PJ Garn Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 (edited) Hi Raiders I went out lonesome yesterday morning!!! After a late start... I hit the water just gone 7am and headed up the river from the boat ramp for a paddle and cast!!! Initially I trolled but with too much broken weed floating on the surface this quickly became impossible so tactics were changed to location casting. I missed a couple of small fish in the creek just past where the Nepean Belle pulls up and a couple more at "The Narrows"... I eventually ended up approximately 1.5Km past The Narrows in the Gorge and with a stiff wind picking up and no fish landed I decided to turn around for the hard paddle home (wind in face!!!) I guess something was amiss fish wise today but I believe this little outing was not about the fishing!!! At a location that will remain secret, I was privileged enough to witness and photograph a juvenile Platypus swimming along the margins... I followed this little fellow for approximately 10 minutes, at times with him just centimetres from my yak. He was not concerned by presence and did not attempt evade me, he merely continued on his journey downstream until I lost touch with him in some rushes!!! This is the second Platypus that I have witnessed on our lovely Nepean River and is (I believe) a good indication that our little river is truly in a better state than some may portray!!! Cheers as always PJ Garn Edited January 28, 2008 by PJ Garn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davemmm Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 The more I see of the Nepean the more i want to take up Bass fishen. When I do get up there I probably wont even take the rods. Ahhh the serenity. Nice shots of a native. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalucius Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Fantastic! I have never seen one in the Nepean not even in my earlier days. You must feel very privileged spotting a native platypus in our own backyard. I hope you keep Spot X a secret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ Garn Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 Fantastic! I have never seen one in the Nepean not even in my earlier days. You must feel very privileged spotting a native platypus in our own backyard. I hope you keep Spot X a secret. Yes I feel very privileged to have seen two on this stretch of the river!!! Aside of the Australian Platypus Conservancy to whom I reported the exact GPS location of the sighting it will remain my little secret!!! I have cropped the photographs so that the exact location is hard to distinguish... I truly find it hard to believe that such a shy creature would make it's home where there is quite an amount of boat traffic though!!! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi waynie Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I am so gutted i had to turn this trip down due to my wifes photographic business. Your a lucky ba$^&d and a great asset and custodian of our river system. I recon your a pillar of the community, in fact i recon your a sheet and a bed spread too. This is pobably the best post youv'e made to raise the profile of the Neapean, FULL of carp (so they say) and still has Platypus. Great work bro!!! Lata Raidas. Waynie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Terrific sighting, PJ! I spotted one in Jindy just before Xmas .... thought it was a trout rising & almost cast to it! A bit like the dolphins here - you just never get sick of seeing them! Even if they do scare off the fish! There are millions of people who will never see a platypus in the wild ...... we are amongst the lucky few! Cheerio Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karnage Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 very impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnno Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 WOW i never thought they would be there .Don,t know why but never did great photos PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagoon Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Wow, yes, that is magnificent - very lucky one in a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Mc Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Although I wasn't as good as you to be able to get a photo, I too saw a platypus in the Nepean about 3 months ago. Yesterday was hard fishing for me too. 3 fish caught in 4 hours but all on spinner baits. They didn't care for anything on the surface. This was down at Devlins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen801 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Hi PJ, I know how you feel on seeing Platypus in the wild. In the late 70's i used to go to a mates property in Bathurst and they were right on the Fish River. Being young fellas we spent a lot of time down there. Beautiful river and crystal clear. We saw platypus a few times and heaps of huge fish. The Platties always made us feel very lucky. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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