archer river notes 2024
Back to a happy place.
Back to tranquility. Archer river is something, something special? Naaaaaaah just something else.
We departed Weipa with guests on board and a cheeky blue water day landing a nice Spanish jumping about running from the heavy shark life that nears the coast. A few Mac tunas , chopped into some nice strip baits on some reefy structure looking for a lucky red or maybe a trout to pull up – however the pesky creatures played their toll and a fun arvo was had.
Steaming into archer river on high tide sunrise was a moment. Tingles, questions, expectations? And more so the feeling of fuck yes I’m so excited to see this place on flood!
Water levels were high and clarity was limited with many logs , trees and debris floating , dodging up and down the river kept my eyes peeled.
Straight to the top of archer – had to see the river in this state, running heavy and with so much water moving. It was difficult at first but used my knowledge of the river and seeing systems in flood before to find the fish. And that we bloody did!
Increased rainfall on the east over the summer months made for a promising but tricky start to the barramundi ‘runoff’ season. Two major storm events rocked the east meaning for the west a prolonged runoff and plenty of extra water draining off the land.
Places of low current , where eddies were spiralling , whirlpools circling, was what my keen eye was scanning for. Cast, twitch, pause, twitch pause , BOOF. keeping the fish engaged and into the boat within 10 seconds. And here I thought , why don’t we come here earlier?!
The watson river : Hidden in the shadows of the archer , a keen angler can sniff out an Absolute gem of Queensland. Riddled with debris, the fishing was looking like challenging day, couple of deep rocks and a few shallower bars held some quality fish even with the filth water. Searching for clean water flow, after such a big wet was challenging, with a few creeks close to the mouth of the system spitting crystal water. The clean water found was in the sections of rivers that held lillypads. Not a biologist by any means but they must filter the water and as the season carries on , these systems have the cleanest water of the lot.
4 Saratoga , 15 mangrove jack, and multiple little barras kept guests and myself more than entertained. Tried putting big, heavier hooks onto a hardbody turning it into a sinking lure and dropping into some deep snags pulling out multiple smaller barrys and some very agressive mangrove jacks !