Western Australia road trip

Returning from South Africa to Darwin I found the temperature soaring and humidity up at unbearable levels. The build up was here and, every day, heavy dark clouds rolled in over the Beagle Gulf. Not much rain had fallen yet apart from the odd tropical downpour, but if the previous wet season was anything to go by, it wouldn't be long until the land was well and truly drenched.

Mitch collected me from the airport in the early hours and we headed out to Gunn Point, east of the city. Enough rain had fallen, though, to transform the bone-dry landscape to a spread of rejuvenated greenness. The black, parched bush had vanished under a cloak of new lush growth, which would become even thicker as the wet continued. It was good to be back.

As we bounced along the wide red track through eucalypt forest a big frill necked lizard dashed across the road perilously close to the ute. It was a near miss, but by the time we had stopped and run into the bush the fancy-looking lizard had vanished - probably sitting quietly up a tree. Now the temperatures were up, the lizards had emerged from hibernation and later I would see plenty around the city.

Gunn point wasn't a bad spot. Miles of deserted beach ran off in both directions from the large, shady tree under which we had camped. Occasionally, along the sand, turtle tracks broke the smooth surface where one had crawled up to the high water mark to lay eggs. Unfortunately, it seemed that most of the nests had been ransacked by feral pigs. A scorching hot day led through to a crimson sunset followed by a sky peppered with bright stars. It was a perfect way to arrive back in Australia, but things deteriorated after dark when thousands of mosquitoes came out to play. This was wasn't a major problem, but when I awoke late in the night, flashes to the north east warned of an approaching storm. We hoped it would skirt around us and head inland, but in the early hours of the morning large drops of rain started to fall on the sand. Mitch and Dion had pulled an old camper van out from Darwin the previous week, so now we all huddled inside as the heavy rain drops rattled on the roof.

Back in Darwin while I waited for Nick to arrive from Singapore I spotted this bush stone curlew, or bush thick-knee (Burhinus grallarius), acting suspiciously.  A closer look revealed that it was protecting its two young tucked under its wings. By lying as flat and as dead still as possible, the curlew hoped I couldn't see her! While I photographed this wonderful animal, the male curlew did his best to distract, or scare, me by running about with his wings extended.

A Kakadu Barra to christen a new popper

When Nick arrived we picked up a hire van and were both itching to get on the road, with the first stop being Kakadu for a spot of surface fishing. Knowing the spot from before, we made a beeline for the river I had fished, but stopped at a couple of bridges along the way. At one spot a shoal of tarpon fed below and it didn't take long for one of them to hit Nick's lure. The fish he hooked gave him the slip, but next cast a good barra crept up behind his fizzer before hitting it hard. This one didn't escape and so got us off the mark for the trip.

To reach the spot we wanted to fish meant some unsealed and corrugated road which, apparently, wasn't allowed in this particular hire vehicle. So the order of the day was to keep the vehicle in one piece and not get stuck somewhere deep in the bush!

After some fairly bumpy ground that made the little van moan and groan we reached our spot and made camp. It was hot and sticky, but the temperature dropped off a bit after sunset making things slightly more comfortable. Like back at Gunn Point, a huge electrical storm raged in the distance. It would spell disaster if the rain had reached us because the flood plain on which we were camped was dry clay that would turn into a sticky swamp with the slightest bit of rain. Without a doubt, we would be completely stuck, so I spent most of the night tracking the storm ready to make a fast exit if it happened to reach our camp. By some stroke of luck the rain skirted round to the east of us, but, later, around two in the morning, another storm came in from the north. Thankfully, this one also headed off east and, after that, everything was calm.

In the early morning, armed with a couple of surface lures, we walked over the bank and down to the clear water river. As soon as Nick's fizzer started to fizz, fish showed an interest and seconds later the first barra of the day was on the bank.

Surface lure gave spectacular results and it wasn't long before we had notched up a few good fish. It seemed, however, that a snake and crocodile phobia was really playing on Nick's mind, so, after a while, when the banks became steeper, we turned back to camp. It was a shame because, where the banks become harder to negotiate, the water becomes deeper and the fish are bigger. It didn't help that we heard an almighty splash downstream that sounded like a mammoth crocodile launching into the depths.

Ox-eye tarpon were about and hit the surface lures with their usual keenness. Shortly after catching this one I spotted a Sawfish cruising about at the junction of shallow and deep water. Maybe next time I'll get a closer look at one of these prehistoric beasts!

Spread out around Kakadu are numerous lush valleys where the creeks flow. We had to stop at this spot ... 'Barramundi gorge'.  I'd seen it on the map before I reached Australia and wondered what it might be like. Sure enough it didn't disappoint; clear water full of fish and, of course, plenty of barra cruising through the still water. The only drawback was that fishing isn't allowed, but it didn't actually matter - just being there was enough.

Barramundi Creek, Kakadu National park. Full of saratoga, barra, sooty grunter, and archer fish, amongst other smaller species

Nick flicking a lure in one of Kakadu's beautiful rivers. Small holes on the corners produced little saratoga and sooty grunter.

Frill necked lizard in all its glory ready to suck in a fly! When agitated, these lizards extend a huge frill around the neck which helps them look bigger. And if that doesn't do the trick he might even come in for an attack!

A quick stop and the Ord River at Kunnunura produced a couple of small barra and archer fish.

The Northern territory is home to many millions of flying foxes which roost during the day in shady trees. Unusually, these were low in the trees meaning a half decent photo could be shot. 

Our trusty van had covered over 500,000 km in Australia and seemed still to be going strong! We did wonder at times whether the Toyota would make it as far as Perth. A funny noise that developed half way through the trip had us thinking the worst, but the van plodded on to its destination unfazed.

A stop at eighty mile beach was pleasant. When I had stopped here on the trip north the place was seriously overrun with tourists. One could hardly move for caravans and cables, but now, a few months later, with all the tourers gone, it was actually an enjoyable spot. That is, apart from the fact that we still didn't catch a fish!

A peacock that, for some reason, was white. 

The first saltwater fish of the trip fell to nick's Halco Slice up at Point Samson at Dampier. Surprisingly, it was this shark that put up a nice little scrap!

A lot of careful thought saw us conclude that Exmouth was the best place for us to spend most of the trip! 4,000 km from Darwin, it took a few days flat out to reach the fabled fish spot of Exxy, as it's known! Not long after we arrived the fish started hitting the lures! This small barracuda was first up on to the sand!

A nice cod was up next! After a good fight I managed to coax him out of the reef!

Then a couple of coral trout fell to the lures

Nick and a shore-caught coral trout

Later in the day we headed up to the Mildura wreck and flicked a few lures. First cast with a soft plastic and wham! A strong fish took off leaving me pretty helpless. I managed to regain a little line, at which point the fish reefed me. Hmm ... so a swim was in order and, after a minute of tussling and diving, this beautiful cod lay on the sand.

The marina at Exxy holds a few good fish, but unluckily most of them gave me the slip. Small shoals of bonito cruised about harrassing bait fish shoals. No queen fish showed, but a few small trevally and snappers has a go at the lure. Evening and early mornings would probably see some good action - more so than at midday, when we usually fished.

From first impressions, Mildura shipwreck at north west cape looked like an incredibly fishy spot - a shallow reef runs out a hundred metres, giving way to deeper water channels and dispersed coral reef. Wading out at sunset and flicking a silver stick bait was the winning formula which almost guaranteed small giant trevally. Standing waist deep in the warm water with turtles swimming past within metres of my perch was a great experience. And every so often the lure would get smashed by a determined GT. Usually, the fish would shoot out of a deep channel twenty yards in front and start laying into the stickbait. On the light tackle, a good scrap would always result as the powerful fish scooted off at high speed over the reef. Surprisingly, no big fish and no other species hit the lures, but then again, the small GTts up to 6kg were enough for a good buzz. Small reef sharks would also cruise past within metres of where I stood and, sometimes, a large turtle would creep up and power off leaving a large boil on the water's surface. That was usually enough to start me wondering whether it was time to start wading back to dry land. The highlight of the evening sessions was when a dugong passed by just a few meters away, its back breaking the water's surface as it slowly plodded along. 

One of the target species of the trip was a shark. Now, most Australians don't seem too interested in catching sharks, but having lived in the UK where big fish are pretty scarce, the idea of getting your string pulled by a huge toothy shark is quite inviting! The plan was to fish nights when it would be cooler and the fish more active. A large bucket of berley was employed to try to attract some sharks into the area that we were fishing. First session it didn't take long for some beasties to show an interest in our baits and a good sized fish took the bait fairly quickly. For its size, the fight was pathetic, but the beauty of the fish made up for it. A fairly rare leopard shark rolled on the surface of the water and then posed for a photo before being slipped back into the warm sea.  Soon an absolute monster ray arrived and started nosing around on the berley trail. It was a massive fish which might have weighed >130 kg and, for some reason, I got the idea that it would be exciting to toss a fish head in the monster's direction. Five minutes later I was wholeheartedly regretting my idea as the fish powered away and I realised it might take a few hours before I lay eyes on it again. After five minutes the 100lb leader parted on what must have been about the only snag for 400 metres around! 

This chap was on holiday with his mates in Exmouth. Despite having a boat, they had fared pretty badly over the week they had fished, landing a few small tuna and trevally. Seeing us setting up tackle for the sharks, instead of leaving, they joined and in the end had the best fishing of their trip, landing a couple of beauties which looked like lemon sharks.

A snapper from the harbour.

A view of the Mildura wreck. The photo is deceptive in that the distance from the gulls to the wreck is much longer than it seems. After a hundred-plus metres of wading there is still eighty metres of water to the wreck, and this water is where the trevally hit the lures.

Just on sunset, the usual time for action, the water erupted behind my stickbait as this GT ploughed into it. The strike came soon into the retrieve so the lure was still far out near the wreck and the result was a long fight with me somehow winning the battle after some tense moments. Not a big fish by any means, but big enough to take over ten minutes to land and cause some solid excitement!

Back at the shark fishing spot we landed a string of good fish, as well as losing some crackers. For every fish we landed the hook would pull on another, but with so many runs every night it was nothing to worry about.  The larger fish usually took ten to fifteen minutes to play to the beach using 80lb power pro and a Fin Nor 6500 doubled with my Shimano Beastmaster beach caster. Four metres of 100lb hard mono and a further metre of 150kg wire with a circle hook finished off the rig and seemed to be strong enough to land the fish we encountered.

Nick with a good Lemon shark that took line for six minutes on its initial run. It looked doubtful for a while whether it would stop, but eventually, with very little line left, the fish turned and slowly started to come to the beach. See the run here..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbR6ZabxJA4&context=C3ff6134ADOEgsToPDskLVZFXlongJIjrOHzqkTSeC

These bait fish, known as hardy heads, are plentiful around Exmouth at certain times of the year. Unfortunately, we didn't come across many, but when large numbers are pushed up against the shore, good fishing is never very far away!

 

Another good shark that took a mackerel head bait.

The flies reached plague proportions while we stayed in Exmouth and there really was no way of avoiding them apart from jumping in the sea. But then, as soon as your breath ran out, the flies would be there ready and waiting.

The resident osprey usually seemed to have more luck than us when it came to fishing!

 
The night after I hooked and lost the big ray Nick also hooked into a big fish that fought differently to a shark. We suspected a big sting ray and, sure enough, after a relatively short fight of 45 minutes, we landed a huge sting ray. It was quite subdued for the duration of the fight, but when I grabbed the leader, the fish woke up and all hell broke loose. Unable to pull the heavy weight any further than the shallowest water we were happy when the leader popped and the big fish swam free without any further trouble. It's hard to appreciate from the photo quite how big the ray was, but with my limited experience I'd estimate it at somewhat over 130kg.

Another evening Trevally that couldn't resist the silver stick bait at the Mildura wreck.

The Naval pier is known for its big resident  GTs, but we unfortunately weren't destined to meet any of these powerhouses. A few big fish did hit the large surface poppers, but all were sharks. One afternoon as we walked up the beach towards the pier, packs of sharks were roaming up and down the reef that ran the length of the beach. A popper cast out was guaranteed to be chased by one of these 50kg fish, but without any wire I drew the popper away on every strike. A couple were pretty keen and followed the popper up into a few feet of water before turning to seek deeper water. One that sticks in my memory came so far up the beach that I had to back out of the knee-deep water in case the shark got any strange ideas!

Joy of joys; a bait-scoffing puffer fish! Nice!

Another spot on the cape produced some good fish, but unfortunately my luck was out and a string of slippery customers jumped the hooks! This small trevally was one of the unlucky ones that had to come ashore to have its photo taken.

After losing four in a row, I was over the moon when this beautiful queen fish stayed attached to the hooks. It was a spectacular multi-strike hook-up followed by numerous rocket-like jumps throughout the fight. For a twenty or thirty minute period the tide movement was just right for the fish to go on a feeding spree and then, suddenly, all would be quiet again.

Another shark that might be a whaler of some sort...

While we were in Exmouth hundreds upon hundreds of turtles were inshore to breed and lay eggs. Some of the beaches such as Janz were so busy with turtles that it was almost impossible to cast a lure. Every morning, many new turtle tracks led the way up the beach to just above the high water mark where the nest is dug and the eggs laid. Whereever we fished around Exxy, the turtle numbers definitely meant subsurface lures were out and surface lures were in!

After a week or so in Exmouth the flies drove us out. They were too much, so we headed south towards Perth, where a stop was made at Quobba.