Over the next 6 days we fall into a comfortable routine. Up and dressed at 6 AM, breakkie, fish to lunchtime ( or you are welcome to take food and stay out), fish your heart out until dark, appetizers, dinner, fish stories and bed. Life is dang good. Both conventional fisherman and fly fishermen have an equally great time on board. Upriver fishing is fascinating for many reasons. The scenery is amazing - as you move further inland you are either surrounded by thick, tall mangroves or you may be fishing the base of a high red dirt bank which has recently fallen down. Big, deep snags abound providing habitat for all sorts of bream, jacks and certainly the coveted barramundi.

 In the fresh water, you may even be lucky enough to capture a Saratoga ( related to Arawana). As rivers become creeks or small tributaries you may be pushing through vegetation, again, we do keep an out for snakes and crocs and for branches with green ants. These vicious little guys will bite and hang on even if you pull the body and accidentally leave just the head - it can be a little creepy.  Nevertheless, as you travel back down toward saltier water, the fish variety changes again. The river flows faster and heavier on it's way to the Gulf and this is where the big fish love to follow the tides into feeding grounds. Surprisingly large GTs ( Giant Trevalleys), Queenfish, Barracuda travel some distance up river. We see almost constant flocks of seabirds working over predatory fish schools in the river mouths.


 We were intensely working some snags around a quiet bend when the peace was shattered by a pair of 40 plus lb GTs chasing prey along the same shore. These two monsters were airborne not 10 feet from me then gone in a flash. It took at least 5 minutes for my heart to assume a normal beat. One can still catch the mighty and acrobatic Barramundi down river and interestingly, you will see them change from a copper brown in the fresh to silver in the salt. Another Barramundi fact is that they all start life as males but become females as they mature ( no personal comments here). Traveling into the actual river mouths you usually find deep bends and rock bars where fish gather up depending on the water flow. Casting to underwater structure or tidal change lines produces a Pandora's Box of fish species. often it pays to "over rig" yourself because you just don't know what you might catch next; Mangrove Jacks, Wolf Herring, Diamond and Golden Trevally, Estuary Cod, Tarpon, the list goes on....