After the boar we spend the rest of the day looking for more animals, but we were not able to get close to anything else. At the end of the day we got back to camp and did some more target shooting. Eventually, Doug and Mick returned and we got showers, ate dinner, chatted about the hunting, and went to bed. The following morning we headed off again while Doug and Mick went off on the 4-wheeler. Our morning was spent walking a lot but not getting close to any animals. Everyone met back at the camp for lunch, then we went fishing.
The fishing hole was something very special. It is fed by a waterfall and then goes into a deep gorge that is over a hundred feet deep. That was one beautiful place! We caught a variety of fish, but the main one was the barramundi. Mick and Andy had hauled in a small boat with a trolling motor that worked very well on the small body of water. The little lake had many fish and a fair number of saltwater crocodiles. We saw one that was about 9 feet long and had one about that long swim directly towards the side of the boat, only to submerge about 4 feet away and swim under us. The best fishing was at the waterfall where bait fish were obviously coming down the falls and were being eaten by the barramundi below. Here are some of the fishing pictures taken that second day and on two other days during the hunt. That wasn't my biggest fish of the trip, but I think the first one Andy has in his hands in the first picture was his biggest.
On a humorous note, the last time we went fishing I was getting ready to cast using a bait casting rod and reel -- the best fishing rig that Mick owned. I don't know what I caught it on, but when I started to pull the rod up to cast it the lure snagged on something and wrenched the rod out of my hand. After fishing all my life and never having it happen to me before, I watched as the rod, reel, line and lure arched in slow motion, end over end, and splashed into the water a couple of feet from the boat!!! I plunged my arm into the water as the rig sunk just deeper than I could reach. Then I grabbed Andy's rod and tried to stick it down as deep as possible and snare my sinking rod with his lure. But I was completely unsuccessful as my rod, reel, line and lure disappeared into the depths below. I say "my rod, reel, line and lure" because I realized immediately that I had just bought them! We tried jigging for the rod in the deep water, but it was a hopeless effort. Such is life. At least I caught a lot of fish before I through away the fishing rig. I had thought only my arrows would be disposable! I did settle up with Mick at the end of the trip to pay for the replacement of his sunken tackle.
Allan
Topic: Somewhere over the rainbow -- back from the land of Oz (Chapter One) (Read 16752 times)
