TinarooTriumph
30-09-2006, 08:09 PM
G'day gang.
Fished a place the Northerner's call Ross & Locke, about 20min drive from the outskirts of Cairns at the bottom of the Gillies range. On many trips down to Cairns from the Tablelands I have really cursed at myself for not bringing a rod down to try it out, so this was my first glimpse at the place. We left here at about 8am (due to the phone ringing non stop this morning), and we would of arrived there at about 9am after some swift driving down the range. As this was my first time to Ross & Locke I didn't know what to expect of what numbers of people would be there camping, fishing etc. As we approached the turn-off I noticed plenty of cars and tents, and we pulled up to check it out. The plan I configured was to cross the bridge and head upstream a little into some deep pools and work my way down to some of the rapids and give those a shot. It is a great looking place, with plenty of green and natural structure to aim at.
We crossed the bridge and started to proceed up the track, when all the sudden the noise of a loud 4 stroke motorbike started. Although I didn't take much notice at the time, it became apparent that this would be the start of a pain in the arse, as the whole 2 hours of fishing I had to contend with the motorbike and later on a 4 wheeler cruising around nearby to the water. Another issue was some of the little kid's deciding to throw on their togs and floaties and go for a swim early that morning while I was fishing - But hey, what can ya do!. If I was 2 feet tall, I would of done the same thing. Anyway... fishing time. I got my mum to do a little bait fishing with some ox-heart in a nice deep pool, while I headed upstream and sprayed some casts around these deep holes. Lure choice was difficult, as I had only a select few with me this trip, but opted for a red surecatch popper, which had some nice weight for casting while it had a nice action. I stumbled across a nice bit of sunken timber, which obviously was holding some fish!. I was not wrong - A good sized Jungle perch lept from the surface and grabbed a insect on the surface. I had to cast a decent way to reach the fish, but shortly after it's outburst I threw a nice cast right on top of the boil mark it left, and started a retreive, but nothing. 3 casts later I had a nice fish, and set the hooks and began to reel in what was a nice jungle perch on my popper. It was about 2 or 3 metres away from where I was standing when it spat the hooks near my feet. It was aquardly hooked by the looks of it, with the rear set of trebles hanging on by a thread. I would of estimated the fish to have been around 25-30cms, a nice fish.
The rest of the fishing was slow, as the fish were off the chew and the noise from the locals and kids would of turned the fishing off for sure. I did manage to get 1 other good hit to a nice sooty aswell, but turned to zilch after a very short fight after it was too good for me and my light outfit and headed straight into some timber and cut me off. Mum managed to land one small sooty, going a small 22cm, which brought a smile to her face as I gave her 'Fishing lessons' the day before, on how to cast etc etc, so she did well.
Will be back again soon, hopefully when the motorbikes and locals have something better to do. Sorry - no pics of fish or scenary, we left the friggin camera in the car!.
Will have another report up in the next few days, hopefully more successfull. Jumna Dam is the spot, Sleepy Cod and Sooties the target species.
Fished a place the Northerner's call Ross & Locke, about 20min drive from the outskirts of Cairns at the bottom of the Gillies range. On many trips down to Cairns from the Tablelands I have really cursed at myself for not bringing a rod down to try it out, so this was my first glimpse at the place. We left here at about 8am (due to the phone ringing non stop this morning), and we would of arrived there at about 9am after some swift driving down the range. As this was my first time to Ross & Locke I didn't know what to expect of what numbers of people would be there camping, fishing etc. As we approached the turn-off I noticed plenty of cars and tents, and we pulled up to check it out. The plan I configured was to cross the bridge and head upstream a little into some deep pools and work my way down to some of the rapids and give those a shot. It is a great looking place, with plenty of green and natural structure to aim at.
We crossed the bridge and started to proceed up the track, when all the sudden the noise of a loud 4 stroke motorbike started. Although I didn't take much notice at the time, it became apparent that this would be the start of a pain in the arse, as the whole 2 hours of fishing I had to contend with the motorbike and later on a 4 wheeler cruising around nearby to the water. Another issue was some of the little kid's deciding to throw on their togs and floaties and go for a swim early that morning while I was fishing - But hey, what can ya do!. If I was 2 feet tall, I would of done the same thing. Anyway... fishing time. I got my mum to do a little bait fishing with some ox-heart in a nice deep pool, while I headed upstream and sprayed some casts around these deep holes. Lure choice was difficult, as I had only a select few with me this trip, but opted for a red surecatch popper, which had some nice weight for casting while it had a nice action. I stumbled across a nice bit of sunken timber, which obviously was holding some fish!. I was not wrong - A good sized Jungle perch lept from the surface and grabbed a insect on the surface. I had to cast a decent way to reach the fish, but shortly after it's outburst I threw a nice cast right on top of the boil mark it left, and started a retreive, but nothing. 3 casts later I had a nice fish, and set the hooks and began to reel in what was a nice jungle perch on my popper. It was about 2 or 3 metres away from where I was standing when it spat the hooks near my feet. It was aquardly hooked by the looks of it, with the rear set of trebles hanging on by a thread. I would of estimated the fish to have been around 25-30cms, a nice fish.
The rest of the fishing was slow, as the fish were off the chew and the noise from the locals and kids would of turned the fishing off for sure. I did manage to get 1 other good hit to a nice sooty aswell, but turned to zilch after a very short fight after it was too good for me and my light outfit and headed straight into some timber and cut me off. Mum managed to land one small sooty, going a small 22cm, which brought a smile to her face as I gave her 'Fishing lessons' the day before, on how to cast etc etc, so she did well.
Will be back again soon, hopefully when the motorbikes and locals have something better to do. Sorry - no pics of fish or scenary, we left the friggin camera in the car!.
Will have another report up in the next few days, hopefully more successfull. Jumna Dam is the spot, Sleepy Cod and Sooties the target species.