Here We Go Again - Chapter 64 - Darwin Day 4

Who’s idea was this? At least I am not doing the driving. 

Thankfully we had packed most of the gear into the Silver Leader Cruiser last night. Last night – that seems like an oxymoron, its still very dark and we have a long drive ahead.

Firstly we need to pick up our host/guide for the day. This is a short trip in the opposite direction ot the boat ramp. In fact its not far from the clinic where we were jabbed the day before. As I think about that I notice my shoulder is a little sore. I am not sure if that is the jab or the effects of the endless casting of the Barramundi tour a couple of days earlier.

.

Again the GPS does not know of our destination. We input a number close and then “wing it” in order to find our host. There is a light on in front of a house in the street but the number does not coincide with our information. Thankfully we do not knock on that door as a couple of doors down a garage door is opening. Blake emerges with a grin from ear to ear. His excitement mirrors ours even in the cold light of this very early morning.

We add his gear to ours and I beckon him to take the front seat. Two reasons for this:

It will be easier for the catch up conversations Silver Leader and he will have during our travel and;

I can get some more shut eye as we travel without knowledge

First stop, a service station to get ice for the eskies. We want the early caught fish to remain as fresh as possible, as well as keeping our drinks cold. Although the Northern Territory view on alcohol on the water is somewhat lax, compared to other states, we choose not to take any with us.

Dundee Beach, from where we will launch is over 100 kilometres away, so we settle in at speed in search of our destination. The boat we will use today is there. The hire company has several they hire to eager fishermen like us and it is a great alternative to boat ownership for those avid fishermen who may not have storage facilities for boats or the capability purchase a suitable beast of burden.

Arriving at the ramp we see the fog has settled in again. After a short wait, the boat turns up, and although Blake has hired boats from this company previously, we are taken through the obligatory operation and safety discussions.

The launch is a circus. The hire owner almost dumps us off the side of the ramp. Although the ramp is well lit, the boat is quite large making his vision behind limited. A small crowd of fisherman has gathered as another boat is about to launch and thankfully for us, enough noise is made to stop the driver before we are all turfed into the crocodile infested waters. The second attempt is much more successful and we are off into the night and fog.

Blake has pumped coordinates into the on board navigation system, not the actual ones but ones close to his secret spots. Cant have the next hirer of the boat, catching our fish can we?

Blake brings the boat up on the plane as the motor roars. We run at about ¾ revs and attain around 40 knots. Its a big boat and it cuts through the darkness with ease. The fog and the darkness make it difficult to visualise any horizon and as the boat fights against the chop, you feel like we are circling rather than heading in the direction the navigation system suggest.

Darkness becomes light but the fog remains. We have travelled something like 60 kilometres out from the boat ramp to this spot. The fog has not lifted but any wind that had been blowing has dropped completely. We set some trolling lines on hope of a spanish mackerel as we snake to the spot. Fresh bait is always good.

The boat is stopped. The trolling lines retrieved with no sight of our quarry. This is the spot. I rig for bottom bashing and send a line to the bottom, all of 8 metres. I quickly snag and have to re-rig. The others are playing with lures between the boat and the bottom as we drift the secret reef. EWe left at 3.00am and the first line was in the water at 8.00am. A five hour trip.

The way the fish are biting, or not biting as the case may be, it might be 5 hours for nothing. Blake is beginning to worry. He has talked up this spot all the way in the Cruiser and so far not even a bite.

Suddenly as the tide turns, the fog lifts and a fish attacks a lure. Silver Leader is into something – here we go again, he is going to have all the luck again today. Its a small but certainly legal Coral Trout. It quickly is dispatched to the esky.

A nibble then bang, I am on. Its a good fish too. When I boat it, its a much larger Coral Trout than that caught by Sliver Leader, which is well noted throughout the boat. It also ends up in the esky. Blake’s demeanour is lightening. It would have been a long way to swim back if we had caught nothing, wouldn’t it Blake.

Grassy Sweet Lipped Trevally begin to come into the boat. I am on a roll with many large fish. Now and again I hook a cod and a much different fight is had. There are also Blue Boned Parrot Fish here and they are well represented in the boat by the time we look to lunch.

Its then Silver Leader tries to kill us all. Firstly he catches a Stone Fish. A nasty little devil, full of spines tipped in venom which kills but not until the pain and agony has been riddled through the body. It is very carefully returned to where it came. 

Very next cast he tangled into a Box Jelly Fish. Just as deadly, and this time he simply severs the line rather than even lift it out of the water.

Two deadly encounters and we haven’t even woken up the grey suit brigade (sharks) as yet.

More drifts, and more fish. We reach our bag limit of Grassy Sweet Lip and start throwing them back as we boat even more. Time to try another spot, between us and the boat ramp. The esky is relatively full already and we do need to start thinking of getting back.

The motor roars into life and we are smashing back through a slight wind chop that has developed. We see mackerel breaking the water and dig ut the throwing gear in an attempt to snare one. Silver Leader hooks into one, but its no the mackerall we thought its a Mac Tuna which was probably chasing the mackerel we saw breaking all around us. It will do well for sushi with its darker flesh. Its bled and finds the esky.

That was the last fish caught for the day. For the next two and a half hours we fought the wind chop, averaging less than  20 knots on the return voyage. Thankfully I brought my Gortex Jacket to keep off the water and keep me warm. It was soaked right through and by the time we got to the ramp it weighed four or five times its original weight.

As soon as we come into telephone range the phones begin to sound. The girls are wondering where we are. They are under the impression we would be back, meaning back in the park by around 4.00pm Not sure where they got that idea, but they are adamant.

We hit the ramp at about 5.00pm. The hire company staff are there ready to take the boat and we have the task of cleaning our catch. Thankfully there is no need to clean the boat or flush the engine, that is all part of the price. We are assisted in unloading the boat by the cleaning tables.

In a user pays effort, I accompany the staff member to the fuel bowsers and he refills the boat. 150 litres of fuel go back in. I pay for the fuel, buy some alcoholic libations, I offer one to the staffer who is most appreciative and head back to the cleaning tables where my fellow crew members are hard at work.

The fish cannot be fully filletted here. Blake notes any fish caught have to be identifiable should we be pulled over in order that bag and size limits can be policed. The skin is part removed from the flesh and completely from the carcass. The bones are placed in the bi provided and I suspect then delivered to the waiting crocs and sharks away from the ramp.

We need to redistribute the ice so we can take the fish home, so I look to flush any blood that has accumulated in the ice bags then deposit the clean ice in the large esky from the Cruiser. No worries, the others are skillfully dealing with the fish. Filleting has never been one of my strong suits. This is borne out even more when I put the knife I am using to poke holes in the ice bags into my index finger.

It bleeds profusely.

Time for some first aid. Thankfully we are well prepared and the bleeding is stemmed and I go back to the task, dare say “at hand”. Soon enough the fish are packed and we are on our way. The excess bait is handed to a young ramp urchin heading towards the ramp to fish and avoid the 2.5 metre crocodile lurking in the water adjacent.

He is not on his own. There are lots of people either landing boats , fishing or simply watching the crocodile. There is a caravan park here at Dundee Beach. I wonder if Robyn would enjoy a few days here – potentially not, if fishing was the prime pass time.

Unlike the boat trip, slowed because of the wind chop, the road back to the van park via Blake’s place is open and travelling at speed.

Its 9.00pm by the time we arrive home. The fish can wait until moring for further work as they are quietly remaining refrigerated in the ice of the esky.

It has been a very long day. It has cost us around $250 each, far less than the charters and the results far better. An 18 hour day full of excitement. One for the memory books.