Thursday, July 25, 2013

Mighty Milkfish!

To some anglers..........salt water fly fishing is the pinnacle of the sport!

Exponents of the long wand are often seen as a dodgy lot....not well understood by fellow anglers. Sometimes the effort for reward just does not seem to stack up. But then fly anglers often have a totally different mind set to the rest of us.

A magnificent barra from the upstream Archer River
Often its not about quantity (I can catch 100+ barra a day on lures when the run off is in full swing), its more about the quality. The harder it is to entice a fish to eat your carefully chosen presentation, to skillfully place that "imitation" baitfish / frog / crab / insect or worm, the more they seem to enjoy it.

And then we have those very special fish..........you know, the ones that are considered the Holy Grail of fly fishing.
  • Indo Pacific Permit
  • Monster Tarpon
  • Golden trevally
  • Bonefish &
  • Milkfish
What's this....milkfish!

I know that this list is no all encompassing so don't reply and tell me that I should have included this and that. This article is not about comparing targets, singing the praises of this fish over that etc.

Its all about getting a closely held secret out.....that at certain times of the year, when conditions are right and the tides and moon help nature do its magic......we have the spectacular milkfish as a prime target up at Aurukun, in the magnificent Archer River.


Golden Trevally....on fly!

Personally, I am not a keen fly fisherman - I do own 4 outfits however and have dabbled in the art on numerous occasions. I have landed a tripple several times (Barra, queenie & GT)...easy you might say.

But the mikfish is an entirely different proposition!

And we do have them, and we do have the guides that know how to catch them!

What a magnificent specimen - check out that powerful tail!
So, if chasing one of the worlds premier light tackle fly fishing targets gets your heart pumping!
If you love the challenge of placing that imitation "thing-a-ma-gig" right in the slot!
Get stoked by the mighty tail swirl as the metre long milkfish engulfs your fly!
Or just enjoy the smell of burning skin as the powerful beauty peels of metre after metre of line and backing!
You will need to sit down, take stock and reflect on what just happened over the last 20-30 minutes.

GOOD LUCK.....BRING IT ON!

www.aurukunfishingcharters.com

This could be you!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The Pace was set.....by Simon!

Oh how I love this job....to be able to write about the fantastic fishing on offer up at Aurukun is rewarding enough. But to have it all penned by a very happy client is awesome. Check it out here!


The mighty Pikkuw (means crocodile in native language)

Hey Les,

Just a quick one to send those pics I promised and to pass on our many thanks to Terry and the boys up on the Pikkuw.



What a fantastic trip Nathan Shaw and I squeezed into just a few short days. As usual Terry and Ian went right out of their way to put us onto good fish and make sure we had a great time. The new tenders were a pleasure to fish from, well fitted out and perfectly desgined to explore the endless waterways up there.
 

Is this a good barra Terry?
What about this one?
Just a typical "small" barra
With the super low tides at that time, we found the Barra waiting on drains during the last part of the run out. Walk the dog lures with a pause right at the edge of the drop lead to some great surface strike`s and a few memorable sessions.


Metre long queenies....we just love em!

How's this for a queenie

Yeah!....another monster!
Out the front on the first morning we found hoards of big Queenfish smashing the whitebait and our surface lures were met with instant action. Watching packs of metre-plus Queenies shouldering each other out to monster your lure right at the boat was exciting stuff and lead to double, even triple hook ups on line burning fish. After half a dozen or so were boated we headed back up river to chase other species. 
 

WOW!......toga's!

These are quality all right!



This is s nice toga
After pouring over the maps one night, we singled out a large freshwater lagoon up the mighty Archer River and trekked into it the next day. After a slow start, we found a flooded swamp arm with plenty of shade and the Toga were home. Skipping soft frogs along the top had instant results and after repeated strikes Nathan hooked and landed an 80cm model in tight timber. What followed was an awesome session, watching saratoga leave a bow wave`s as they honed in to smash a surface lure is hard to forget. At one stage a "Tea Bagged" lure hanging from a branch lead to a huge Toga leaping clear of the water to swat it out of the air like an insect. After too many strikes to count Nathan ended up landing 3 big fella`s, and left me with the age old storey of the one that got away.
 

Now that's a nice jack

I guess this is what the river is named after!

Nice little river trevally
Back in the river on the last morning we headed up the Watson into the fresh. What a beautifull part of the river as it leaves that salty tidal influence. We busted out the light gear and nailed small Barra, several Jacks, Archer fish and Trevally to end an awesome few days.

Cant possibly sign off without giving Mark the Chef a mention. He runs a tight ship and kept us all very well fed with a constant stream of hearty dishes. Nothing better than coming back at sunset after a big days fishing to a Queenfish Nummus washed down with a cold beer, thanks again mate.
 
Its my water hole!
 
This is Terry....recognise him!
 
This is a quality barra fishery....second to none!
 
This was my third trip up to Aurukun, and I am already planning another return visit. The location, fishing and effort that Terry and the boys go to has to be seen to be believed - a magic place.

Simon Pace

Thanks again Simon....I'm sure we'll see you there again real soon.