick, rich but subtle smell of the paper bark flowers drifted down the river everyday and intensified as the day cooled towards the evening. I began to understand why come night time the bats were excited. The sweet smell must have been driving them wild all day. Come night time they were desperate for the honey.

The design of the Barramundi....very well suited to sucking frogs and beasties from the water's surface. Sometimes at night the volume of some'boofs' was incredible. I think even a mouse would be a target if he made the unwise decision to swim the river.

A Barramundi's eye is large and very sensitive. Even on the darkest of nights potential Barra snacks won't be safe. The Barra will see and sense with very little difficulty

Saratoga have evolved as surface feeding machines. A huge mouth and small sharp teeth mean few frogs will escape. Usually with these fish they eat first and ask questions later. On quite a few occasions they had eaten my lure before I had even shut the bail arm! Now that's pretty keen..maybe verging on being greedy!

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Kakadu dreams...arrival in Barradise! Pt 1

A couple of weeks ago I arrived in what can only be described as a true paradise. For fisherman, nature lovers and someone looking for peace and quiet the place I was in would be hard to beat. For me then, it couldn't get much better and immediately I fell in love with this pristine part of the Australian wilderness. First impressions and there seemed to be everything that might be expected; a crystal clear gold lined river teaming with fish, vast flocks of noisy colourful birds and a host of other interesting wildlife to help fill the long days. Adjacent to the river highly populated billabongs and swamps provided another rich habitat which also had to be explored. The question was would the food I had last long enough for me to enjoy the full experience of the place.





At this point I must give a big thanks to Graham who has kindly invited me to stay with him in Darwin. Graham recommended the spot I describe, and even gave me a lift out there in his pick up truck, stayed a night and then left me and the bike to fend for ourselves for the next two weeks. And what a two weeks it turned out to be. Hundred of fish climbed my line and when this wasn't happening I met with crocodiles, buffalo and wild pigs. Turtles dived when I quietly came along the river bank and the big mullet evaded me for the full duration. At night thousands of noisy flying foxes spread out from their bamboo roosts and gorged themselves on the flowers of huge Paper bark trees that line the river. So much happened in such a short time, so hope I can do it a little justice here with my photos and a few words. I feel truly blessed to have gone to this beautiful place, and know one day I will be back. And I suspect it won't have changed. The water will still be pure, the wallabies unconcerned by my presence and the fish as game as ever.

We arrived at our chosen camping spot and I tried very hard to control the instinct to drop everything, grab the rod and start casting the lure. After all there was a camp to arrange! When it came to the crunch there was no point in fighting the urge and within a few minutes hard fighting silver Barramundi and lively Saratoga were hitting my lures.

Immediately below where we camped, the shallow river gave way to a deeper hole on the far side, into which I flicked a small rubber crayfish. As it fell through the water column and before I started reeling- bang!- this Saratoga engulfed it, flew out of the water and put a huge smile on my face! I was really hoping to get one, so it was a pretty good start, and little did I know how many more I would catch in the coming days!

It wasn't long before Graham and I headed up stream to explore some of the river. Shallows run a long way before the deeps but sometimes a pool can be found that might be full of fish. Clear sweet water and golden river sand make it easy to see the fishy inhabitants but somehow I missed this 7-8 foot crocodile that was lying in a mere 15 inches of water directly under my feet! Sneaky ba*$?*d..Too engrossed in the fishing it was a valuable lesson that a crocodile might be in the last place one expects to see it. And it also reminds you how unbelievably sneaky they are..did I mention that? In deeper murkier water there would be ZERO chance to spot one even if it lay inches away. Being a salt water model he could quite easily have chosen to bite my foot off, but luckily was obviously in a pretty good mood and rather chose to move off upstream towards his deeper water.

A pretty poor photo but you can get the idea of where the crocodile was trying to hide. We must have surprised him so there was no other option for him but to try and remain invisible..

Every spot with slightly deeper water produced fish. Lying under this bamboo snag was a shoal of small Barra that took much delight in eating the rubber shad that landed on their plates. Hard fighting little fish that usually put on a jumping show to try and rid the hooks. After a few, we moved on up the river to see what lay around the next corner. Always too tempting to move!

Another immaculate Barra that took a liking to the small white shad! A classic Barra lure that shouldn't be left at home!

As the sun started dropping, Sooty Grunter started to put in an appearance. Unbelievable fighters that try hard until the end. Every specimen regardless of the size puts on the underwater cartwheels leading the angler to believe he has a much larger fish on the line. NICE!! A steady stream of big Grunters went for the lures!

The OX eyed Tarpon also regularly put in an appearance much to my delight. Super fast multiple strikes indicated by flashing silver behind the lure would announce their arrival but then it was pretty much luck if one would actually hook itself. Super energetic fighters, jumping multiple times and usually gaining their freedom after a split second!

Graham with a better Barramundi lured with a soft plastic.

I was starting to wonder about archer fish when this absolute cracker nailed my Heddon Baby Torpedo. I had seen small fish swimming in the margins but never any bigger specimens. I put a cast to some submerged bamboo in a deep section of the river and the lure got whacked almost immediately! For their size also true fighters!

Head shot of Archer fish. With deadly accuracy this fish can shoot insects down from trees with a high powered jet of water!

As the sun dropped below the horizon on the first day we came across a Barra nest. Good fish hit the lures on every cast. Pulling a spinner bait on the surface I had five big surface strikes in five casts. The single hook was obviously finding it hard to get purchase but on the sixth cast this 'fish of the day' 'boofed' the lure and got well and truly hooked. By this time I had asked Graham to film the moment - so soon maybe I will get the clips on youtube! After this experience surface lures were the go, starting with the Heddon Baby Topedo who took a real hammering over the next few days!

Not far downstream from the first camp, where the thick bamboo started and the shallow water gave way to the deeps, the fruit bats roosted. Thousands upon thousands dangling upside down from the bamboo stalks, gently fanning themselves through the midday heat. The smell would hit you from some distance and as you got closer the bats would wake, and maybe if they could be bothered, noisily flap to the far bank before settling down once again.

Plenty of snakes chose to live by the river, feasting on the abundance of frogs that emerge at night. I mainly saw tree snakes but more often than not it was their old skins, left on a conveniently rough tree. Up in the dry savannah the death adders lived, but as usual I could only find their tracks and plenty of those. But never the snake!

Behind my camp up on the flood plain a huge swamp dotted with Paper bark trees covered a big area. Egrets, herons, whistling ducks, Magpie geese and Jabiru all spend the days here picking off small fish, frogs and the juicy vegetation. Unfortunately to get good photos of any of these birds was very hard without a long lens or a hide out on the swamp. This was quite possibly where the million mosquitoes that visited me every night originated from!

A very decent Grunter who took a liking to the white shad

On the second evening I returned to the Barra hot spot armed with surface lures and had some incredible fishing. Ten good Barra like this, one after the other, each hitting the lure like it was possibly the last frog in the world! Boofing marvellous.



My trusted Heddon Baby Torpedo after a hard evening of getting whacked by good Barra. Battered and bruised he needed a good service before the next trip! I became pretty attached to this little beauty as everything in the river seemed to fancy eating him! Retirement was close for him and a few days after this photo was taken, when most of the paint had been removed by the fish, I took that decision but too late unfortunately. One morning I stumbled out of my tent at that magic time of day, grabbed the rod and walked 50 yards upstream to two submerged trees. A very fishy spot and I remember thinking that if the torpedo was going to go here would be the place. Plop, plop plop....smash and big hefty Barra powered off under the tree. A couple of confusing seconds and it was all over; the lure of the trip had been taken, much to my disgust. I returned and sulked in my tent for a while and only really got over the incident a day later!! RIP little lure!

Food stock for two weeks! With the luxury of arriving by vehicle I could bring plenty of food. Problem was I couldn't move on the bike until I had eaten a good chunk of the excess weight, which took 4 days!

Walking to spend the night 10km upstream. Just with the bare essentials. Two tins of baked beans, a fruit cake, fishing equipment, sleeping bag, camera and inner tent to keep mozzies at bay. Oh and a Snickers!

A fine Sooty Grunter that couldn't resist the upgraded Torpedo!

Huge flocks of whistling duck over a billabong near the camp.

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