Kakadu dreams..A Croc, a Doc and a Barra! pt 4. click older post at foot of page to move back

On the last cast and the last snag of the morning this Barramundi decided to put in an appearance. It was a fine moment as Dr. Keith and I had started salivating hours before and had all but given up the chance of a BBQ fish lunch. After half an hour in the coals the skin peeled back to reveal perfectly cooked Barra!

The river looking fine in the early evening light. This was a point of much activity during the day and even more so during the dark hours when a torch shone in the water would reveal scores of small Barra and various other fish. Late at night a large crocodile fed on the plentiful fish supplies but unfortunately I never saw him in the act!

Shoals of Tarpon couldn't resist the surface lures. Usually they would flash behind the lure before actually hitting it. Hooking up was another matter altogether!

A chug bug gave the doctor his first surface caught Barramundi. 

A better stamp of Barra was found in the deeper water. Plenty of submerged snags always guaranteed a heart stopping fight and tested the tackle to a maximum.

Sneaky salt water crocodiles never seemed to be far away and the slap of the rubber frog landing in the water seemed to be work like a dinner bell. This one swam thirty metres directly towards me to investigate the disturbance.

It was a different experience to fish from a boat after ten days of walking the banks. Although much easier the fishing seemed to be far less productive.

Fire baked Barra for lunch.

In certain areas of the river Paper Bark leaves and flowers formed a floating surface mat and prevented fishing.

A frog hunting tree snake that moved effortlessly through the branches of a tree when I approached. Surprising not many snakes were about. Possibly the adverse
 effect of Cane toads is the reason. Apparently the local goannas have taken a massive population crash thanks to the toad infestation.

This lovely deep corner was inhabited by a shoal of average sized Barra,  a couple of big Sooty grunter and a shoal of small catfish.

The river held some very good mullet but as usual with mullet, they weren't playing ball.  I briefly hooked one on a soft plastic crayfish lure which was by far the closest I came to success.  These nice specimens completely ignored my perfectly laid trap!

A pleasant time of day when the when the heat quickly dissipated giving way to the coolness of the night. Perfect time to throw a line!

The scourge of the northern territory! If the mosquitoes weren't hammering me then these delightful little ants would get stuck in and have a go. People say they are pretty good to eat which is exactly what I'll be doing next time one bites me - a taste of it's own medicine;) 

The resident wallabies were unused to seeing humans and were pretty curious when they saw me flicking lures. usually they would hop a little way off and continue grazing.

This buzzard enjoyed a dead Barra I put out near a shallow billabong. After sitting in a tree for two hours he eventually came down, chased the resident crow away and fed while his mate kept watch. 

Shallow glides provided ideal crocodile free spots to cool off and have a wash.

Australia's enemy: the Cane toad. As night fell an army of toads emerged - so many it was pointless to destroy them.

A fine example of an Archer fish that wasn't put off by a relatively large lure.

A close up showing a big Saratoga lightly hooked in the scissors. The design is specialised to feeding from the surface. Powerful jaws, upturned mouth and eyes close to the top of the head all help to put the odds in the favour of the fish and not the prey.

Saratoga damage after three days fishing. The big ones clamped down hard on the lures which  combined with their hard mouths mean hook ups often only lasted a few seconds. A couple of firm strikes helped drive the hooks home.

A fizzer after a day of fishing

After four days of being in the bush I had eaten enough food to at least be able to push my bicycle to new hunting grounds. It was still highly overloaded which combined with the rough roads was a recipe for disaster.  After fishing a stretch for a couple of days I would move ten kilometres downstream to start exploring new water.

A good place to hide from crocodiles