worldfisher
New member
Hi Guys, Greetings again from Australia,
Since I last posted I've had some outstanding fishing over here in WA and the NT. I reached Darwin after quite a few months on the road on the bicycle and from there headed to Kakadu national park in search for some Barramundi and other fresh water species. I didn't quite know what to expect because most guys in the area fish from boats. I hoped by foot/wheel I might get into some decent action. Well as it turned out the fishing was dynamite. Quite possibly some of the best freshwater fishing I have experienced.
Hopefully you can all see the photos now...
PLEASE READ THIS;
I'm just starting to plan my next cycle and fishing trip and would like to ask for some help. The idea is to pack the bike and cycle from Nordkapp in Norway to Cape Town South Africa. The plan is to catch a fish (hopefully a good one) in every country I pass through and then write a book when the journey completed.
The actual route is still to be planned but roughly will be down scandanavia, europe and then east africa, through egypt, sudan, ethiopia and then down towards SA.
As you might imagine it will be quite a challenge particularly as I will do it alone (unless one of you guys wants to join!!). Previously when I cycled from UK to India I found to chase fish after cycling 120km was not easy, and also to carry all the fishing equipment was testing.
At the moment i'm starting to look into sponsorship and also trying to get some articles published covering my previous trips. What will make or break the trip is whether I can arrange to meet locals in each country I pass through who are prepared to take me for a fish.
So I would like to ask if anyone on the forum would be interested to take me out fishing. Also if you know of any contacts along the way that might do the same it would be much appreciated. I can't offer much in return apart from a book and a few yarns but I hope that will do!
so now to the fishing...there's more at my site, www.worldbiker.blogspot.com and part two..sea fishing west coast will come shortly. hope you enjoy, All the best, Scott
A kind friend gave me and the bicycle a lift deep into Australian bush around 250km from Darwin. I loaded up with at least two weeks worth of supplies. The plan was to fish a spot and then move downstream every few days
The river i was on was part of the Alligator system. When I first laid eyes on it I became pretty excited. A clear water stream, with shallows and deeps with a golden sand bed meandered through big paper bark trees. pristine environment that looked very healthy. The water is clean and tastes sweet.
I thought the setting up the camp could wait until after some fishing and immediately small Barra and saratoga where nailing the small plastic lures
After a few hours 25 or more barra, sooty grunters and saratoga had fallen to the lures. I was so engrossed at one point in flicking the lure i missed a 7-8 ft saltwater croc sitting in 14 inches of water just a couple of feet from my perch. Luckily he was doing his best to hide from me! he made a break for it after a quick tickle!
Not a great pic but the one below is better! he seemed to stop and have a look, just to remember who had disturbed him
After the first day I tried surface lures which is when the real fun started. a heddon baby torpedo worked wonders and at times it seemed every fish in the river wanted the lure
The torpedo got quite a hammering on the first day by barramundi, sooty grunter, saratoga, archer fish and oxeye tarpon
A sooty grunter that hit the lure hard. These fish a true brutes and fight hard!
In one pool I found a stack of good sized barra. the fish got into a frenzy the more i cast the little lure. After hooking a couple i decided to take the hooks off and see how many strikes i would get. 13 strikes in 16 casts. not bad and the fish took the lure so confidently that even without hooks the drag still screamed for a second before the lure was ejected.
As the light faded in the afternoon the fishing would become even more explosive. Sometimes the topwater lure would be nailed every cast, but usually every three casts. around 4 strikes would result in one hook up.
pretty archer fish got in on the action too. These little fish can shoot land based insects with a jet of high pressure water! cunning!
Acrobatic oxeye tarpon put on a good show but usually threw the hooks after their continuous jumps.
Some decent barramundi came to the surface lures. when the these fish strike an loud 'boof' is heard as they suck the meal in. At night the river is alive with boofing barra, oh and noisy crocs chasing the barra
I came across some big saratoga. When the lure would land on the water surface these fish would know instantly. A large bow wave could often be see approaching from metres away..then a huge splash and the fight would be on. lots of jumping and many lost fish due to their hard mouths
Shallow glides provided a safe place to have a swim and wash.
For the first four days there was no possibility of moving camp. my load was simply too heavy..but after eating some food i started off down the river...pushing the heavy bicycle. I had hurt my leg so the going was pretty hard but first move took me 10km downstream where the fishing was equally as good
There was a lot of wildlife around..plenty of birds such as whistling kites, sea eagles, herons, and millions of parrots that were feeding on the paper bark flowers. At night thousands of flying foxes would arrive to carry on where the parrots left off.
Thousands upon thousands of fruit bats roosted in the high bamboo forest that lined the river. At night they would feed and keep me awake with lots of flapping, squeaking and squabbling.
Between the noisy bats and then the squadrons of mozzies sleep was sometimes hard to come by. Particularly after my tent zip finally gave up the ghost..lasted for over 700 night so not too bad
i had come quite prepared! you never know what lure might be needed!
One day i nearly had a break down when a large barra stole my baby torpedo..I had become quite attached to that little lure. I had just stumbled out of the tent and first cast..boof! a hectic few seconds then slack line..not a good way to start the day. Next i tried a fizzer that also got hammered. here it is after 3 days.
When I arrived in perth a friend had given me a novelty simpsons toxic fish lure. I tried this and it worked too!
I also tried a river2sea rubber frog. This lure had the curious ability to raise crocodiles. One day after casting in a spot for a few minutes a salty popped up between me and the lure. Of course I wondered whether the reptile would strike the frog so continued the retrieve. When the lure was in range crocy opened his mouth and with an almighty splash went for the frog. I stuck and got the lure safe. I'd hooked a croc once before and as it turned out the fight was a bit one sided!
The rubber frog raised at least seven crocs. this one swam fifty meters towards me before stopping just 5 metres away..hmm not too good
The river looking good at dusk. After dark in this spot a huge croc would come out to feed. i had plans of trying to spot him but every night when I heard the splashes and his jaws snapping shut I decided to stay put in the tent. It sounded like a 50kg sack of cement getting thrown into the river
A good saratoga
And another
And archer fish close up
It was often hard to get to good casting spots but the effort always seemed to pay off.
After 10 days i hadn't seen anyone and the loneliness started to set in. After 30km of pushing downstream i visited a billabong where i met Dr Keith from darwin. He had just started fishing a few months back and had a tinny which we fished from for the next two days, it was good to have company and a cold beer at last!
The doctor and his first surface caught barra
we then decided to get a barra for lunch..could we catch one? nope..but eventually I got one in the last spot we stopped in.
Waiting to be cooked
cooked to perfection in the coals
There were plenty of very tame wallabies hopping around the river
And I also saw quite a few feral pigs, brumbies (wild horses)and buffalo unlike SA there are very few large native animals apart from Kangaroos. Its a little strange to so see so much land and no animals..particularly being used to the bushveld in SA
Kakadu swamp..rich with frogs and other food that brings a huge variety of birds
Snakes were also plentiful along the river. Goannas had unfortunately nearly vanished thanks to the poisonous cane toad infestation
It was pretty hot in the NT particularly after pushing the bike through the bush. The hoards of march flies didn't help either. After 13 days my supplies started to run low so returning to Darwin was next. With the corrugated road it meant a long push of 50km back to the tar. I loaded up with good water from the river but after a day was down to collecting water from bubbling swamps. I treated it with chlorine which killed all the little swimmers but still the taste will be with me for a long time! as the day heated up the flavour would become more and more rich..mmm It was a fine moment to reach a road house after 120km!
back in Darwin myself and my two croc handler mates decided to do a bit of shark fishing from the jetty. In the news some big sharks had been reported in the harbour so we were quite keen. What i forgot to get was a gimble..doh!
Right on high tide I had a run and got into a pretty large fish that kicked the crap out of me for the next 40 minutes
The problem was landing the fish was difficult as we needed to get to the rocks by the jetty. Luckily I had good help with the croc guys. After 30 minutes we saw the shark which was a rather large tiger. It swam up and down the jetty for 15 minutes but i wasn't quite sure who was in control. Mitch was waiting down on the rocks warming up with some press ups in anticipation of getting the leader.
The tiger then dived under the jetty 3 times but i managed to pull it back..by this time I was pretty screwed. 4th dive and Dion helped pull the rod which was now pinned to the railings. It wasn't looking too good and then the wire pinged as it caught a piling! so close!! I might have had more luck with a shorter rod..but the beastmaster 13ft worked against me in close quarter battle. I certainly ached the day after.
part 2 coming soon..
Since I last posted I've had some outstanding fishing over here in WA and the NT. I reached Darwin after quite a few months on the road on the bicycle and from there headed to Kakadu national park in search for some Barramundi and other fresh water species. I didn't quite know what to expect because most guys in the area fish from boats. I hoped by foot/wheel I might get into some decent action. Well as it turned out the fishing was dynamite. Quite possibly some of the best freshwater fishing I have experienced.
Hopefully you can all see the photos now...
PLEASE READ THIS;
I'm just starting to plan my next cycle and fishing trip and would like to ask for some help. The idea is to pack the bike and cycle from Nordkapp in Norway to Cape Town South Africa. The plan is to catch a fish (hopefully a good one) in every country I pass through and then write a book when the journey completed.
The actual route is still to be planned but roughly will be down scandanavia, europe and then east africa, through egypt, sudan, ethiopia and then down towards SA.
As you might imagine it will be quite a challenge particularly as I will do it alone (unless one of you guys wants to join!!). Previously when I cycled from UK to India I found to chase fish after cycling 120km was not easy, and also to carry all the fishing equipment was testing.
At the moment i'm starting to look into sponsorship and also trying to get some articles published covering my previous trips. What will make or break the trip is whether I can arrange to meet locals in each country I pass through who are prepared to take me for a fish.
So I would like to ask if anyone on the forum would be interested to take me out fishing. Also if you know of any contacts along the way that might do the same it would be much appreciated. I can't offer much in return apart from a book and a few yarns but I hope that will do!
so now to the fishing...there's more at my site, www.worldbiker.blogspot.com and part two..sea fishing west coast will come shortly. hope you enjoy, All the best, Scott
A kind friend gave me and the bicycle a lift deep into Australian bush around 250km from Darwin. I loaded up with at least two weeks worth of supplies. The plan was to fish a spot and then move downstream every few days
The river i was on was part of the Alligator system. When I first laid eyes on it I became pretty excited. A clear water stream, with shallows and deeps with a golden sand bed meandered through big paper bark trees. pristine environment that looked very healthy. The water is clean and tastes sweet.
I thought the setting up the camp could wait until after some fishing and immediately small Barra and saratoga where nailing the small plastic lures
After a few hours 25 or more barra, sooty grunters and saratoga had fallen to the lures. I was so engrossed at one point in flicking the lure i missed a 7-8 ft saltwater croc sitting in 14 inches of water just a couple of feet from my perch. Luckily he was doing his best to hide from me! he made a break for it after a quick tickle!
Not a great pic but the one below is better! he seemed to stop and have a look, just to remember who had disturbed him
After the first day I tried surface lures which is when the real fun started. a heddon baby torpedo worked wonders and at times it seemed every fish in the river wanted the lure
The torpedo got quite a hammering on the first day by barramundi, sooty grunter, saratoga, archer fish and oxeye tarpon
A sooty grunter that hit the lure hard. These fish a true brutes and fight hard!
In one pool I found a stack of good sized barra. the fish got into a frenzy the more i cast the little lure. After hooking a couple i decided to take the hooks off and see how many strikes i would get. 13 strikes in 16 casts. not bad and the fish took the lure so confidently that even without hooks the drag still screamed for a second before the lure was ejected.
As the light faded in the afternoon the fishing would become even more explosive. Sometimes the topwater lure would be nailed every cast, but usually every three casts. around 4 strikes would result in one hook up.
pretty archer fish got in on the action too. These little fish can shoot land based insects with a jet of high pressure water! cunning!
Acrobatic oxeye tarpon put on a good show but usually threw the hooks after their continuous jumps.
Some decent barramundi came to the surface lures. when the these fish strike an loud 'boof' is heard as they suck the meal in. At night the river is alive with boofing barra, oh and noisy crocs chasing the barra
I came across some big saratoga. When the lure would land on the water surface these fish would know instantly. A large bow wave could often be see approaching from metres away..then a huge splash and the fight would be on. lots of jumping and many lost fish due to their hard mouths
Shallow glides provided a safe place to have a swim and wash.
For the first four days there was no possibility of moving camp. my load was simply too heavy..but after eating some food i started off down the river...pushing the heavy bicycle. I had hurt my leg so the going was pretty hard but first move took me 10km downstream where the fishing was equally as good
There was a lot of wildlife around..plenty of birds such as whistling kites, sea eagles, herons, and millions of parrots that were feeding on the paper bark flowers. At night thousands of flying foxes would arrive to carry on where the parrots left off.
Thousands upon thousands of fruit bats roosted in the high bamboo forest that lined the river. At night they would feed and keep me awake with lots of flapping, squeaking and squabbling.
Between the noisy bats and then the squadrons of mozzies sleep was sometimes hard to come by. Particularly after my tent zip finally gave up the ghost..lasted for over 700 night so not too bad
i had come quite prepared! you never know what lure might be needed!
One day i nearly had a break down when a large barra stole my baby torpedo..I had become quite attached to that little lure. I had just stumbled out of the tent and first cast..boof! a hectic few seconds then slack line..not a good way to start the day. Next i tried a fizzer that also got hammered. here it is after 3 days.
When I arrived in perth a friend had given me a novelty simpsons toxic fish lure. I tried this and it worked too!
I also tried a river2sea rubber frog. This lure had the curious ability to raise crocodiles. One day after casting in a spot for a few minutes a salty popped up between me and the lure. Of course I wondered whether the reptile would strike the frog so continued the retrieve. When the lure was in range crocy opened his mouth and with an almighty splash went for the frog. I stuck and got the lure safe. I'd hooked a croc once before and as it turned out the fight was a bit one sided!
The rubber frog raised at least seven crocs. this one swam fifty meters towards me before stopping just 5 metres away..hmm not too good
The river looking good at dusk. After dark in this spot a huge croc would come out to feed. i had plans of trying to spot him but every night when I heard the splashes and his jaws snapping shut I decided to stay put in the tent. It sounded like a 50kg sack of cement getting thrown into the river
A good saratoga
And another
And archer fish close up
It was often hard to get to good casting spots but the effort always seemed to pay off.
After 10 days i hadn't seen anyone and the loneliness started to set in. After 30km of pushing downstream i visited a billabong where i met Dr Keith from darwin. He had just started fishing a few months back and had a tinny which we fished from for the next two days, it was good to have company and a cold beer at last!
The doctor and his first surface caught barra
we then decided to get a barra for lunch..could we catch one? nope..but eventually I got one in the last spot we stopped in.
Waiting to be cooked
cooked to perfection in the coals
There were plenty of very tame wallabies hopping around the river
And I also saw quite a few feral pigs, brumbies (wild horses)and buffalo unlike SA there are very few large native animals apart from Kangaroos. Its a little strange to so see so much land and no animals..particularly being used to the bushveld in SA
Kakadu swamp..rich with frogs and other food that brings a huge variety of birds
Snakes were also plentiful along the river. Goannas had unfortunately nearly vanished thanks to the poisonous cane toad infestation
It was pretty hot in the NT particularly after pushing the bike through the bush. The hoards of march flies didn't help either. After 13 days my supplies started to run low so returning to Darwin was next. With the corrugated road it meant a long push of 50km back to the tar. I loaded up with good water from the river but after a day was down to collecting water from bubbling swamps. I treated it with chlorine which killed all the little swimmers but still the taste will be with me for a long time! as the day heated up the flavour would become more and more rich..mmm It was a fine moment to reach a road house after 120km!
back in Darwin myself and my two croc handler mates decided to do a bit of shark fishing from the jetty. In the news some big sharks had been reported in the harbour so we were quite keen. What i forgot to get was a gimble..doh!
Right on high tide I had a run and got into a pretty large fish that kicked the crap out of me for the next 40 minutes
The problem was landing the fish was difficult as we needed to get to the rocks by the jetty. Luckily I had good help with the croc guys. After 30 minutes we saw the shark which was a rather large tiger. It swam up and down the jetty for 15 minutes but i wasn't quite sure who was in control. Mitch was waiting down on the rocks warming up with some press ups in anticipation of getting the leader.
The tiger then dived under the jetty 3 times but i managed to pull it back..by this time I was pretty screwed. 4th dive and Dion helped pull the rod which was now pinned to the railings. It wasn't looking too good and then the wire pinged as it caught a piling! so close!! I might have had more luck with a shorter rod..but the beastmaster 13ft worked against me in close quarter battle. I certainly ached the day after.
part 2 coming soon..
I want to do it as well.