Bynoe - Simms and Turtle morning - trip report

Up at 6, on water 6:30am, arrive at meeting point - 20 minutes late (hate being late!), the meeting spot was where a teacher friend's sailing boat was anchored at the mouth of Six Pack Arm, who was spending weekend at Bynoe.

At the sailing boat, a bit of coffee for those inclined and then the bait fisherman swap some live bait and dead bait between each other, before we head off on the 20 minute run to Simms reef at the front of Bynoe Harbour.

The wind gods are kind with hardly a breeze about, though strengthening towards midday.

Arriving at 7:15am at the reef, the high tide is covering the reef, the only sign of its presence is a plethora of tiny bubbles rising to surface, even though hours after it was submerged by the incoming tide. Additionally, due to impact of the tidal flow water pushed up from the depths against the side of the reef structure, concentrates the flow of water and creates a rippled edge to indicate the reef's position (easily seen in left side of the image here and in video footage).

first queenie of morning

Queenfish are herding bait against this line and slashing periodically into them giving me something to cast to. My baitfish colleagues are on the drop off edge drowning baits hoping for the big broad barred mackerel that are suppose to be about.(PostScript: the friend on the sailing boat got one big meter plus Mack, trolling a spoon behind the back of their boat on way back to Darwin in afternoon, and another friend who went offshore, Dundee wide, had large packs breaking the surface with their feeding activity and lots of birds above them, showing where to troll)

Back to subject of Simms Reef, hoping it to be a sign of a good day starting - on the fifth cast of the morning, I catch a small queenfish. Within the first half hour I have 6 queenfish to 40-50 or so centimetres to hand and released. Larger periodic bust ups are occurring on the edge of reef drop off 50-60m away but nothing consistent enough to encourage a move. The danglers (bait anglers) have nothing. The score ends up - 6 to zip, in favour of the feather tosser!

Nothing else for the next two hours, the splashes get less, the wind increases and the reef gets exposed but no more fish. As Simms Reef gets exposed by about a metre of rock and sand bar, it is usually when I get more action but it isn't the case today - time for some flats fishing in the lee of Turtle island.

In hind sight I should have gone straight to the creek and channel behind the island for a hour or so as the water is just leaving the last leaves of the mangroves but instead I fished the couple of small bays on SW side of the island itself. Because by the time I decided to do that, it was high and dry and I couldn't fish it like I had planned

Still in the bays of turtle island, I had one good reaction from a 70 or so centimetre barramundi to the BFCW fly. It was lying very still but yellow tail highly visible in about a meter of water, I saw it too late not 5 or so metres from boat, and the boat despite turning off electric motor quickly continued to drift towards it with momentum taking me to within 2 metres of the fish. A good cast for a change, and as the fly landed near its head, an immediate response from the barramundi as it flared its fins and moved to the fly 30cm away. The fish followed, followed the slowly stripped fly, paused,  followed - before it sees the boat so close to it and flashes away. And that was only the first 10m of the two bays - I was beginning to think my barramundi nemesis days might be lifted this session.

However, 7 spooked and 3 unseen till too late to see barramundi (see later for details) - a nemesis they still are but I did greatly enjoy myself on the journey this time rather than being frustrated by it. But what an hour it was stalking these fish in the bays!

Once so busy watching the fish inshore, I missed three large barramundi hovering in deeper water over a small cluster of boulders on the other side of the boat till my peripheral vision saw them rapidly leave for waters untraveled by black sided boats with a poor sighted, big ugly man on it.

I also saw a big threadfin accompanied by a couple of smaller ones, herding small baitfish with their long chin filaments, the baitfish were 3-4cm and leaping above the surface to escape the predator corralling efforts but as I moved closer the threadfin where spooked by wave slap on the hull (?) way before I got into casting distance.

On the flat opposite the entrance to the Six Pack boat ramp arm, I was moving the boat along the flat after barramundi in the corners of snake drains and along comes this easily metre plus dark shape harassing baitfish along the way. It was a very large queenfish, a single cursing the flats. Again a poor and rushed cast from me, lands the fly on its head and it scoots off rapidly to deeper water. From the episode I learnt to look more closely and careful, along with a few glances further along in case another comes my way. One did (same one?), I had 6 or so casts at it - for a follow or two but no commitment from the fish - I think I needed a different fly on than the BFCW fly. In such shallow water the big fish was half on its side - it would have been absolutely gorgeous mayhem to hook up to such a big fish in such shallow water! All a 100 meres from deep water! Hopefully, next time.

With wife and two young kids at camping ground awaiting my return, I was off the water around midday and packed up heading home by 2:30pm. (PostScript, one of the bait guys I was with stayed out a bit longer and told me the barramundi up one creek he visited went absolutely off  with barramundi 'boofing' loudly and everywhere for about an hour, shortly after the turn of low tide began - not that he got any!)

Overall great day, even though not great numbers or size of fish. The added bonus of the 6-0 scorecard to the SWOFFER, the great sunrise and no wind during the morning session, the awesome flats stalk and cast (poorly cast most times I might add) to sighted fish on the flats, watching one fish react so positively to the BFCW Fly. I'll have more of that any day.

Can't wait to get on the water again! !!!!!!