HOME » Freshwater » Saratoga » Do the Miles, Get the Smiles Pt. 2

---

Do the Miles, Get the Smiles Pt. 2

By Robbie Wells

After an eventless few days we mowed down the kilometres to get across Queensland and into the Territory, stopping overnight at Attack Creek (an easy turnoff to miss but great camping by yourself, with a waterhole full of archer fish). It was then through Mt Isa and Camooweal on the border (great camping along the billabong. Very very busy, best bet take the first turnoff and drive down through the creek bed, where there's heaps of private spots). Of course we stopped in for the obligatory dinosaur pics and suss of the museum and a few old pubs along the way. It's quite amazing to think we had those animals swimming and cruising around Australia... you'd need big hooks, lol.

After crossing the NT border... as mentioned earlier plan your fuel and camping stops as some are few and far between and it's quite easy to find yourself in between both at not a favourable time of the day. Also remember the big aerials are your friend, such a life saver when in the middle of nowhere and seldom have anyone camping there. Another thing that blows my mind when camping in the outback is the colours at dusk and the stars at night. I've never seen so many and so clearly. Wherever I travel I always suss out where the Southern Cross is and it is also amazing where that appears in the sky while travelling.

We made our way to Mataranka, famous for its hot springs but also a great stopover, especially the national park. It's about 18km out of the way, however it's such a great camp spot near the river and it has a boat ramp. Definitely worth a cast as we nailed a little barramundi and a sooty grunter. There is also some great history, with the old cattle yards, etc. It had really clean, grassed sites and was close enough to do the tourist thing, if not fishing. Just a great spot to explore if you had a few days up your sleeve. Unfortunately we didn't, as I had a toga to catch (after nailing a southern saratoga in part one, Robbie planned to land a northern saratoga within a week). Our last overnight stop was on the famous Mary River, with another great pub that had fuel, meals and camping. Although it was super dusty, there's a massive termite mound that's worth a look and a pic.

Old mate, the owner, comes around on his buggy, straight out of Croc Dundee... croc hat, necklace and a 343 mounted on the bonnet. A quick yak to him about fishing and so on... "too many crocs down there to fish" was his comment. Anyway, that arvo my casting arm was needing a fix so I was thinking of a walk... wondering if croc man was merely deterring me from fishing the holy land. As I was re-rigging the wind picked up and a faint crackling was heard. This was followed by the faint aroma of smoke and obviously a section of back burning had flared up and begun engulfing the exact area where I wanted to go, moving slowly toward our camp. By bedtime it was just about out, however it had spoiled my expedition. This was our last big day of travel, with the night spent around a campfire dreaming of what could be. It was refreshing to know that our next day's travel was only a short, four hour, drive to Jabiru and then some fishing.

After a restless night and a quick brekky, we were on our way. Once reaching Kakadu National Park, I'm toga dreaming while Sue takes in the landscape changes and smells that only the NT can give. The fires, smoke, flowers, trees and regrowth seem to all move in perfect transitions with the seasons.

At 12.32pm we finally arrived at Joes at Jabiru. The boys (Bivouac Boyz) were already waiting outside and before long cars were reorganised and ten of us were in two 4WDs going for a fish. I think the time was now 12.35pm, lol. Joe's family had grown, with Cody and Josh's TO (traditional owners) friends from school, who love an adventure, also coming for a run. Fortunately for us the local boys led us into some areas off the true beaten track, visiting some truly impressive waterways and billabongs where their elders had traditionally fished forever. After bashing through some long grass, a billabong emerged no more than 15m from where we stopped. Among the chaos of getting gear out of the 4x4 undamaged... I'm thinking how easy is this? Of course that wasn't the case, with the boys running off over a big sand flat into the distance. Apparently we don't fish just here as there's a big angry croc that doesn't appreciate it.

About 200 metres further down the reality of where we were at set in as we approached a croc slide from the main billabong into a small but deep pool. Obviously not fresh tracks but a wakeup call to keep your wits about you as you're in their backyard now. A bit of common sense is required, with distance from the water, the height of the banks, casting from behind trees and always having something between you and the water. You can get quite blasé when you don't see any croc activity, however remember it's the croc you can't see that is the problem. In saying that, it doesn't really hinder your fishing, it just means your casting has to be on point and once hooked to a fish you need a plan as to where you're going to land and release it safely, for both you and the fish.

Being greedy we took two rods each, which was both a hindrance and a blessing at the same time. I had the little Okuma Helios Combo with a 7' 3-6kg rod and 30 size reel, along with a Cerros 7' 2-4kg rod and Helios HSX-20 combo, both spooled with 10lb Platypus Platinum Plus Braid and 20lb Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader. Sue was running the same spin gear, but opposite rods with a 7' Cerros 3-6kg rod and Helios HSX-30 reel, along with a 3-6kg Cerros baitcast combo running 20lb Platypus Platinum Plus Braid.

After an easy 1km walk we caught up with the boys, who had been mucking around with traditional spears looking for turtles, saratoga, barramundi, etc., as they waited for us. The other couple of boys were still casting out to a tree snag, from which they had landed a couple of sooty grunter and lost a little barra. No sight of any northern saratoga however, with today being seven days since catching its southern cousin... I had set myself a task.

The bush started to really thicken as we moved further down. The classic massive paperbark trees, overhanging the super clear water, pandanus palms and low lying shallow wetlands with big grass trees, screaming saratoga and crocs. We were looking for ideal casting situations as we perused the gaps in the paperbarks, along with the snags below, looking for opportunities. Once looking at the terrain I wished that I had brought a little heavier gear as it was brutal country.

Polar opposites of the traditional billabongs of Yellow Waters and Corroboree, here the absence of lily pads was a testament to the volumes of water that runs through here, before being dispersed into the flood plains during a normal wet season.

We trekked on further and started casting at every realistic opportunity, anticipating a bite from a barra, sooty or saratoga. A few shouts from ahead signalled that one of the boys had landed a fish. To my excitement it was a northern toga, landed by Cody. I was so stoked to see one and after a few pics it was slid back in the water. Within minutes some more yahooing was heard, with Joe banging a nice little barra and Josh a saratoga, with Jude losing a real good barra in a hole that was surrounded by underwater brush and trees. It was probably one of those casts that you shouldn't do, as you know what will happen if you hook up, but one that you also can't resist.

After what seemed like an eternity, with everyone around me nailing fish, I ran upstream to what seemed like the perfect scenario. It was a nice clear run between some paperbarks, overhanging about 7m, branches touching the water, with a stump in the middle... but with no back cast. I wacked an underhand cast in. It was a bit dodgy as my line hooked around some leaves and just as I thought I'd blown it, my line pulled tight. I set the hook and a second later a nice northern toga launched itself in the air, before diving deep and seemingly in slow motion trying to wrap itself around the only obstruction... that tree stump.

I was running a new Okuma 3-6kg 7' Helios rod, so with a bit of handy rod work I was able to stretch out and follow him around it, while not getting eaten by a croc and getting a couple of winds in. After grabbing the leader, my first northern saratoga slid up the grassy bank! It was also my first toga on a Pearl coloured ZMan 3" MinnowZ and to make it sweeter, it was day seven of our journey and exactly seven days and 3600 odd kilometres after my southern saratoga. I was so, so, stoked! Mission accomplished!

What amazed me the most is that the physical differences between the two species are profound. The striking coloration of the spots goes all the way to on the tail, the head shape is slightly different, along with mouth position and even the location of their fins. The other bonus of the day was catching a sharp nose grunter, a sooty relation that is endemic only to the region and also an exceptional fighter, with a massive paddle tail.

As I released this saratoga Sue hooked up to another solid toga, this time on a TT Lures Vortex spinnerbait cast on her Cerros baitcast combo. Sue had lost a few barra earlier on the spinnerbait and also a ChatterBait, so it was a well-earned fish. It was also her second toga in a week, completing her seven day challenge. The next hour we spent pick pocketing little runs on the way back to the car, with everyone landing and losing fish, which is the nature of the beast when fishing this sort of gnarly environment from the bank.

The next couple of days were spent exploring Cahills Crossing area, Corroboree Billabong, Yellow Waters, Litchfield National Park and Kakadu, getting a feel for the place, ready for our next four weeks of missions. The great thing about the NT is the diversity. You can fish hard from boats and banks, while still being able to explore and do the sightseeing thing, which I highly recommend. It's so easy to mix it up with swim at the countless gorges, duck out for a fish, visit the Aboriginal rock art and then walk a billabong on the way home for some barra and saratoga. Even though it had been the worst wet in twenty years, it was still such a magnificent area, with endless possibilities and options.

We have a small weather window now so we're off for a mission offshore out of Darwin and Dundee. Stay tuned.

How Goods Australia...
Robbie & Sue Wells

Gear List:

Okuma Helios Spinning Rods - HS-S-701M 7' 3-6kg
Okuma Cerros Spinning Rods - CER-S-701M 7' 3-6kg
Okuma Helios SX Spin Reels - HSX-30
Okuma Cerros Spinning Rods - CER-S-701ML 7' 2-4kg
Okuma Helios SX Spin Reels - HSX-20
Platypus Platinum Plus Braid - 10lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader - 20lb

Okuma Cerros Baitcast Rods - CER-C-661MH 6'6" 4-8kg
Okuma Cerros Baitcast Reels - CR-266V
Platypus Platinum Plus Braid - 20lb

ZMan 3" MinnowZ
TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jighead
TT Lures DemonZ jigheads

TT Lures Vortex Spinnerbaits