Thurs 22 Aug 2013 – Still in search of Barramundi (I don’t believe they exist!)

Woke up to beautiful surrounds on the river.

After an hour’s fishing this morning – the snags are still further in front and no barra, I went in search of help and talked to Fred, our nearest neighbour who spends 6 months here every year for the past 9 years.  He said that this is the worst season for barra –and he has only caught 2 this year.  However he gave me a useful tip that Sooty Grunters (Black Bream) like cheese – so that has changed my fishing strategy – barra don’t exist just like the mythical unicorn - so I’ll chase something real!

After a refreshing swim I returned to the boat (the pontoon looked too exposed to crocs for my liking – especially as Fred just told me about their local salty who is 18tr or 6m long) with my block of cheese – sometimes even I need to make sacrifices.  It’s a long way down to the river from the top of the bank so it’s a bit scary especially when you’re there alone and you see croc skid marks in the mud next to the pontoon.  Fred also mentioned that large fresh water sharks frequent the river.

Lo and behold, after a few more snags, I started to reel in the sooties and archer fish as well – success at last although some small ones did need throwing back.

At dusk, I took my haul to the fish cleaning table to gut them.  Placing the biggest on the bench, I went to turn on the hose and to my horror turned around to see an eagle taking off with my fish in his talons!  I yelled and clapped my hands and fortunately he misjudged the wire fence, hit his talons and dropped my fish – phew!

Mel did a great job cooking the fish and we dined, not just on fish, but also on frozen mangos from Dick and Carol’s freezer – what a feast Yum!