Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Fishing-Adventures-Destinations » Do the Miles, Get the Smiles Pt. 1

Do the Miles, Get the Smiles Pt. 1

By Robbie Wells

There's a lot to think about when we want to plan an adventure, whether it be for a day, weekend or a week, especially when it comes to making it a successful trip. Of course, the longer the trip, the more planning and logistics are involved. Times that by a hundred if you are going for a few months and decide that trip will be to drive three quarters of the way up the East coast and then across to Arhnemland. This would be completed while also towing a 3.2 tonne boat as our caravan and Sue in our Sun2Sea UV Protection Clothing work van full of stock for work while away.

Space is probably your biggest issue and on top of your normal camping and fishing gear, you will require extra space for spares for the vehicles, trailer and boat. As the saying goes, it's better to have and not use it, than not have it and need to use it, especially if you are in the middle of nowhere. Just like when in a boat, expect the unexpected.

We've done a fair bit of traveling and believe that we are really organised... however my bane before every trip is the fishing gear. When you might have the opportunity to chase anything from JPs to GTs and marlin... along with everything in between! Not just the rods and reels for two people, there's also the tackle required. I really struggle to confine my gear to the basics. A bonus is that I can carry just about everything on my boat, under the floor, so I've always got too much, lol. Then I have the skinny water stuff in a big backpack, with my bum bag for the bank and tinnie missions.

Okay, so we've got all of our spares, fishing gear and camping gear organised and packed and ready to roll. Depending on your departure point, you would think it would be as easy as hop in and go. This is probably correct when travelling the east coast, however as soon as you get out past Charters Towers you really need to do some planning, both for where you want to camp for the night and also for fuel stops as they seldom work together.

Another consideration is that if like us you like free camping options, they can fill up quite fast and some spots you just can't get away from fellow travellers who are all wanting their piece of paradise. WikiCamps was a great app that we utilised on our trip. It shows all of the possible mainstream social camping options and some great out of the way options, allowing you to camp a lot by yourselves just by driving another couple of kilometres on. We mainly tried to camp by creeks etc., so that there are plenty of options for wildlife, a walk and a quick flick. We travelled in June so unfortunately there were a lot of vehicles on the road.

It's a solid 6-7 day trip, towing a big boat from SEQ to Jabaru and then on to Darwin. That's averaging 600 kilometres a day and then giving us time to have a look around, set up camp and so forth, without it being a mission. I must say that using the half cab of the 8.5m Sealegs boat as a caravan was awesome. Pull up, drive the work van in parallel, pull out the awning on it... table and chairs, Weber and we are done. A pantry in the van, with the 60L Engel and a couple of 70L eskies for drinks ice etc. It's probably the most comfortable camping I've ever done, sleeping in the boat on a proper mattress.

We made our way from the Sunshine Coast and our first stop was Clairveiw, some 860km away, where we wanted to stay for a few days as the weather was favourable and we had a couple of plans up our sleeve, before we made our straight run across the centre.

The first plan was a quick, early morning winter flats barra run in a tinnie that I borrowed and the second was to go for a toga fish west, which I was more excited about as the goal was to catch a southern Saratoga and then travel in the same week to Jabaru and catch a northern toga.

Our barra trip went to plan, boating some nice little winter chromies. Of course these were landed on the trusty Pearl coloured ZMan 4" SwimmerZ and the newer ZMan 4" DieZel MinnowZ in Sexy Penny colour, both running 1/8oz 5/0 TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jigheads. It was also my first run on the new Cerros baitcast combo, so it was nice to get a few hundred casts in before we got to the NT. Early days but super smooth and a breeze to cast.

The next day was the big trip west for some Saratoga and maybe a sooty. I never tire of wild toga fishing. The country is untouched and the fish are always willing to take our offerings. Although it was super cold and the fish were a little doughy, it was another success, with half a dozen fish landed, mainly on ZMan 3" MinnowZ and the newer ZMan 3" Slim SwimZ in Sexy Penny and Space Guppy colours, rigged on TT Headlockz 1/8oz 3/0 jigheads. Now the challenge was to get that northern toga within six days.

After getting home that afternoon it was really a pack up and ready for an early start, to get to the Burdekin River, about 770 km away, for an  early arvo set up of the camp and hopefully to go for a walk up the creek chasing a couple of sooty grunter. After an eventless day we arrived on schedule and before long I was having a refreshing beverage and changing a few plastics.

We camped at Macrossan Park free camping, so it's quite busy, however there was heaps of area to camp. Be mindful, if you are going for a fish walk as far as possible away from the main stream. The water looks great, however in my experience it's best to walk across to the bank on the opposite side, which might mean wading through the holes and a little bit of fast flow to get there, however the high cut banks, fallen trees and back eddies make it worth it, with a great little sooty session before dinner. They can't resist a well-placed, well-presented plastic.

I headed back to camp on dark, with the wafting aromas of a roast lamb dinner. Fortunately for me it was from our Webber BBQ and I was stoked to find dinner sorted Sue style. A few beers and a plan of attack for tomorrow, with a few options depending on our travel time and how were feeling. We would probably get to Attack Creek, about 580km away. Stay tuned for the next instalment of our northern adventure.

Cheers, Robbie & Sue Wells