A day on the Tully River

[TonyM]

Whilst up in Cairns visiting a mate (Barry) in Cairns last week, I was lucky enough to be invited to visit Ross and Margaret Digman along with Barry at their property bordering on the Tully River.

Ross had been fishing the previous day and reported that things were a bit quiet with no Barra caught (although from memory I think they got a sooty or two)

Here's another recent catch Ross made in the river - Banana bags, it's a shame that the cleanup is left to concientious people like Ross, it would be nice if perhaps the growers could organise a cleanup of the river each season.




Here we are heading of to Ross' personal boat ramp, travelling in style behind the 4wd tractor (wouldn't mind one of those!)



The trip to the ramp in itself was a fun adventure, with a bit of everything, travelling through the cane fields, along the highway, and through a bit of rainforest to get to the ramp.



Here we're about to launch, you probably would get in a world of trouble here in a standard 4wd, but the tractor made easy work of it




Away we go heading upstream




We fished a couple of spots with no result, and then Ross took us further upstream. The Tully is a beautifull river and I loved the experience of being on it, crystal clear fast flowing water, and plenty of wildlife. Here's a Croc slide Ross pointed out on the way, Ross showed me some photos of a few of the Crocs he's seen in the River and in lagoons he's built on his property, there's some thumpers in there - Hard to believe some tourist operators still tell people salties don't go in the fresh!

[TonyM]

Well as luck would have it, the tourist brought the first fish to the boat! This little fella took a liking to a prawn imitation worked in front of a cane drain, it was amazing getting to watch him approach the lure in such clear water. For what seemed like a lifetime he was tailing behind the lure and finally had a go at it only a few metres from the boat - a quick hookset and a few moment later my first Tully Barra hits the boat!






Not the biggest Barra I've caught, although a very special one for me!




Here's me doing my best impersonation of Croc bait at a lovely little spot Ross pulled in to so we could have a few casts and get out of the sun for a while.




A Barra picked up by Ross at a drain a short distance from the ramp on the way home. Ross later showed me a photo of a large Croc at this very spot that was believe to be the reason a few of the neighbours dogs had mysteriously dissapeared recently.




Captain Cranky at the tiller ensuring a safe trip back to Ross and Margarets place for a fantastic dinner and great company.




The next morning I took a short stroll down to the River for a last look before we headed off to the next adventure organised by Barry. What a fantastic backyard! I think the bank directly oppposite is where Ross caught the fish shown above, and also where the large Croc was sighted.




Thank you to Ross and Margaret for being such great hosts and allowing me the opportunity to fish this beautifull River, and also to Barry for organising the trip to visit Ross and Margaret.

After saying our goodbyes we were back in the car and headed to Cardwell to visit Vic McCristal - more to come on that soon in a report on LureLovers.com!

[FNQCairns]

Classy report Tony, very much enjoyed it thanks!

It can be a very pretty place up here at around this time of the year, esp when one is lucky enough to view quieter less travelled areas, the canned tourist destinations are often lacking.

Although I do rather prefer to live in blissful ignorance of just what the crocs get up to.

Water up here means danger, kinda sucks.

cheers fnq

[NAGG]

Great stuff Tony ....... I've heard so much about the Tully but sadly reports are rare.
Love how you got to the river - very rural

Mate Mondy was great ....... but I'd be happy to give up a dam trip to experience some new wild fisheries - Love it!!!!

Chris

[Obi _ Wan]

Looks like a beautiful spot Tony.

Great report with very good pictures, thanks for sharing mate.

Cheers,

John.

[TonyM]

Thanks Guys,

FNQCairns - I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the water and wasn't stressed, but definately made an effort to remind myself where I was, and what could be in the water if I was being careless. I don't mind taking a risk, but not with those big mud gecko's!

Chris - I wish the ride to and from the ramp was always that much fun!

John, I have to say it was one of the most picturesque places i have fished. Simply beautifull countryside up there! I've never seen so many waterfalls in all my life as when we visited the Table Lands! (before this trip Mackay was the furthest North I had been)

[BR65]

Geez, thats nice water mate, half your luck, and great pics.

So thats Captn Cranky, always good to put a face to a
name!

[trymyluck]

Thanks Guys,

FNQCairns - I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the water and wasn't stressed, but definately made an effort to remind myself where I was, and what could be in the water if I was being careless. I don't mind taking a risk, but not with those big mud gecko's!

Chris - I wish the ride to and from the ramp was always that much fun!

John, I have to say it was one of the most picturesque places i have fished. Simply beautifull countryside up there! I've never seen so many waterfalls in all my life as when we visited the Table Lands! (before this trip Mackay was the furthest North I had been)

Tony
After 3 days fishing along side Darrin, you don't have to tell me you don't mind taking a risk, let alone being in the car with him. Sorry to bring back bad memories.............

[TonyM]

Thanks Brian, I just hope I get the chance to do it all again (next week would be nice!)

Tony
After 3 days fishing along side Darrin, you don't have to tell me you don't mind taking a risk, let alone being in the car with him. Sorry to bring back bad memories.............

haha Many more good memories than bad from that trip Mark. How's Darren going the crazy bugger?

Hope to catch up with you guys again soon!

[vinny78]

Awesome report Tony. The Tully is one of my favourite places to camp and fish. Thanks for sharing.

Andrew.

[TonyM]

Thanks Andrew, it sure is a nice River, wish we had something like that down here!

[Steve B]

awesome report Tony..didnt need many words really, the pictures tell of all the fun!!

Well done mate

Cheers Steve

[Big_Ren]

I loved the report Tony. The pictures really tell the story themselves....the tractor ride would have been a bit different. How far is it to where you actually launched?

Cheers
Paul

[TonyM]

Thanks Guys

I loved the report Tony. The pictures really tell the story themselves....the tractor ride would have been a bit different. How far is it to where you actually launched?

Cheers
Paul

Gday Paul,

It wasn't very far, probably less than 2 k at a guess, and most of that through the farm, although a very enjoyable way to get to the ramp

Ross is 3rd generation on the land there and has done some very cool stuff on the farm.

I believe it was his grandfather that originally left a large section of pristine rainforest untouched in the middle of the farm, either Ross or his Dad took it the next step and declared it a protected area (whatever the jargon for that is)

Ross then took things a step further and created several large lagoons to capture silt on both his and on neighbouring properties (covering half the cost for the neighbours as well)

The lagoons have big barra in them, and a resident Croc or two, along with loads of other wildlife - They have proved a huge success at capturing silt, and Ross received a Landcare award for his efforts. We need more people like Ross!

[treno82]

how awsome is that your own private boat ramp,sweeeeet