Fishing. It’s a funny old game you know. The single most popular hobby, sport, pastime in the world by a long shot.
Every day people head out to ponds, rivers, lakes and oceans for pleasure, sport or survival to hook, net or spear a fish.
Everyone remembers their first fish. Mine came on a family holiday in the east of England, a 2.2lb chubb. Not a big fish by a long shot but hugely memorable when you’re eight years old.
That feeling of snatch on the line, the accelerated heartbeat, the game of tug and war that goes on until finally the invisible force materialises as a splash on the waters surface.
I’ve never been good at it but I’ve always enjoyed it.
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Dotted throughout Queensland are lakes, lots of them. And where there’s water there’s usually fish. This week I escorted six fishing journalists on a trip through Central Queensland that any potential angler would enjoy – the Bass to Barra trail.
At 4am we roll out of our beds. Apparently fish prefer to do things early in the morning. Very early.
We arrive at Lake Monduran, the first of our freshwater locations, as the eastern horizon is turning tangerine. Our guides are waiting at the lake’s edge, tinnies beached on the bank, (that’s an aluminium-hulled boat to anyone not from Australia) engines purring quietly away.
This is ‘Barra-Country’ – home to the elusive Barramundi, one of Australia’s finest table eating fish. Although we won’t be taking these home, they’re one of the best fish to try and hook.
Lake Monduran Holiday Park sits on the banks of the dam. Rob Howell runs the place with cosy cabins and camping available, and there’s also charter boats should you feel the need to give-it-a-go yourself.
Two years ago the dam was only 7% full, this year it’s up to 107% which means the scenery is spectacular. Cruising about the still waters, winding our way through the dead tree stumps and skirting along the near-full dam is a very special feeling. I learn to cast pretty quickly, cleverly dropping my lure at the edge of lilly pads and by submerged stumps, right where the Barra hang out.
In four hours of fishing I fail to catch a Barra. A couple of slimy catfish yes, but the elusive fish remains…elusive.
We finish up and drive onto our next location, Lake Cania, 90 minutes away. The motivation continues enroute “you’ll catch something here for sure”. Let’s see.
Cania Gorge is home to some stunning scenery, the eucalypt sandstone hillsides are cut into by the rivers creating towering lookouts and deep gorges. The lake is rumoured to be over 300m deep in places.
A scorching afternoon on the water is amply rewarded with a bounty of fish for all of us. I totally lost count of how many tiny Spangled and Silver Perch I caught but it felt SO good to be successful for once. We retired to the comfort of BIG 4′sCania Gorge Caravan Park for the night exchanging stories of “the big one that got away”. I’m feeling more like a fisherman every day!
Our final day of freshwater fishing is another short drive through the green central Queensland countryside to Biloela and Lake Callide. The local fish stocking community have turned out to host us for the day. They’re all prepared and whisk us out onto the water to test our luck once more, three tinnies depart and four hours later three tinnies return….with nothing…not even a bite this time.
Fishing in the heat of the midday sun is definitely not the best time to be trying our luck. Luckily the committee have something else up their sleeve for lunch – Red Claw.
These interesting little critters closely resemble crayfish and are particularly easy to catch, if you have the right equipment of course. Kev Banks from Creek2Coast tackle, our host, laid his traps a few days ago and as we haul them up lunch begins to materialise. It’s back to the clubhouse and 30 minutes later lunch is served; yummy, fleshy red claw meat cooked in garlic, ginger and chilli.
We’ve all tried our luck against the freshwater fish of central Queensland with limited success. But you can’t expect the world from a whistle-stop tour. Fishing is all about patience. It has given me the chance to learn an entirely new vocabulary though. Here’s a few of the classics and what they mean;
- “I can see colour” = the moment a hooked fish appears for the first time
- “had a couple of follows” = caught nothing
- “lost it on the reef” = had a bite but lost it
Next blog coming very soon, this time we hit the bluewater - or the ocean for the rest of us!
Ben 
Big fish and blue water…
There’s a major difference between freshwater and bluewater fishing, and that’s the size of the fish you catch!
Following on from my last blog which covered the lakes of Central Queensland, the six fishing journalists and I spent the next two days out on the waters of the Coral Sea in search of some mighty big beasts…and we found them.
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Day One – The Keppel Group of Islands – onboard Keppeluna from Rosslyn Bay
Matt Smith (one of the group) works for Modern Fishing magazine. From his childhood days he’s had a list of ‘Dream Fish to Catch’. One of them is the Giant Trevally – one of the best pound-for-pound fighting fish in the world.
Another ridiculously early start of 4am meant we witnessed the best part of the day, sunrise, from onboard our boat as we headed out to the eastern side of Great Keppel Island.
Our guide for the day is the infinitely knowledgeable Graham Scott. During the Best Job in the World I spent two days with Graham fishing the waters of Shoalwater Bay and came up trumps almost every time. This guy lives and breathes fishing, secret spots, tactics and techniques are second nature to him so the fishing journos lapped up his every word. He likes to lay into me though. I do confess I wasn’t the most successful fisherman back in 2009 so I had a point to prove…just don’t loose one Ben!
Casting a huge ‘popper’ towards the rocks, fast-reeling it back whilst splashing it through the water here is the tactics. One cast and BANG immediately we’re ‘on’ with Giant Trevally (GT) Number One furiously spooling out line as Graham wrestles for control. Matt takes the rod and for the next five minutes battles with the monster from the deep. His heart is racing, his sweat is dripping and his shoulders are aching…these are truly the most fantastic sport fish!
Everything we’re doing here is keeping to my philosophy though. All the fish go right back where they came from. Catch and release
My turn comes around quickly enough, we’re into GT Number Four when the rod is passed to me. It’s now or never to prove myself as a fisherman! I wind and fight, haul and reel, really put my back into it until finally “I see colour” (check here for a definition) and my opponent gives in. One huge fish is landed, photographed and released back to where it came from.
Surely I qualify to be a real Aussie fishermen now? Graham puts me in my place “One fish does not make a fisherman Ben” - oh well I’ll keep trying.
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Day Two – Reef Fishing off Mackay – onboard Black Samurai from Mackay Marina
It’s another pitch black night as we wander down the gangway to the last of our water-borne adventures for the week. We’ve visited the lakes and dams, we’ve tried around the islands and now we’re off to try bluewater reef fishing. The home of the big stuff…hopefully.
Black Samurai is one hell of a boat, usually reserved for Marlin fishing and big game fish, today she’s taking us to troll around one of the closest reefs to Mackay. Darryl the skipper has eons of experience and the gear to prove it, I’ve never seen reels as big as these bad boys!
As we’re trolling five lines from the stern of the boat one reel suddenly sings out, stripping line at a rate of knots – this is game on. I grab the rod, have the gimble strapped to me, and lean back ready to fight. The cries go out from the experts around me “it’s fighting like a long-tail”, “nah I’m sure it’s a spotty”, “go easy Ben, don’t loose it”
The final few moments reveal all as a Barracuda pulls up along side the boat. This is a mean looking fish – huge eyes and bigger teeth! I grab a quick photo and back into the drink he goes.
I’ve learnt SO much in the last few days about all manner of things fishing-shaped. How the dams are stocked, how to report back on a bad day’s fishing, how to decipher fishing talk and how to establish myself in a very exclusive club – that of the Australian Fisherman.
Personally I’d much rather don some SCUBA gear and head underwater to blow bubbles and watch these fish up close for a real eye-to-eye encounter, but I can understand the thrill of fishing…especially for these Big Boys.
Later this year we’ll be rolling out some incredible technology that will allow you to do that from right there on your computer (all will be revealed next week)…or you could always come to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef for your own real-life marine adventure.
Ben