Daly Dose 9-12 Jan

[Moonman]

Last weekend I had the opportunity to hit the Daly River for a few days so jumped at the chance. It seemed noone was available for a deckie position for the whole four days so turned into a bit of a solo mission.

Day 1 Arrived at a mates place and unloaded some gear before launching at the public ramp lunchtime Friday. There were 8 or so trailers in the car park, so wasn’t too bad. Headed downstream looking for anything likely to fish well. Not far past Charlie’s I noticed something fluro green on the bank just above the water line. Yep a lure it was, so I pulled up and claimed my near new Reidy’s Judge, not a bad start. A bit over halfway down to Elizabeth and I noticed something swimming across the river. As I got closer I could see it was a wallaby, and looked like it had been struggling in the current for a while. All of the banks were too steep for it to climb and I don’t think it would have had the energy left if it did try. I pulled up along side it and grabbed it by the tail, lifting it into the boat and sitting it on the casting deck. I figured I needed a new deckie! It just sat there exhausted and relieved I think? It had a few gashes on its head, what looked like a small croc had attacked it, but nothing too major. I drove it downstream a bit further looking for somewhere to release it. I pulled up under a nice shady tree where the banks were low and put her out on edge. She was very quiet considering but probably still in shock. Anyways there was fishing to do so left her be.

I found Diesel was the first creek that was flowing good color so pulled up for a flick. The spot looked nice but didn’t produce. Did hear a couple of boofs up under the trees but couldn’t temp anything. Headed on down to Elizabeth to find a couple of boats tied up in the mouth and another at the second mouth. I pulled up half way along and proceeded to flick along the edges of the trees. It only took about half an hour and I was onto my first fish. I had one jump and then pulled the hooks. A few casts later and I was on again. This time it was hooked a little better but I wasn’t really prepared. As I tried to get the net and fight the fish in the current I managed to pull the hooks again! This solo fishing was a bit of mission… Well I got the net sorted and ready to go and continued to cast. I hooked up again a while later and this time was able to get the net under it and into the boat. A nice 78cm barra to kick off 2009. A couple of photos and into the esky it went. 15 minutes later and it was on again, with a nice barra launching itself onto the pod of the boat before splashing its way into the net and again the esky. I was able to hook another good fish after this which was released but then things went quiet. Spent the next few hours flicking for zip. Only managed to land and release one more before calling it a day. Pulled up to check on the wallaby on the way back, and found her still sitting there but as I got closer she hopped away. I took that as a good sign and headed home.

Day 2 started slow with a sleep in and late breakfast. Had to wait for my mate to get back from town the day before. Launched around 1pm and headed down to where I was getting them the day before. This time the car park was chock a block full! And the Elizabeth area was swarming with boats. There was already someone in the spot I wanted so we did a bit of recon to Powertail without any luck. We returned to Elizabeth to find the spot now free, but couldn’t find the fish anywhere. The water level had risen about half a metre from the day before and the boofing was a lot slower. 1000 casts returned only one hit by 5 so headed off again to relax in the aircon.

Day 3 saw the folks come down for a day run and we were on the water by 9. Again the amount of cars was a bit crazy. Flicked every creek flowing clear water from Diesel to Reidy’s without success. The water was high still from the day before but had dropped a little by the arvo. The old man managed to catch a good sized archer fish, but that was all we could temp. Late in the arvo the fish were going nuts but still couldn’t convince them to bite. The folks were a bit disappointed that they didn’t get any after I raved about it after the first day, but enjoyed the day on the water anyhow. A couple of fisheries officers had been camped down stream catching anyone heading into the no go zone. Sounded like they bagged themselves a couple of boaters doing the wrong thing. Saw Shane and Jordan not long before heading off, they were in for the night and it looked promising, but I said I’d see them tomorrow and legged it. Drove straight into a massive storm front at Browns that blew us all over the place but luckily we didn’t get wet. Even made it back in time to watch the rest of the 20/20 cricket.

Day 4 and out on my own again. This time there were only 7 trailers at the ramp and the water looked a bit lower but can be deceiving. Straight down to Elizabeth to find JD holding up a 60 odd cm fish. They had got a couple overnight and another 2 that morning. Sounded good to me so back to my spot to flick some more. There were fish boofing in the trees and I was getting hit after hit but no hookups. Another boat pulled up not far from me and proceeded to pull in 3 fish in a row! By now I’d had a dozen hits and had to move on. The Doevy’s were also having a run of bad luck with JD losing a good fish through the net. I pulled up downstream a little further and found fish boofing like crazy. Again another dozen hits for no hookups. Now it was getting frustrating! I decided to turn to the spin stick for some thing different. Wasn’t long and I was on finally. A nice 60cm fish, biggest I’ve caught on it. I then switched back to the curado and hooked onto a beauty landing a fat 81cm model. Things went quiet after that and everyone else had decided to leave. Not one to give up I hung around and Im glad I did. I ended up landing another 6 or so fish in the next hour, most on the spin stick, including one that went crazy! As soon as it was hooked it peeled line off my reel like a good mac would do. It ran about 70 metres downstream luckily avoiding a few snags. I had to fight the fish long range then untie the boat and reverse into the middle of the river. The fish had pulled up under some bushes and still hadn’t jumped. I was able to drag it from the bush and begin the fight as we drifted downstream. I had drifted a good 500 metres before I saw it and confirmed it was a barra. The fight went on for a bit longer and finally got it in the net to find an 80cm fish that I had hooked in the forehead. No wonder it did the bolt, but I still have no idea how it stayed connected..? Anyhow it was a PB for the spin stick which was finally getting its money’s worth. By now it was getting late so I had to make a move although I could have fished all night…

Even the trip home the next day was a little different, as I came across a couple of Petto’s Lachness Monsters in the middle of the road! Yeah apparenty emus do exist in Daly River!!?? Can’t wait to get down there again…

Cheers
Moonman

[Night Stalker]

Great report there Moonman and well done on those Barra.

Nice work on the animal rescue too.

[Ernie]

Well done MM top read and some nice fish

[Bullet]

Nice work Moonman, I was down there recently & it's tough work with all that water, not to mention boats. Might head back after the weekend.

[Milney]

Great report Moonman - Looked after nature and nature in returned looked after you with some fish welldone

[Faulksy]

Great report Moonman, good on ya for looking after the lttle fella.

[harmsey]

ahhh your a legend moonman. big effort there on a solo mission to save skip,,, top stuff

[Buckaneer2]

Great report Moonman good fish & I'm sure skippy was glad you came along.

[andrew.south]

Top report moonman...

I bet sonny was pleased you saved skippy.. its normaly skippy doing the saving, some good karma coming your way no doubt.