With the annual NW monsoon being smack on average at 1583mm at Horn I. and 1555 for Weipa (the average since 1956 is 1420 and 1569) instead of the larger falls experienced over the past years everyone has been crying "No Wet", which is not so. The rainy season has also been tailing out over the past two years with larger falls in March and into April, as with this year, instead of the majority of the rain falling in February March which is more traditional. The lower rainfalls in January and February made for some magnificent weather and the fish showed themselves to appreciate it by turning on some significant bites.
The local wharf at village of Seisia in January there was an unexpected run of Black Jewfish (Johnius diacanthus). Catches of up to sixty a night where taken by the local Islanders fishing with strip fish baits and hand lines. According to some local Torres Strait Islanders, who have been resident in the area since originally settled in the mid 1940’s there has never been a run of these fine table fish at this location nor at this time of year. To quote one of the colorful local rogues of the area.
"Nebber before in history of Seisia wharf fishing (65 years), not old wharf, not army wharf, not that wharf (pointing to posts near "the Mist" mooring) has Jew been caught. Only whitefish, Treballey and Mackerels catch from wharf. Jew, only Muttie head, lodge, (Cape York) and Peak point. This year pirst time. Between seben (7) and midnight, get here early to get you spot, peoples from here to here, {pointing left and right. Full face and both ends of the wharf} side by side people. Soon as people hear bite is on, eberybody come. Ebbery night maybe 50 or 35 Jewpish, maybe 9 or 10 kilos each. Before, westerly run catch em, now east run, throw line straight down, not out, strait down, straight away, on, if you in right place. Last night, here, {pointing} before, on front of wharf, that end. Prawn bait, no small one, big one, in packet, and sardine." That is what he said verbatim ( ) are English, the rest is island speak.
The pelagic fish were also unseasonally active with boils of 7 to 10 kg Long Tail Tuna (Kishinoella tonggol) in the Endeavour Strait and Spanish Mackerels (Cybium commersoni) to 20 kg taken on trolled evil eye rigged Garfish (hemaraphus robustus) baits and bibbed minnows. One local even land based speared a 36kg, 2.3m long Black Marlin from a rocky headland 500m from the wharf.
All this was going on, right on our door step in the months normally having onshore winds from the west at 20 knots or more and teaming with rain. The fishing grounds are not normally accessible in these conditions and I suppose the fish could always have been there in previous years and we have not been able to access them. I am of the opinion that fish like good weather as much as anglers and boaties do, or is it just that we are able to harass them more readily and efficiently when the weather is good? You never seem to see tunas seemingly playing about on the surface or the intense pelagic activity we see when the weather is bad. With the monsoon activity now in the later months of our off season we are scheduling a couple or three exploratory trips to the East coast rivers and the uncharted Great Barrier Reefs for January 2001, if anyone is interested in joining one of these ground breaking " seafaris ". The early years activity just mentioned had me predicting a great season. Not that it is ever anything but good, it ranges from good to exceptional. I do not, and cannot take any credit for the fishery, it is just a magnificent, pristine, unspoiled wilderness area we live and operate in.
Our first trip down the West coast proved my predictions correct with fantastic catches and unbelievable action enjoyed by four UK residents and two Sydney siders. One UK "Sea angler" Ben Crease wanted to catch as many tropical Australian species as he could, and good specimens of each, not an uncommon ask. He caught 22 species including a 12.8kg Barramundi (lates calcarifer), 18.8kg Spanish Mackerel and Queenfish (Scomberoides lysan) to 8kg, to name a few of the good specimen common species he caught. The large Barra was revived and released swimming away strongly. Moving onto another fishing gutter Ben was horrified to find the fish floating on the surface the victim of a river whaler shark of possibly 4 foot by the bite radius that removed its tail. A quiet moment was taken over a sipped Riesling before we tucked into giant Barramundi steaks poached in the Webber BBQ for our evening meal that night.
Every fish species we pursued we had great success, afternoon snag casting sessions on the last of the outgoing and first of the incoming tide produced good catches of Barramundi with pairs of anglers in each skiff getting 10 or 12 between them as well as a few assorted other snag dwellers thrown in for the 2 or 3 hour session. The isolated coastal reefs were not as fired up as far as numbers of fish caught were concerned but the ones caught were very good specimens. Sue Bruce-Miller and her son Simon pictured below with a couple of fine fish that ended up on our table. An Island or Coastal Trout (plectropoma sp.) and a Fingermark Beam or Spotted Scale Sea Perch. Common names of fish are a constant source of amusement to me the way they change from local to local, I also love listening in on peoples discussions and arguments about "that's not a Fingermark it’s a Big scale red" another local name for Lutjanus johnii, I digress.
My good friend client Lydia Lee of Sydney with me on an afternoon fishing session to the sweet water reaches of one of the rivers, the other skiffs "line astern" followed me as I snaked through the deep water gaps in the unseen rock bars. We came to the spot where we usually stop and drift back down with the current casting small lures and Darhlburg files for Saratoga and other native fresh water fishes. With the water level still up with the monsoon run off I advised the guys in other two boats to start making there way back down the river working the bends, snags and gutters while Lydia and I in the smaller of the 3 boats pushed on a little further into some country I had not yet explored. The next 500 meters of the trip was a blast in itself as I gently nosed the boat into the fast flowing rapids where you could actually see the level of the next pool 50 feet away 3 or 5 feet higher than the water we were in. Screwing on the power until the 30 horse power outboard was at maximum revs, we crept forward doing probably one mile per hour with the water flowing under us at 30. We would slowly make it to the next pool and launch onto the plane like an axe had chopped through the imaginary rope that had been halting our forward movement. Five hundred meters from where I had been countless times before over the past ten years we came to a water fall. Wow, I was gobsmacked, happy enzymes washed all through my body, my maker could have come and taken me there and then and I would have gone with out a fuss. Victoria falls it was not, but it was as beautiful a sight as you could ask for to contrast the coastal mangrove and estuarine beauty we are used to.
Tying the skiff in an eddy we climbed up onto the water fall. Walking in the 10 inches of water that was flowing over the smooth flat rock and looking around taking in the scene it took a while for us to get focused, "hay, I wonder if there are any fish here". I got Lydia her 7 weight with a pink clauser still tied on from the previous mornings flats fishing, her first cast into the foaming water resulted in a strike that bent her rod to the ferrule as she tried to set the hook as she is used to doing in her local trout streams. The second cast we both saw the flash as something turned on her fly and the third hooked a northern Saratoga (Scleropages jardini). Jumping and making strong short runs in the foaming water with Lydia whooping and laughing it was just one of those perfect moments. Landing the fish was a challenge with me trying 3 or 4 times to grab the fish as Lydia guided it over to me perched on a rock 6 feet down from where she stood. After the mandatory photos with the best background, we discovered the
"Toga" was pinned by the fly in the very center of the bony rays which support it’s gills and would not have survived. The Gyotako print will grace the wall of Lydias office and be a constant reminder of that great fishing session, 3 casts, 2 strikes and her first "Toga" on fly. We caught up to the others down stream they to had caught "Sarras" Archer fish and Grunter and had big smiles on their faces also.
Lots more happened last week, and is going to happen again next week. I can’t tell you everything about all that happened because it happens every week and I will have nothing to write about next time with out sounding repetitive, so, as they say "watch this space" I will endeavour to update at least monthly.
