P4 - FISH & BOAT, April 2019 Front Cover Feature Taking One’s Own Advice By Bill Bowtell - KingTales of d Ban arra My run of “outs” had in- pikey bream of 42cms. IItt was giiven creased to three trips. Sure,a kiss, a pat on the side, and let go. there had been a few fish All the gates of the Fitzroy River caught: the usual mangrove brigade Barrage in Rockhampton were of pikey bream, gold spot cod, the opened when I drove over the Nev- occasional jack and a lone grunter ille Hewitt Bridge and looked up- - all good eating fish and, in their stream. This was due to the recent own right, very capable sportfish, es-flood rains to the north in behind pecially the jacks. Some were kept, Mackay, Sarina and Carmilla. The most released. I was specifically af-runoff from these rains flow ter barra. And they had eluded me west and feed the – both on lures and live-bait. I was catchment at the point of taking it personally,creeks and and started to express my concerns rivers of the Isaacs River sys- amongst some close fishing mates. tem – one of the eleven indi- Each assured me that it would all vidual catchments that form turn around. the Fitzroy River. The to- The turn-a-round came by way of tal confluence of these an SMS message from fellow writer eleven catchments oc- curs and good friend, Adam Royle. Adam when the northern flow- expressed positive feedback to last ing, Dawson River joins up with month’s article titled, “Moon, Tides the south-eastern flowing Mac- and Floods – the Fitzroy”, where I kenzie River just north-east of the This king of 1.10m was patrolling spoke about such things with par- township of Duaringa. Beyond this the mudflat leading up to the step. ticular reference to “getting a placeconfluence, it becomes the Fitzroy wired”. It didn’t seem to be working River. But it is still a further 480kmsFish use these features to search for me at this point in time. Adam’s of meandering waterway before the and ambush food. positive feedback was the catalyst toFitzroy River spills its water into get back on track. It also prompted aKeppel Bay through one mighty finer look at diary entries of the pastdelta system. ten years, with particular reference toThe river is a complex system of trips where similar weather, climaticwaterways. The effects of their flows conditions, tides and lunar phases, - even moreso! currently being experienced here on On this day, the waters spilling and mud and numerous rock-bars. high tide, and 0.2m (-) lower at low In addition, further effects are due the Capricorn Coast, prevailed. through the gates of the barrage With 156km of both hidden and tide than the associated waters northto the northward movement of wa- Two of the recent trips were made were murky and laden with silt. expansive waterways, it is a complex and south of the Delta, regardless ofter through a section of waterway on prime barra tides – the first and Most fish (barra) would have moved system, within a complex river. the lunar phase. known as “The Narrows”, which second makes after the neap tides. downstream. Some would have tak- The fish love it. I rang my fish- This is due in part to the nature ofconnect the waters of the Delta to The third trip, armed with sound en early refuge in the small creeks ing mate, Nathan Johnston. He was movement of water in to, and out of,the waters of Gladstone Harbour local knowledge of the “ how and immediately downstream of the city, keen for a trip. systems such as deltas. Continued next page when” of fishing the movement- Gavial and Nankin, but with little The main access to the Fitzroy tides of the mid- The inevitable happened. local run-off oc- Delta is via the all-tide concrete phase lunar cycle, The big chr e sided barra curring in these ramp at Port Alma – a lonely, and Bill with his biggest king thread- was a more spe- om streams, their stay often, forlorn-looking establishment cific three-hour, leapt into the air tossing would have been of a long singular wharf, a couple fin to date – a 1.17m beauty. live-baiting ses- the bait on the second jump, short-lived. It of administrative buildings, a small sion along a nor- across the creek and off the would be about fuel depot and white shining hillsof course sea-salt (its main export). mally productivesection of bankh ish of wellook. It was a ftwo to three weeksStuck out on an isthmus of saline overthe metre mark. before the barra with numerous would begin to mud flats, the area looks more like snags of fallen timber and collapsed filter back upstream in numbers. I a lunar landscape than an estuarine mud - a reliable barra holding sec- checked my diary notes again. riparian area. But “The Port”, as it is tion of creek that had always pro- The entries showed similar condi- affectionately known by the locals, is duced fish in the past. And whilst I tions occurred three times during thea wonderful producer of fish. did hook up to a nice fish of around past seven years. Fishing success on It is also a retreat, during times of the 80cm mark, the hooks pulled on these trips came by way of the Del- freshwater flows in the main river the second jump. My consolation af- ta – a broad, intricate, labyrinth ofsystem, for those species such as the ter three hours of persistence, whichmangrove-lined waterways with ex- barra and king threadfin. The tides included the bottom-of-the-tide tensive mudflats, high rate of waterof the Fitzroy Delta are on average turnaround, was a solid, but solitary,flows, broken banks of fallen timberapproximately 0.6m higher (+) at Working a big metre + king in close to the boat. Care is needed at this stage of the fight.