Poster boy Raymond with a very healthy sooty, caught on a black leach pattern
Ingham Sweetwater
April Club Trip
The club trip for April was initially planned for some blue water action out around Cape Cleveland. Of course the weather gods weren't looking favourably on us, and a quick change of plans at the meeting saw 8 of our Townsville-based members and 2 of our Ingham locals make a Bee line for some promising sweetwater near Abergowerie.
On arrival the water was probably a little murkier than anticipated, though it still looked deceptively inviting. Please remember that it is always best to assume there are crocodiles in these waters, particularly around the Herbert where there are known 4m plus individuals. Of course, wading is up to the individual, but a "risk assessment" should always be undertaken. A good example of this, was after a short walk down stream Raymond made a point of letting a newby to the area know of a crocodile that resided in a particular waterhole. We fished the hole for a short time, and after our efforts proved fruitless we continued moving downstream. It wasn't long before we looked up to see our illustrious president up to his naval in that very same waterhole. What we didn't see was the three others wading behind him, OR the croc slide that allowed for a quick realisation of the error of their ways and a suitably fast retreat from the water.
On arrival the water was probably a little murkier than anticipated, though it still looked deceptively inviting. Please remember that it is always best to assume there are crocodiles in these waters, particularly around the Herbert where there are known 4m plus individuals. Of course, wading is up to the individual, but a "risk assessment" should always be undertaken. A good example of this, was after a short walk down stream Raymond made a point of letting a newby to the area know of a crocodile that resided in a particular waterhole. We fished the hole for a short time, and after our efforts proved fruitless we continued moving downstream. It wasn't long before we looked up to see our illustrious president up to his naval in that very same waterhole. What we didn't see was the three others wading behind him, OR the croc slide that allowed for a quick realisation of the error of their ways and a suitably fast retreat from the water.
If you squint you can see the resident on the waters surface, taken by Raymond on a previous trip
In this pic the croc had only just vacated its shallow water resting point
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Prior to his entry to the water, Ward enjoyed practising with his 14ft double hander
Compare this shot with the one diagonally opposite. Someone obviously took a "calculated" risk. Note that Brad kept a safe distance away from the edge
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While the fishing was slow, there were certainly a few around. Raymond picked up a nice 35cm sooty for his top 10 on our downstream wander, in one of the few places we found room to fish. Most of our time we spent traipsing through 2 metre high grass and lantana looking for our holy grail.
It wasn't all doom and gloom though. When the sun got a bit higher in the sky, Brad managed a sweetwater trifecta, cast 1 managed a little tarpon, cast 2 a sooty, and cast 3 a healthy little rat barra! A few more fish were landed here including another barra by our newest member Tom.
A couple of the regulars though had found the going tough, and made the move to an old NQFF haunt to see if the fishing was any more productive. And it proved to be a good move too, with Bob, Richard S and Steve all accounting for a couple of tarpon, and a few sooties. While the water was high and flowing relatively fast this bodes well for potential trips later in the year, when our favourite stream side structure will become more accessible.
A couple of the regulars though had found the going tough, and made the move to an old NQFF haunt to see if the fishing was any more productive. And it proved to be a good move too, with Bob, Richard S and Steve all accounting for a couple of tarpon, and a few sooties. While the water was high and flowing relatively fast this bodes well for potential trips later in the year, when our favourite stream side structure will become more accessible.