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 What
does a fly fishing guide do at the end of a busy season in Tasmania?
‘Come to Cairns and Townsville and have a working holiday’.
Not such a bad idea I thought when Keith Graham from Bransford’s
Tackle Shop suggested Lisa and I run a fly casting course in
the warmer climate of Cairns.
Keith and an example of the monster Tinaroo barra dubbed the
‘Queens of Underwater Sheep’.
The
Cairns course was extremely popular and very well received.
The lakes at the magnificent Paradise Palms Golf Course provided
the perfect venue (if you fancy a hit of the little white ball
make sure you have a round or two there when next in Cairns.
It really is a special course).
For me the classes provided a satisfying difference from the
Tasmanian guiding that had been so full on for the previous
6 months. As a guide I don’t fish but I sure do see a lot
of clients having plenty of fun and catching a lot of fish.
Six months of abstinence almost drives me crazy. So, what does
a fishing guide do for the 10 days before he needs to be in
Townsville for the next course?
You
guessed it – go fishing.
As a guide I understand the importance of being flexible with
all fishing experiences. Too often I see fixed game plans, particularly
with visiting anglers without much needed local knowledge, come
undone. Weather conditions, water temperatures floods, hot bites
etc, sometimes dictate that you should be fishing a long way
from where you originally intended.
Our Britz
 With
this in mind, I arranged to pick up a Britz Campervan from their
depot conveniently located a short cast away from the Cairns
airport terminal.
Motel room on the waters edge.
We
opted for an ‘Explorer’ that provided plenty of room
for the pile of fly casting, and fly fishing, gear. An on board
toilet, shower, great cooking arrangements which included a
microwave, and a fridge to keep the Cascade Premium cold ensured
that we were entirely independent and could fish wherever the
best fishing was. Believe it or not the Explorer van also had
a fold down fly tying table attached to the side of the vehicle.
Lake Tinaroo
For years I had been reading about catching BIG and I mean BIG
Barramundi at Lake Tinaroo. These stories have been fuelled
along the way by first hand reports, sometimes evidenced by
emailed photos, of huge fish caught on lures by our clients.
I’ve been fortunate enough to fly fish for all sorts of
fish in many countries and, to this day one of my fondest memories
is catching the beautiful, free spirited, leaping, silver bars
of chrome, in Kakadu National Park. Perhaps 20 pounds pulled
these Barra up but it was a fishing experience made so special
by this majestic ‘Princess of Fishes’. (It is a weird
thing but as Barra grow older they turn into girls). This will
sound silly but if I had to chose a girlfriend from our underwater
world there is no doubt that I would chose this spectacular
girl. (you really do go nuts from guiding for 6 months straight).
I had a fair idea of what I wanted to do but there’s nothing
like a little advice from local fisho’s to confirm my thoughts.
It’s rare that I get holidays and I didn’t want to
mess this up. You know the expression ‘Time spent in reconnaissance
is never wasted’. Keith Graham from Bransfords Tackle Store
just outside Cairns has his finger on the pulse, as you would
expect from a tackle store guy. I asked Keith if he thought
I might possibly catch on fly, a 60 plus pound Barra, (this
is a Queen, not a Princess) from Tinaroo and who was the best
guide to book.
‘Yes’, Keith said with a great grin, ‘60 pounders
are babies there’. He also confirmed what I had heard a
number of times that Jack Leighton was the ‘guide of guides’
when it came to BIG barra at Tinaroo. As it transpired, Jack,
like all good guides, was booked out at the time of my visit.
Paul
Buffey from NSW with a solid Tinaroo barra.
It’s
funny, I hound my clients about booking in early so they don’t
miss out. In this case I failed to follow my own advice.
I think Keith could sense my disappointment and he kindly offered
to take me out with him the following weekend. ‘I’m
a very poor substitute for Jack’ he said but I was eternally
grateful. I knew the local knowledge would afford a huge advantage.
Tinaroo is a welcoming place. As soon as you get to the little
village you are welcomed by a sign featuring a giant Barramundi.
You know you are in the right place and there is no need to
go any further. A freshwater fishing licence purchased from
the campground shop ensured I was ‘legal’ and to my
pleasant surprise I was offered a simple questionnaire asking
questions like where I fished regularly and if I wanted my licence
fees to go toward a variety of stocking programs.
Camping in the comfort of the van on the edge of the lake was
sensational. Nights were cool but just like the tourism slogan
states, the beautiful days were followed by perfect ones. Shorts,
thongs and tee shirts were the norm.
I was really starting to feel for my friends held in the grip
of the Tasmanian winter, made worse by a closed fishing season.
Keith arrived with the killer flies I had asked his son Matthew
to tie for me. Matthew is a really keen young fly fisho and
he ties many of the shops patterns. His ties like Kandy with
a K are modifications of more famous patterns whilst his ‘Bransford’s
Goldie Horn’ and ‘Down and Dirty’ are original
creations made for the local fish and local conditions. Why
would you mess around tying your own, perhaps not so relevant
patterns, when you can give an entrepreneurial 14 YO a job?
 Tinaroo
is a beautiful lake and I often felt that it was a northern
twin of my much loved Arthurs lake in Tasmania. Built in 1957
for irrigation purposes the water is very clear with wonderful
weed growth, obvious a very fertile environment. Tall, long
since drowned trees, crowded many inlets and corners. In the
west facing bays the low afternoon light white washes the trees.
You will know exactly what I mean if you have ever been lucky
enough to fish Arthurs lake in the evening.
Matt
at the fly tying bench.
Polaroiding
underwater Sheep
Keith believed our best chances lay in thoroughly working the
weedy holes, submerged gullies and drowned timber at the top
end of the lake. Keith, armed with a bait casting outfit and
me with a nine weight, slow sinking, shooting head. Hours and
hours of effort went un-rewarded except for several small trashy
fish called, from memory, ‘Politician fish’ or ‘Mouth
O Mighty’. These took the fly readily but on this occasion
avoided the lure.
A thought came to mind and I asked Keith if it was ever possible
to polaroid these big Barra. After all, the water was clear
and it was always sunny in Queensland. Before Keith could answer
I spotted the biggest freshwater fish I have ever polaroided
about 70 feet off the back of the boat. It cruised around the
weedy corridors of the bay looking for anything smaller than
itself to eat. It honestly looked like a sheep holding its breath
and walking around on the bottom. When you are used to spotting
1.5 kilo trout this was a soda.
In retrospect I somewhat hastily pelted the fly into its path.
It is a great feeling as you watch the forward cast loop unroll
perfectly toward the target. The fly on a flight path as planned
destined to land about two meters in front of the wall unit.
This was happening just as it had appeared in my dreams. I immediately
braced myself for a charging, smashing take as soon as the fly
landed.
My dream turned quickly into a nightmare as the giant fish spooked
on the landing of the fly. In my haste to present the fly I
had messed up the opportunity of a lifetime. ‘Fish are
fish’ a mate of mine says, and sure enough, if that was
a trout in Tasmania in crystal clear water, on a bright windless
day, there is no way I would have cast into its path. I know
I would spook it. Instead I should have watched carefully, then
planned an ambush. I would have placed the fly in the right
weedy hole and let the fish come across it. At the right time
I would have pulled it away from him only to let him catch up
and eat it. I can see it now – it could have been perfect
had I not been so anxious.
 We
glided around for hours more on the electric motor looking for
another ‘Queen’ but to no avail. We came back to the
same spot time and time again, hoping to get another chance
at the same fish, but, as the day turned into evening, we lost
the light and it seemed inevitable that I would not catch the
monster.
Big
Barra need big nets!
Keith
suggested we spend the last half hour of the day trolling in
a nearby bay. My casting arm had nearly dropped off from flogging
the nine weight all day and I was happy for the break. We both
had the feeling that things were right. It was a good looking
bay. The light, or rather the lack of it, was right, and you
could almost smell the underwater sheep. This is what I call
the ‘happy hour’ in Tasmania. Furthermore, Jack Leighton
and his clients were trolling the same bay.
Not more than two hundred meters into the first run Keith hooked
up. I was watching his rod when it happened. A solid whack that
didn’t stick was followed 5 seconds later by a pull a boy
scout would have been proud of. The huge fish jumped twice in
quick succession and it’s remarkable how chrome silver
the fish appeared in the failing evening light. The darkness
of the water only serving to highlight the brilliance of the
mighty fish. They say that the Tinaroo Barra don’t jump
because they are so big and fat they can’t lift themselves
from the water – this one certainly looked big to me and
its jump was high. Keith said it looked an ‘average’
fish.
Ten minutes of dogged fighting later I netted the 56 pound ‘Queen
of underwater sheep’. I quickly took a photo before we
put the monster back in the water. A few minutes later the beautiful
girl swam off. During the playing of the fish one of Jack Leighton’s
clients hooked another thumper. More evidence to me that ‘fish
are fish’ and in Tasmania the best time to catch a trout
is ‘one minute after catching a trout’. We motored
quietly over and I took a photo while a very pleased Paul Buffey
from Sydney held his prize aloft. Paul’s smile easily convincing
me that Jack is indeed a very good and capable guide.
 Later
Keith and I had drinks with Jack and his clients. On the wall
of Jacks lounge room was a mounted specimen of 83 pounds caught
amazingly enough by a 76 year old on his honeymoon. There was
‘hope for me yet’ Jack said in his dry north Queensland
manner. This fish was 124 cm long with a girth of 105 cm. Jack
firmly believes that 100 pounders are swimming around in the
lake and it wont be long before one is caught.
Big
mouthed politician fish.
Jack
proved to be a lovely fellow with a wickedly appealing, and
dry, sense of humor. He is to me, one of those wise old guys
you would love to have as a grandfather. As a retired farmer
living on the edge of the lake that he loves so dearly it didn’t
surprise me to find him passionate about nature and the environment.
There’s not a bird within 200 miles that Jack can not identify
for you.
A lifelong land manager in his farming business Jack had firm
well founded views on fisheries management issues. These views
obviously based on the intimate knowledge gained from much first
hand experience in literally, his own back yard. Jack is a guy
that cares about, and appreciates, all things great and small.
It is this sort of metal that sets him head and shoulders above
your average guide.
If you know me you will know it’s not very often that I
get really wound up about fishing. Years of guiding have numbed
me to it. I sometimes feel I have perhaps ‘been there and
done that’. However, I’m madly trying to find a 10
day block of space in my diary to go back to that wonderful
‘Arthurs Lake of Queensland’ and chase the ‘Queens
of underwater Sheep’ with Jack Leighton. I may or may not
catch a 100 pounder on fly but I will definitely learn a lot
about this unique environment, and, life in general, from someone
that really has ‘been there and done that’.
Peter Hayes
Fact
Box: Tackling Tinaroo
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Britz
Explorer Campervan
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Length: 5.60m & Width: 2.07m.
- Cooking
Equipment – Gas Stove, Microwave, Fridge, Sink,
etc.
- Shower,
Toilet, A/C, Heating, Pressurised Hot & Cold Water.
- Manual
Transmission, 2.9 litre Turbo Diesel.
- Bedding
for four.
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Lake
Tinaroo Holiday Park
Dam Road, Tinaroo
Ph: 07 4095 8232
Fx: 07 4095 8808
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Bransfords
Tackle Shop
Cnr Cook Highway & Endeavour Road, Clifton Beach,
4879
Ph: 07 4055 3918 Fx: 07 4059 1199
Email: bransfords@bigpond.com
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Jack
Leighton
Tinaroo Birds and Barra
Ph: 07 4095 8245 Fx: 07 4095 8025
Email:birdsnbarra@tinaroowaters.com.au
www.sunfish.org.au/birdsbarra/
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Definite
reading -
'Bransfords Guide to Fishing Cairns
to Cape York'.
Available from most fishing outlets. $12.99
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