Josh Hutchins of Aussie Fly Fishers took Granny and I north of Weipa today an hour up the west side of Cape York. It was an extra early 6 AM departure that began on a fun dusty drive that involved dodging a couple kangaroos and ferrule pigs. The bird life was lively as we passed through the Eucalyptus forests. After the pleasurable ride we launched the boat at Cullen Point and then motored another 30 minutes northward.
The white beaches are untouched here and seem to go on forever. We paralleled the shore the whole ride. There were crocodiles enjoying the first glimmer of morning sun – noses up and tails in the water. The flats are mostly sand and expand out from every point. Josh took a few drone photos for me and you can see this place is vast and no less than stunning.
The conditions were perfect again and today the trolling motor ran like a top. Once more I put the Granny on the bow first. Whenever you fish seven days straight, for sure you’ll have some windy ones. I figure for now let her enjoy some great opportunities. And that she did. Granny made some excellent casts at some permit and a pair of golden trevally but they wouldn’t cooperate.
The light improved as the morning went on. Soon we had a light breeze which makes spotting fish even better. I was on the bow when along came two non-permit types. Here’s some advice, when you see a fish, CAST. Identify later. My crab sank a foot in front of the lead fish and he came to an abrupt stop. We watched the shape tip forward and eat my fly. I set and off he went.
This was by no means a big fish but any fish that tails and eats your fly is fair game. We knew it wasn’t a permit but still excited thinking perhaps it was a baby giant trevally. It turns out it was the tea-leaf trevally (Caranx papuensis). I thought at first it was a new one for my list but I’ve caught them before at St. Brandon’s Atoll under the name brassy trevally.
Granny was back on the bow and got another shot at some permit. Josh was fired up and directed her beautifully. Just as her fly settled on bottom in front of what appeared to be a huge school of permit, a golden trevally intercepted it. “Dang it! Goldy on!”, Josh shouted with remorse. “Grab the other crab rod Jeff!”.
I was already reaching for the spare as Granny went tight on the golden. I ripped line off my Bauer as fast as I could. When I looked up there was a nice fish close and I dropped a short cast. The fish spooked and circled the bow and headed away. I made a hail Mary and the fish put the brakes on and ate my crab. But this wasn’t a permit either. It’s the unique looking diamond trevally also known as the Indian threadfish (Alectis indica). The cartoonish-looking fish was 65 cm long and a new one for my list!
Fly fishing the flats can get crazy at times. You go hours without a fish then everything shows up at once. After our chaos the action settled and we couldn’t find the big school of permit again. We headed further up the beautiful coastline of Cape York.
We traveled for at least 20 minutes. The breeze from speeding along was welcomed because the temperature today hit 98°. As we drove I relished an ice cold Great Northern Original.
Along the way Josh spotted a huge mud created by a large ray. Such muds often attract other species looking for an easy meal getting kicked up. Sure enough, there were fish on its back. Three car-door size golden trevally and a cobia. I snatched the 12-weight Winston from the rod rack, already armed with a big streamer, and handed it to Granny. She made a perfect cast and to our delight, only the cobia saw it.
Neither Granny nor I have ever caught a cobia so as he closed the gap on Granny’s streamer we were stoked. Eventually the pretty fish opened up and ate. Granny delivered a perfect strip set and the fish took off like lightening. She heaved back on him and got him half way back then he ran again. Unfortunately on the next run the hook pulled loose. Bummer!
Disappointed, Granny set the rod down and glared across the flat. The huge goldens were still on the ray. Josh and I suggested she cast again but she handed the rod to me. You don’t need to do that twice. I made the cast and was hooked up in one strip.
I don’t think Granny expected that to happen and felt left out. Rather than observe, she wisely grabbed the permit rod and launched the crab at one of the other goldens. Goldens aren’t picky about meals and she went tight instantly and we were doubled up!
With my 12-weight Winston I had my golden in quick. Granny’s on the other hand took her to the rodeo. She had the 9-weight but not only that, the crab was attached to 20lb tippet. She had to be clever several times in order not to get broken off.
In the end, we subdued two oversized golden trevally. While they get bigger, they don’t get bigger by much. We posed for a rare big fish double together – pretty cool to do this with your wife!
It was a fun morning with all kinds of action for us but after lunch Josh put us on a full on permit hunt. Even when we ran into more goldens and tea-leaf’s, we didn’t cast. It was time to focus heavily on the Anak permit. Unfortunately, they were beyond scarce. We covered numerous excellent flats from noon till 3 and saw none.
It was a long boat ride back to the boat ramp so to break things up we ran a few minutes up the Jackson River. Josh brought us to the mangroves and sunken trees and we cast big pink streamers for barramundi (Lates calcarifer). Though not a big one, I managed to land my first. They are very very beautiful fish that remind me of Nile perch from Africa.
Its steak night and that bodes well after a 12 hour day. Aussie Fly Fishers cook is Yara and she does a fine job. The food has been no less than fantastic. Tomorrow its back to the flats!
Epic double!!! So fun to see that pic!!!
Super cool! The double golden picture of you and Granny is… golden.
Crushing new species – I love it! Hope that Anak is coming up!