Annual Crazy Kayak Trip

[Black CC]

I just got back from our annual crazy kayak trip. This was the first time we've been at the end of the dry season and we are unlikely to go again at this time of year as it was over 40 degrees every day. The fishing was amazing and we managed to catch 177 Barramundi over the course of the week. The biggest was 109cm. We covered a shorter distance than in prior years because we knew we would be dragging the kayaks through some sections where there was no water but the upside was the fish were very hungry and hit our lures hard.

The helicopter ride up the Fitzroy River was even more amazing this year as the damage from the January floods was quite incredible, all the way up the river. The 2 major gorges, Sir John Gorge and Dimond Gorge had changed significantly from prior years as the flooding completely shredded all the vegetation. However, the fish didn't seem to care. We kept 1 or 2 fish per day for food. We also managed to catch a lot more Cherabin this year which we ate every morning for breakfast.

 

[Derny Driver]

That looks like ridiculously good fun.

Amazing !!

[Isaac Ct]

Well done mate, sounds like an amazing trip.

Well done.

[DerekD]

Loved this report. Thank you for sharing.

[AlbertW]

Looks amazing, well done on the fish

[bessell1955]

What a great trip and even better photos. 

[blaxland]

Wow that looks fantastic is a guided tour or do you self manage

 

[Fried Rice]

That looks absolutely awesome. Well done, trip of a lifetime. Were  there any pigs running around?

[Black CC]

4 hours ago, blaxland said:

Wow that looks fantastic is a guided tour or do you self manage

 

We self manage. For context, however, the group of 5 have done a very large number of trips together and these kayak trips to the Kimberley are an evolution of adventures that date back to the early 1980s. We are all in our late 50's / early 60's and have a lot of experience in the Northern half of Western Australia. 3 of the 5 went to school together in Perth. The conditions are challenging; I lost 5kg over the week and had trained quite a bit for the trip.

[Black CC]

3 hours ago, Fried Rice said:

That looks absolutely awesome. Well done, trip of a lifetime. Were  there any pigs running around?

We have seen pigs on other trips. The Cane Toads have really messed with the ecosystem up there. We only saw 2 crocs on the whole trip where 5 years ago we saw hundreds. We suspect that the crocs and the pigs have been seriously affected by their consumption of Cane Toads. It does seem like the Barra population has thrived and we suspect that is because of the drastic reduction in the croc population. 

[big Neil]

Great report and photos BlackCC. You certainly lived the life on that trip... great fishing and great tucker. Love posts like this, bn

[Yowie]

Looks like a great time to be had, barra, and crustaceans for breakfast. 👍

[Pickles]

AWESOME @Black CC, what a trip (crayfish for breakfast & Barra for tea) - life doesn’t get much better than that, but must have been blinking hot at end of dry.

A couple of Q’s,

* did you need to patch / repair the kayaks at all?

* were insects a problem?

* what was the “support” crew (drop off / pick up)

* what lures and rod / reel combinations did you use 

A great report, thanks for sharing.

 

[kantong]

What a trip! fantastic report and thanks for sharing!

[Black CC]

On 10/29/2023 at 7:28 AM, Pickles said:

AWESOME @Black CC, what a trip (crayfish for breakfast & Barra for tea) - life doesn’t get much better than that, but must have been blinking hot at end of dry.

A couple of Q’s,

* did you need to patch / repair the kayaks at all?

* were insects a problem?

* what was the “support” crew (drop off / pick up)

* what lures and rod / reel combinations did you use 

A great report, thanks for sharing.

 

Pickles,

Yes, it was seriously hot. Maximums between 38 and 42. Better to go in April.

The Alpacka Rafts need patches and repairs virtually every day. They are very tough but the fish spines are difficult to manage. One of the guys runs an upholstery business and one of his jobs on the trip is boat maintenance. The greatest damage was done when a croc didn't see us coming and we didn't see it and it bit a significant hole in one of the rafts after being startled. That happened on the 2021 trip. It took an hour to repair but our resident expert did an amazing job. It would be risky to go without someone who was very good at the repairs.

There was a fly plague on the last 2 days of the trip this year and we have nets for that. There are no other insects but there are a lot of spiders. You need to check your kayak before you get in and check your tent before you get in because some of the spiders are large and seriously hurt when they bite. I have never been bitten but 3 of the other 4 have been. None are poisonous.

There is no support crew other than the helicopter company. They drop us where we ask and pick us up when we've had enough. We call them on the Sat phone (we have 2 of those) and give them our GPS coordinates when we decide to stop. We agreed a pick up time and an approximate pick up location and we then call and confirm the day before extraction with our exact location. We also have an agreement that if we need emergency extraction we can call them and they will come and pick us up as soon as possible during daylight hours.

The Jackall Super Squirrel 115 (PG Shrimp or Shad) are the most popular lures amongst the guys. Most of the guys use a Stella with various versions of top shelf 3 piece travel rods. The rods need to be 3 piece because they need to be able to fold away when going though tight places with lots of vegetation. Between us we take 2 spare rods, 2 spare reels, 1 spare paddle and an extensive first aid kit. One of the guys is a vet and has applied dog stitches to us quite a few times. He has put dog stiches (with local) in me 3 times. Filleting when exhausted errors. One of my jobs is fish processing. It is quite amusing coming back to Sydney and asking my local Mosman GP to remove the dog stiches. He doesn't get that every day.

Thanks for your interest.

Cheers,

Tony

  

[lastworm]

Wow, trip of a lifetime! Not sure about being in a kayak with crocs around though 😰

[Black CC]

2 minutes ago, lastworm said:

Wow, trip of a lifetime! Not sure about being in a kayak with crocs around though 😰

They are freshwater crocs and usually disappear as soon as they see us. The higher risk issue is treading on one when walking the kayaks in shallow water. That would probably end in an emergency extraction. It is too far from the coast for Saltwater crocs. I would not be taking a blow up kayak anywhere near a Salty.