- Joined
- Aug 9, 2006
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- 718
It is late April of 2014 and the northern Australian monsoon season has all but finished. There are still a few squalls now and then but the end is near. May heralds the start of the dry season; the back roads open up and the humidity drops to very tolerable levels. We won’t see much rain again until around November.
All of that means getting out in the bush again, camping, touring, fishing and exploring.
It is a little early to get into remote spots and there is still a lot of water across the north. A foot full of sutures following some surgery for skin cancer meant that I am a bit limited in getting wet and dirty at the moment so I chose a leisurely day trip out to a popular fishing spot known as Shady Camp.
The road in was easy travelling – I didn’t need to engage 4wd. A few weeks back you would be sliding all over the place in the mud. In a few more weeks you will choke on dust when you travel this track.
The country is green and lush at the moment. Pretty soon that grass will burn and the bush will be brown and blackened.
Shady is legendary in north Australian fishing circles. It is in the lower reaches of the Mary River system on the northern coast. Quite some years back, salt water incursion into the tropical wetlands led to the construction of a barrage to keep the tides from pushing inland. The incursion was attributed to a range of things including rising sea levels, feral animal damage to natural sea water buffers and so on. Nobody knows for sure but the barrage seems to have done its job. It goes under at the height of the wet season but now has a steady flow of fresh water over the top. Later in the season this will cease and the salt water tide will push into the base of the barrage twice each day. Tides here can be big – as much as eight metres in places.
Fishermen (and women) travel here from around the country chasing Barramundi. The place is unique in that it offers an instant choice of fresh water lagoon fishing or tidal salt water fishing – the ‘Barra‘ thrive in both environments. The barrage offers a rare opportunity for those without a boat to fish these waters though not without some risk as the river has one of the highest concentrations of salt water crocs in Australia and they live on both sides of the barrage.
Looking downstream towards the salt water
All of that means getting out in the bush again, camping, touring, fishing and exploring.
It is a little early to get into remote spots and there is still a lot of water across the north. A foot full of sutures following some surgery for skin cancer meant that I am a bit limited in getting wet and dirty at the moment so I chose a leisurely day trip out to a popular fishing spot known as Shady Camp.
The road in was easy travelling – I didn’t need to engage 4wd. A few weeks back you would be sliding all over the place in the mud. In a few more weeks you will choke on dust when you travel this track.
The country is green and lush at the moment. Pretty soon that grass will burn and the bush will be brown and blackened.
Shady is legendary in north Australian fishing circles. It is in the lower reaches of the Mary River system on the northern coast. Quite some years back, salt water incursion into the tropical wetlands led to the construction of a barrage to keep the tides from pushing inland. The incursion was attributed to a range of things including rising sea levels, feral animal damage to natural sea water buffers and so on. Nobody knows for sure but the barrage seems to have done its job. It goes under at the height of the wet season but now has a steady flow of fresh water over the top. Later in the season this will cease and the salt water tide will push into the base of the barrage twice each day. Tides here can be big – as much as eight metres in places.
Fishermen (and women) travel here from around the country chasing Barramundi. The place is unique in that it offers an instant choice of fresh water lagoon fishing or tidal salt water fishing – the ‘Barra‘ thrive in both environments. The barrage offers a rare opportunity for those without a boat to fish these waters though not without some risk as the river has one of the highest concentrations of salt water crocs in Australia and they live on both sides of the barrage.
Looking downstream towards the salt water
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