Lakefield NP barra trip

[wheezer]

finally managed to escape for 4 days up to Lakefield NP about 7hrs drive from cairns...never been there before so was really looking forward to it...fishing was excellent given the time of year with over 40 barra boated for the trip between 3 of us ranging in size from a few undersize up to 80cm. most common was 55-65cm. all caught cast and retrieve...a few bust offs and a large fish (estimated 85-90cm) was lost to a shark after a good fight...at least we got the front half!! plenty of big water geckos about too....

[bdowdy]

;)great stuff, hoping to get up that way next year, any hints. cheers bdowdy :) ;)

[Matthias]

Lakefield is so far my fav spot. Gotta watch those crocs though. We found a 4.5-5m one, 1km upstream of a registered campsite which was on a freshwater billabong. The croc was in a pure fresh billabong about 10 square metres. :o We moved camp soon after.

bdowdy I'd recommend getting up there as soon as the wet season finishes. If you can get a boat up there it would be ideal. I camped at Orange Plains campsite and got some good fish off the bank casting Sp and retieveing them along the fallen/overhanging timber. You can see the barra come out and smack the lure at your feet. But again be well aware of crocs, especially when landbased.

any pics wheezer?

pete.

[wheezer]

look out for the crocs! they are big and there is lots of them...Hanush's hole which is where we caught most of our fish has a resident 18 footer and plenty of others around the 12 foot mark....as pete said above i'd try and get up there as soon as you can after the wet....all of the snags have fish on them, the bigger the snag the more fish. we had better strike rate on slightly deeper lures 3-5m also plastics work well so pack a bit of everything. make sure you upgrade splits/trebles and that they are sharp and rust free, even the smaller barra were straightening 3X VMC's...be patient and prepared to put in the hardyards, working snags over from all angles and consecutive castgs in the same spot. slow retrieve with plenty of pauses...if you strike paydirt and get a fish continue to cast because there will be more...other than that have fun and only keep what you need!

heres a pic of an average size fish for the trip..

[wheezer]

best fish for me....went 80cm and ran me ragged! these wild fish have plenty of power and stamina!

[wheezer]

what would have been best fish of the trip, 85-90cm chomped by a sizeable shark under the boat after a long fight...if the crocs don't get you the sharks will!!

[wheezer]

kalpower crossing on way back from hanush's...very picturesque

[tiges]

Good stuff wheezer, look's like a great spot. And the weather/conditions look just terrible... ;)

[TonyM]

Sounds like a dream trip Wheezer! Well done mate, especially love the pic of your mate with the sharked fish ;D

[TinarooTriumph]

Good stuff mate! Some nice pic's. That Barra got nailed by that shark... would of loved to have been holding that rod when it struck.

Did you try the Seven Mile? Or The Mick Finn's? There are some serious fish in those places mate.

Theo 8-)

[wheezer]

went to 12 mile first but only a few fish about and none of any size...

[elephrez1]

good stuff. love the pics

[Smailesy]

what would have been best fish of the trip, 85-90cm chomped by a sizeable shark under the boat after a long fight...if the crocs don't get you the sharks will!!


you could nearly trip over your bottom lip .great report and great pics

[alvey_fisher_v17c]

Good report mate. ;)

[Petenoosa]

NICE fish mate.....That a Richo in the background..... ;) ;D ;D ;D

[Richo1]

Hmmm, I'm green with envy. Good to hear you had a win. :) I'll be up there in early October for 7 days so hopefully will find a few still be on the bite.

[Burg]

Mate great work, I'm going up to Lakefield in a couple of weeks. Love to hear more about your trip and anything special we need to know before we go.

[wheezer]

just don't be complacent about the crocs! they are big and there is plenty of them! other than that enjoy the fishing and the country and only take what you need

[black_sheep]

Awesome spot and great trip. I can see why you rate it better than Awoonga.

Did you guys get any other species - sotty's, jacks????