INDIANANGLER

Hi Guys,

While in the Northern Territory I wanted to get after some good Barramundi and some of the other spp. like Saratoga. I have been a little reluctant to fish the tidal stretches of the rivers mainly because I have no boat but more so because the upstream clearer non tidal stretches must be far more pleasant to fish. Sure the fish might not be as big but sometimes its not all about size:)

So I had a plan when the guy who has kindly put me up in Darwin suggests his secret spot in Kakadu. Sounds good and Graham even kindly offers to drop me and my bike out there which is good as it means I can easily carry enough supplies to keep me going for two weeks no problem.

So we headed out a few weeks ago, me with some bags bulging with tins of baked beans, noodles, snickers and a heap of new lures that I suspect might tempt some fish. Graham with a few bits to camp for a night before heading back to Darwin for work.

Well as soon as we found a spot and saw the river I knew it was going to be a very interesting two weeks. grabbing my rod and attaching a small rubber shad within 5 casts a small Barra graced the bank, followed a few casts later by one of his mates. I then tried a small rubber crayfish (that twitchemup had kindly given me) and bang! on the drop a Saratoga nails it..hmm interesting indeed! three fish so a cup of tea was in order before having a wander up stream.




The rest of the afternoon passed with four species nailling the crap out of my lures. Barra, Saratoga,tarpon and Sooty Grunter. The river is shallow with a golden sand bed and every so often a pool will be found that more often than not is full of fish. Personal fishing as you see the follow, the take, the fight and then the fish swim back to it's spot. By the end of the afternoon I ended up landing around 24 fish and losing countless others. The last one was the heftiest. A nice Barra that tried to eat my spinner bait 5 times before finally getting it on the 6th cast. past the shallows are deeper strecthed where bigger fish lurk







On the way up I nearly stood on this crocodile



In the shallows many of the Barra were small but still very entertaining thanks to their cartwheels and tail walks





So the next morning Graham went back to Darwin and I started exploring and fishing hard. Its a long story which I can't really complete here but over the next 10 days I didn't see a single other person and caught probably around 250 fish of the above mentioned spp. and also some good Archer Fish. Most came to surface lure which made for some heart stopping takes. Plenty of great jumping antics from the barra and Saratoga and hard fights from the Sooties.



A barra that wanted the heddon baby torpedo







Hard fighting Sooty grunter on the surface lure





The Saratoga were big and strong. great fights with jumps and acrobatics. Hard bony mouths tho so often they would throw the hooks right at the bank



One of the better Barra on the surface lure





The Archer fish were something to behold and fought hard for their size. I remember reading them when I was a tiddler in one of my nature books..shit a fish that shoots insects out of a tree! wow and here they were nailing my surface lures! great



The Saratoga had some serious chompers so you must feel sorry for any frog that ventures into the river...or for that matter a r2s tango prop. most of the paint had been removed after 3 days.





battered and bruised after just three days. Sometimes the fish were really keen. One day from up in a tree i watched a 4kg Saratoga and a 4kg Barra both homing in on the lure from different directions. needless to say they both missed but it was pretty good viewing. At one spot I found a shoal of Barra..all around 40-60cm...they became frenzied after a few casts so I removed the hooks from the baby torpedo and had 13 strikes in 16 casts. some took the lure so hard and fast they even took line from the clutch.





Nice shot of a Saratoga in the shallow water



I had plenty of run ins with crocs...some a bit too close for comfort. One come up and try to smash the rubber frog. I had been casting for a few minutes in one spot so must have pissed him off. It was quite a strike with plenty of white water. Luckily i could get the lure out of the way. After that had three more follow froggy to with in 4 metres of the bank.



This was the lure that the crocs didn't like!





food stash for two weeks. I had to eat my through some before I could move on the bicycle.





Lure stash. most didn't get used but you never never know when you might need one..better to be prepared!!



A highly overloaded bicycle! because of all the buffalo hoof prints and the fact I had hurt my leg I pushed 50km down stream. after that the road got better and the bike lighter so I could ride again



Pushing to a new fishing spot







river at dusk before a big croc came out to thrash the fish all night..and scare the shit out of me!







After 700+nights my tent zip eventually broke. great luck to be next to a kakadu swamp. that was day three so for the nest 11 days the mozzies had a field day! luckily graham had left me some spray that helped a bit. I still struggled to sleep..and here I was contemplating the merits of mosquitoes! I came to the conclusion that they are w**"£Rers:)





The fish were pretty keen for a feed!:)





I nearly forgot the high speed ox eye tarpon. Plenty to put on a jumping show. a real delightful fish to catch



Fished out and exhausted after a long push downstream..march flies were sorting me out here!





there was great wildlife. lots of birds and also saw pigs, buff and horses, snakes, goannas, turtles, crocs, loads of fruit bats and heaps of interesting insects





Nice



stinking feral pigs



casting lures



Good Barra that couldn't resist the surface fizzer



I hated these ants in India and now I hate them even more! they haven't got much going for them apart from having green bums but i don't even know if thats a good thing!

After exploring around 40km of river and walking over 12okm in the first ten days I decided to start moving. On the way I met a doctor from Darwin who invited me to join him in his tinny. It was nice to have company after ten days of solitude. At least I didn't have to talk to myself quite so much and he had cold beers!!





The DR



A good barra that we decided to throw on the coals for lunch



waiting for the fire to burn down





barra cooked to perfection





crocs came for a look when we were in the tinny.





Saying goodbye to DR Keith. Luckily my bike was lighter now having eaten most of my food in the previous 12 days. After a 10km push I could cycle for remaining few hundred kms back to darwin. Somehow with my shot leg I made it back in record time. I feel very priviledged to have got to fish this pristine place. The water tasted sweet and everything about the place was perfect. (apart from the mozzies) I hope one day I get to go back. Hope you guys enjoyed. There are many more photos on my site,



all the best, Scott

WOW !!!!

Cant think of anything else to say at the moment.
Great Pics, Good fish, what more can one ask.

Thanks for sharing.

Regards

kashaif

simply amazing! what can i say, your pics took my breath away. if there is an angling heaven on earth this would be it!!

Beautiful photos, beautiful fishes, beautiful report! Loved reading every bit of it. Thanks for sharing :)

Amazing! Beatuiful catches and stunning photographs. Thanks for sharing.

Another Wonderfull report from mr Wanderer

as always your reports are mesmerizing

Before I die I wish I get to live this kinda life in the wild arms of nature & fish non stop for atleast two weeks

Scotty I really envy you mate

__________________________________
The only fever that I always carry ---> Fishing Fever

Stunning Scott...

You are one hell of a mad angler Scott. Great that you are living your dream. Loved your report. Wow.. wonderful...

The fishes of Konkan coast are badly missing you..

Looks like I have to go and convey your regards to them.

Regards,

Ali.

Here's a clip of the first run. when this started it had been taking line already for 30 seconds:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAfhci0rQ78



I went out last night to nightcliff jetty with my two crocodile handler friends for a spot of fishing. I had the plan to catch a shark and as it happens my wish came true. An 8/9ft Tiger Shark kicked the shit out of me for 40 minutes.



I brought out my big shimano beastmaster and fin nor offshore 6500 loaded with 80 lb power pro, 100lb mono leader and 150lb wire trace and large circle hook.



So I caught a fish of some unknown variety of around a pound and prepared a tasty shark snack, cast a little way off the jetty and lay back on my sleeping bag talking to Mitch. 4 minutes before high tide the reel woke up and started a little clicking so I was on it like a shot..gently winding down and then bam..all hell breaks loose. A gentle biet for the resulting fallout!!



I briefly saw the fish under the lights as he took off high speed out to sea. I hung on as at least 150 yards of power pro zipped from the singing reel. Over the next 15 minutes I ran from one side of the jetty to the other pumping, getting hammered and hoping he would stay out from the structure until the pressure started to wear him out.



Then after this the shark came up and headed around the southern edge of the structure. Under the lights we could now see it perfectly and the tiger markings. Deon announced 'it's a big tiger mate..keep it up man' maybe 8 or 9 feet'

For the next 15 minutes I brought him back and forth to the shore. Mitchell went down on the rocks and prepared to land the fish somehow. At one point he declared he would jump in. I said that was maybe a bad idea and continued with the workout. By this time I was wearing down because of the long rod and the angle i was fighting the fish. Sweat was running off my skin in buckets.



For the last ten minutes, after the shark had come in close to the rocks in just 3 ft of water, the battle was under the jetty... the fish came under my feet and headed to the north side of the jetty. So this put the rod at a hard angle. For a good few minutes the rod was actually clamped hard handle to the stars..tip to the water..held fast against the side of the jetty and I had no way to lift it. I asked deon to help and slowly we worked the fish back. This happened three times until he passed around a pilling at a weird angle which spelt disaster.The wire gave way just above the circle and thay was that. I lay down for ten minutes as my whole body took a very good pounding! well i got my wish and am still hurting now!!:)



Enjoy, Scott





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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvSIstj4XuU

Great barra action on the surface lure! enjoy!

Its superbly exciting Scott

Amazing Scott,

I can only imagine the fight 8 / 9 ft shark can put.

Your pictures brought back some memories. :))

Santosh

Amazing RUN!!

Can only imagine the complete fight. Wow.. wonderful.

The video of Barra hitting the lure is also very good.

Keep on posting.

Regards,

Ali.

keep on posting scott . i am lovin it . god bless you.

Very classy post, Scott.
Very enjoyable read.
Thanks a million for the posting.

Ravi