Daintreeboy
17-09-2004, 05:14 AM
We headed out in my mates brand new Patrol ute from Wonga Beach around 11.30 Tuesday last week. The original plan was to drive his car to him on Friday the week before in Weipa and pick mine up from him up there. A few days of fishing were to follow.
With the later start than usual we had to swap vehicles at Yaraden just north of Musgrave and then head in to a mates camp who runs safaris for fishing and pig hunting.
After the swap we headed in about 30 km before setting up camp and a few beers [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]
Next morning we headed off at first light and spotted a large boar within a km. At about 50 kilos he was a decent pig for this type of country and Ron took him down nicely with the rifle. Another nice boar was laid to rest within another 5 km and this pretty much set the scene for the rest of the trip, pigs everywhere.
My goal on this trip was to land at least one Saratoga, a fish I was yet to catch and I can happily say I did that and then some.
The camp was set amongst numerous swamps and waterholes, only a short drive from the main river. We fished a section of the river early next day and it was amazing to see large Barra just lazing around in the sun without a care in the world. I climbed an overhanging tree and managed to drag my line right across a 5 kilo specimen before the lure had even reached it, they were that slack.
I managed to land a nice one in the 60 cm range before my brother dropped one the same right at our feet after screaming in from the deep to strike at the rod tip.
Ron lost a big one around 85 cm after it took him through the snags on the first run. We were able to get a good estimate of it's size as it jumped again over 10 minutes later still trying to throw the lure [smiley=angryfire.gif]
At the next hole my brother landed a catfish around ten kilos that put up a great fight.
Next day was off to some lagoons and some Saratoga action and hopefully the fish would be a bit more hungry.
A hot bite of Barra and Saratoga soon developed at the first hole with several of each landed within a short space of time.
Saratoga are an incredible fish. I caught a couple by winding in the lure quickly and having them scream in at a hundred miles an hour and smash the lure at the rod tip, amazing stuff. A couple of sooty's and catfish also came in.
The last day of fishing involved a drive to another section of the river which really fired.
Mick got two good Barra over 5 kilos while I struck a snag that went off.
First cast saw a big sooty smash the lure but not hook up. This resulted in over 5 large Barra fly out of the snag all flared up seeing what all the fuss was about. My next 10 casts saw 9 Barra and 1 Saratoga of over 80 cm smash the lure with another bloke also getting in on the action.
All in all the trip was awesome. Pig hunting was the major part of the day with fishing only done in bits and pieces without a boat so we were impressed with the action.
Now it's off to Mapoon in a couple of days for some saltwater action. I'll post another report when I get back and combine the photos together for a look.
Cheers, Mark
With the later start than usual we had to swap vehicles at Yaraden just north of Musgrave and then head in to a mates camp who runs safaris for fishing and pig hunting.
After the swap we headed in about 30 km before setting up camp and a few beers [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]
Next morning we headed off at first light and spotted a large boar within a km. At about 50 kilos he was a decent pig for this type of country and Ron took him down nicely with the rifle. Another nice boar was laid to rest within another 5 km and this pretty much set the scene for the rest of the trip, pigs everywhere.
My goal on this trip was to land at least one Saratoga, a fish I was yet to catch and I can happily say I did that and then some.
The camp was set amongst numerous swamps and waterholes, only a short drive from the main river. We fished a section of the river early next day and it was amazing to see large Barra just lazing around in the sun without a care in the world. I climbed an overhanging tree and managed to drag my line right across a 5 kilo specimen before the lure had even reached it, they were that slack.
I managed to land a nice one in the 60 cm range before my brother dropped one the same right at our feet after screaming in from the deep to strike at the rod tip.
Ron lost a big one around 85 cm after it took him through the snags on the first run. We were able to get a good estimate of it's size as it jumped again over 10 minutes later still trying to throw the lure [smiley=angryfire.gif]
At the next hole my brother landed a catfish around ten kilos that put up a great fight.
Next day was off to some lagoons and some Saratoga action and hopefully the fish would be a bit more hungry.
A hot bite of Barra and Saratoga soon developed at the first hole with several of each landed within a short space of time.
Saratoga are an incredible fish. I caught a couple by winding in the lure quickly and having them scream in at a hundred miles an hour and smash the lure at the rod tip, amazing stuff. A couple of sooty's and catfish also came in.
The last day of fishing involved a drive to another section of the river which really fired.
Mick got two good Barra over 5 kilos while I struck a snag that went off.
First cast saw a big sooty smash the lure but not hook up. This resulted in over 5 large Barra fly out of the snag all flared up seeing what all the fuss was about. My next 10 casts saw 9 Barra and 1 Saratoga of over 80 cm smash the lure with another bloke also getting in on the action.
All in all the trip was awesome. Pig hunting was the major part of the day with fishing only done in bits and pieces without a boat so we were impressed with the action.
Now it's off to Mapoon in a couple of days for some saltwater action. I'll post another report when I get back and combine the photos together for a look.
Cheers, Mark