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