HANDLING THE WIND LAST WEEK

Even my morning brigade were staying close in the cold

Weather reports indicated 15 to 30 kph winds and severe drop in temperatures.

If it was just me to go fishing I would have stayed home, as a guide there is no choice visitors cannot disappear so confronted with the conditions I set out every morning wind or no wind.

The real beauty of Bynoe besides it scenery and fishery is that it is one of the few areas that can and does provide shelter in pretty well all conditions,having fished a huge variety of estuary's across Northern Australia its my choice in inclement conditions.

One issue with strong winds is first get to where you want to go and second getting calm enough water without the wind coming strait through the trees, you can narrow this down by using Google earth and selecting high landscapes behind it .

                                             Pan fried Queenfish ,great on cold days

The cold was another matter its consistent that Barra and Threadfin will either shy away or just plain ignore you when the temperature drops, they will eventually get over it but initially its a problem especially early in the morning on shallow clear flats,water temp gets around 23c but in the shallows the ambient air at 16,17 degrees cools the edges even further making them often hard to find because they leave early for thermoclines in deeper areas.

                         A shark and I had a disagreement on who's fish it was, still measured 73cm

This week that occurred often and then the lack of fish suddenly turns into large groups up to 15 or twenty at a time, if you do come on groups never cast in the middle always take the lead fish first otherwise they will all bolt. 

The run up usually occurs later in the day on making moon phases and tides inherently a little warmer and its your best option .

I often say treat wind as your friend it might just force you in to being outside your comfort zone away from frequently visited areas and adding a few new spots to your list of places to go

Even today  I still find those  and there are still places for one reason (usually wind that I have never ventured, Bynoe is credited with over 4000 kms of foreshore.

late turns of the high tide during the week produced Queenfish and Trevally in large numbers there were bigger Queenfish on the flats but even they were hard to pin down.
In a nutshell it was hard but nonetheless caught reasonable numbers.