Down By The River (Fly River)- 2017
Where do I start? Probably just jump in at the beginning I suppose. This is going to be a long post.
Like all of us, the PNG Black Bass was at the top of my bucket list, a dream fish. Id seen the vids of Rod Harrison tightening up his drag with pliers and getting smoked, heard the stories, read the articles about the worlds hardest hitting fresh water fish, I just had to do a trip. About 14 months ago I started the process with John from Sport Fishing PNG, a heap of emails and phone calls to and fro, and I booked for the October 2017 Fly River trip on the K2O mother ship. I put the call out, and Pete and Nath signed up with me, and then the long wait began.
We used this time to research, pouring over Youtube vids, emailing the lads in PNG, getting gear together, and by sheer luck hooked up with Tez via Facebook who was on the trip last year, and had re-booked to come on the same trip as us this year. Tez was a goldmine of info, and a great bloke to boot.
Finally fly out day rolled around, we met up with Tez at Brisbane International Airport, and 4 very excited fishos boarded the plane for the Qantas flight up to Port Moresby. John met us at the airport and ushered us into the mini bus for the 10 minute trip to their compound for the overnight stay, prior to flying in-country the next day.
We met the rest of the lads as they came in, 6 fishos, and 2 blokes combining hunting with a bit of fishing, all up 6 Aussies, an American, and Ralf who shared his time between Germany and Canada. There were 3 repeat customers, and 5 PNG newbie’s. Quite a few beers that night, as you do, before an early start and big breakie cooked up by the lads, and we started the next lot of flights. A PNG Air Dash 8 flew us from POM to Mt. Hagen to Tabubil, then onto Kiunga, where we off loaded for the small charter flight further in.
I’m guessing there’s not much to do at Kiunga, the locals spent all their time hanging off the chain wire fence watching the planes comes and go. A wrecked airplane from 18 months back that cost 12 lives was still piled up next to the runway, a sobering reminder of what can happen in these places.
Nathan, the Aussie pilot, gathered us up here, sorted our luggage, weighed everything to make sure we were under the 16kg limit per person, weighed each of us - bit of merriment here folks - and loaded us onto his small 8 seater for the final flight to the little village of Aiambak, where we were to tender over to the K2O to start our on-water time.
A picturesque flight of around an hour in the little plane opened our eyes as to just how massive this river system is. We skirted the edge of Lake Murray, flew over K2O and landed at the little riverside village of Aiambak. Huts on stilts, skinny mongrel dogs, friendly locals with big red smiles from chewing the nut, shit's getting real now.
The lads from K2O got us on board the tenders and over to the big boat, frosty bevvie waiting for us as we unloaded gear and settled in. Moli, the lead guide, ran us thru the briefing and introduced the crew and 3 other guides. We had Thomas skippering, Alex the head chef, Solomon his off sider, Fikai, Mea and Billy guiding with Moli lead guide and general problem solver.
The big boat was a cracker, 2 persons per room (or upgrade to a stateroom with personal ensuite if you wanted to), all air conditioned, indoor dining and kitchen, outdoor deck area, accessible beers, everything you needed. Alex and Solomon just smashed us with food, I think the first night was Lobster and pasta, welcome aboard. It was cereal and toast each day, every second day a cooked brekkie, wraps and snacks in the fishing boats for lunch. Dinner was just a mountain of food, one night we had baby Cassowary cooked in the pressure cooker for a side dish, another night Venison done in a mild curry, taken by the hunters. Plenty of fish, steaks, the list goes on and on and on.
2 longboats and 2 solid tinnies were the fishing boats, all with 60hp 4 stroke yammies, and Lowrance HDS 7 side scan sounders, that the guides used to max advantage. A big esky loaded with cold drinks and your bevvies for the day, bogas, weigh slings, everything you need. The big arse landing nets were nearing the end of their lives, the harsh environment, a lot of big fish, and Bass chewing on them meant cable tie repairs, and the boys back in POM said they were being replaced ASAP. We slipped the anchor in the fast flow, and started steaming that afternoon, and into the night up stream, heading for a tributary into the Fly near Manda Village. Most of the boys hit the sack early, Pete, Nath and I stayed up, having a few SP Lagers and soaking it up, and were rewarded with the sight of the local croc eyes shining back at us out of the grass bank as the boat dropped the pick around 9pm. Tomorrow we fish!
Day 1 Fishing Up at 5:00am, coffee on the back deck, breakfast, rods on the boat, and our first day fishing was on! Something I'd tossed around myself a lot was what lure to tie on first, in the end a 5m RMG Scorpion was the first victim, uhh, I mean lure to hit the water. I was fishing with Tez today, Mea was our guide. We had the morning session, then a visit to Manda Village around lunch time for a greeting and sing sing, then the arvo sesh, all in front of us.
It didn’t take long, Mea got the big tinny on the plane for maybe a minute, backed it off, I looked at Tez, and we were at the first spot, the benefit of staying on a mother ship. This spot was red hot, a massive color change between the clean dark water off the tributary piling hard up against the murk of the Fly River, all being funneled between a couple of grass islands, so as you do, we named it No Secret Point. One of the boats was casting the point, and it was a Barrathon for them, we trolled, and I had my first Black Bass encounter, a brutal strike and run on locked up 80lb that lasted all of 3 seconds, and straightened the middle ST66 treble on the Halco. WTF?? I said to Tez, who just laughed at me. We continued trolling, and the fish started coming, Barra and Bass, hard to remember everything, I know me and Tez had a Bass double hook up with 16 and 18 lbers, there were a couple of smaller Bass, more Barra, plenty of dropped fish, a great little session. It was here I learned the K2O rule, even if your mate has a good fish in the boat, stop talking and keep casting, the guides maximized every second of every day trying to get you a fish. “fish here 4.2 meters”, “cast cast”, “work work” were to become a familiar mantra as the week went on.
We headed off from No Secret, looking for bigger fish, and smacked a few, nothing outstanding, when it was time for the run back to visit the village. As we came down the river we noticed 2 other boats still fishing, one hooked up to another Barra, so Mea called a quick troll along a fast flowing bank that had a small drain flowing into it. My trusty Halco was absolutely nailed here, Mea gunned the boat out and sheer tug of war between me and fish ended in a 38lb Black Bass hitting the deck. To say we were pumped is an understatement, a 38 on Day 1, I was stoked, and would gladly have put the cue in the rack right there.
This fish was short and muscular, it looked like it had eaten one of the village lik liks, a mean angry fish that just eyeballed us thru the release. We left the fishing and visited the village for the welcome, another massive culture shock, and one I’m so glad I experienced. Cant remember much about the arvo session, no doubt there would have been Bass and Barra. Numbers for the day were 56 Barra and 19 Bass between the 4 boats, most of the Barra around 90cm, best Bass my 38lb. Not a bad start for a 3/4days fishing for some newbs I reckon. Day 2
This day was simply off tap! With a full day in the boats, we headed off, smacked a few at No Secret just to warm the arms up, and then all the boats spread out. Today I fished with the American, Scott, and Fikai was guiding. We worked our way up river, eventually finding a heap of crazy Barra sitting in a pressure point eddy upstream of a 2 meter rise in a fast run off, just going nuts on anything we threw at them. I dropped my biggest Barra of the trip boat-side here, one of those ones that only gets its head and shoulders out and you just know is a horse. Just when I thought it was a Barra only spot, I bang a little 14 lb Bass from amongst them. We moved off looking for Bass, and found a spot we named Coke Can Island. The Bass here were sitting in the big weed bommies off the edge of a small timbered island, and the rattle from a gold Gaddens Clasic pro just drove them mad. Scott was watching on not getting a touch, so I gave him the same lure and he was away into them as well, mad spot. We would troll hard up against the bank, get smashed, Fikai would gun the boat out, and we would try and keep them from getting back into the undercut where all the nasty stuff was, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. I remember Scott casting down the throat of a drain that ran back into the main river, 2 cranks on the handle and a big Bass smashed him and just smoked straight out the drain, Fikai tried to drive the Bass out and it busted him off, classic stuff. It was here Scott broke his second rod in 2 days, still landed the fish tho, even if it was only a 90 Barra. lol.
My best day numbers wise, 20 Barra and 8 Bass, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 20 and 21lb, awesome day. Got back to the K2O, and all the boys had smashed it, Nath and Pete had parked the boat up on Croc Island (small grass island we named because of the nest full of little crocs we could hear in the middle), and just smashed fish, 79 Barra and 10 Bass between them, as well as a massive bust off vertical vibing a snag on the way thru. Numbers for the day 114 Barra and 32 Black Bass, 3 boats fished full day, one boat hunted half day fished arvo only. Happy crew on board that night.
Day 3
Another early start, up at 5, on the water around 6, hot, damn hot, and humid. Today I fished with Nath, and Billy guided us. Billy is, to use Pete’s words, a mad lad, he was a cracker to have in the boat, and once he figured out we were there to gave a good time as well as fish hard, it was game on!
As usual, first spot was No Secret to stretch the arms a little, then we headed down stream exploring new water, some nice jungle banks and fast run thrus, with not a lot of joy. We ended up downstream of the Village, and started smacking Barra in some channel type country. The village wanted 5 Barra for their feast, and we were happy to help out. Highlight of today’s fishing – we pulled up over a nasty snag just off the bank to drop a couple of vibes, Naths on the spin gear and as he lifts up he gets a tap, then is fully loaded up in a straight up and down brawl that was over in 5 seconds, awesome to watch. The other highlight for the day - we were trolling along the main river bank, and cut the corner into a channel run thru. Just as Naths lure cut the corner, he is smacked, and a super charged Bass hits the after burners, ploughing him straight into the bank side vegetation. Billy hit the motor, but it was to late, and Naths braid popped. Nath knew it was a good fish and let rip with a couple of damns and buggers, when Billy sees the braid floating on the surface. He guns the boat in, we all go arse up, and we handline the fish out of the jungle at close quarters. A ripping 27lb Bass to Nath, and well deserved. Billy must have hands like leather gloves.
Fish count for me today 19 Barra and 3 Bass, for Nath 18 Barra 2 Bass, for the boat over all 85 Barra and 15 Bass with 4 boats fishing, Best Bass was Naths 27 I think. Took the plunge today and me and Nath went for a swim in the middle of the Fly River, it was a bloody quick one I can tell you. Day 4
Fished with Pete today, and Moli drove the boat. This was a mad day, Moli cranked up the tunes, and me and Pete drank beers and casted our arms off. I think Bliss n Esso is the sound track of this trip in my mind. We picked off a few barra and stuff, then hit a run thru about 10 meters wide that had current ripping thru it, and a big pressure point on the leading edge of the undercut grass bank. Moli sat the boat on the shallow side, and me and Pete banged in a heap of casts. Moli the super guide suggested rather than the twitch and pause I was using, maybe try a slow roll straight out with a deep diver, and bang baby, 26lb of mean ol nasty Bass smashed that Halco first cast. Great fish in fast water off the cast, stoked!
We moved off and fished elsewhere, did some casting and trolling around Dizzy Island, a little patch of sticks that was a perfect example of the old “one tree in the paddock” theory. Pete raised the bar with a 16lb PB catty here, ugliest mofo Ive ever seen, we got a few Barra, and I nailed a Niugini Tiger Fish, pretty rare apparently.
We wandered back to the run thru, and peppered some casts at the bank again, when Pete gets slammed on his Gaddens, a brawl of a fight to keep it out of the backside grass, and it hits the net. 35lb Black Bass on the cast, awesome fish, high fives allround, great moment for Pete. We named that spot 61 Point, 61lbs of Black Bass off the cast!
Fish count for me today 9 Barra and 1 Bass, my best on the cast at 26lb, for Pete 3 Barra and 2 Bass, his best on the cast at 35lb. We got back to the K2O pumped, to find Scott had knocked over a 103cm Barra, and Tez had banged a 40lb Black Bass, holy grail fish, and well deserved for a bloke who fished hard. Fish count for the boat was 82 Barra and 16 Bass from 4 boats. Great day, less numbers but some real quality. We pulled anchor that afternoon and started the down river steam towards Suki River, where we would fish our last 2 days in different water.
Day 5
We had steamed downstream overnight, and dropped the pick opposite a tiny village in the area we were to fish for the next 2 days. The villagers gave us a welcome as we came by in the fishing boats, amazing sights!
Adjacent the village was a log jammed creek entrance, I was fishing with Mud this morning, and Fikai was guiding, and the lads were super keen to get thru the log jam and up this creek where they had brained them a few months back. With some hard work we were in, and set off exploring. The place just looked super fishy, snags, jungle banks, black water, plenty of deer sighted as we went up, but unfortunately water levels were up and over the bank, meaning the fish were up in the bush where we couldn’t get at them. Mud managed a few rat barra, I think Nath got some Bass, but an extremely tough day for me with only 2 Tarpon, a dreaded double donut day where I couldn’t buy a bite. Still a great day tho, just an adventure doing it, I was beaten but not defeated. The hunters nailed a deer, and the boys skinned and dressed it out, we had some for dinner that night and it was good, but I preferred the Cassowary we had earlier in the week. Pete and Tez went upstream and found the magic spot, nailing 25 fish, including a double on Bass on the cast off the only tree in the paddock – a lone stump in the middle of no where, and that gave us a starter point for the next day. My fish tally today was 2 Tarpon, Mud who fished with me 3 Barra and 2 Bass, tally for the boat was 28 Barra and 12 Bass, harder fishing in a new spot with high water levels.
Day 6
The final day of fishing. Pete had asked Moli if Me, Nath and Pete could fish together in the longboat for the final day, with Billy guiding us, Moli said hell yeah, loaded up his camera gear and jumped on board as well. The big esky was overflowing with SP Lagers, Moli set the tone with some cracking tunes, and we kicked off where the boys had found fish yesterday. It was a great day, steady flow of middling Barra and Bass on the troll, and some better quality taken on the cast out of some drain mouths, one in particular on fire and producing a double on Bass for the boys, nearly a treble but I just couldn’t get the hooks to stick. Beers and tunes were flowing.
As it neared the middle of the day, stinking hot and a near glass out, the fish slowed, and Moli drove us over to a different bank for a troll run. Ol faithfull 5mt RMG Scorpion was on, as we went past a big snag, and I was smacked. For the first 3 seconds this fish just sat there, then it lit up and near dragged me over the side. A wicked fight, hard to describe the sheer power of these things, and then she ghosted up out of the green water. That first glance of a Big Bass is electric, the boys got her in the net and on board, never seen 5 blokes go mad like that, it was epic. She went 40lb, so stoked, beers all round.
I just sat up the front of the boat after that fish trying to take it all in for a bit, lines up for me. We went back over that same snag, Nath got his 100th fish for the trip, Pete banged another 2 cracking Bass of it in consecutive runs, and I closed it out with a nice Barra for good luck. That was it, we were done, we looked at each other and called it early, nothing else left to do or catch, prob the best day I’ve ever had on the water. Massive shout out to Moli, Billy, Pete and Nath, epic lads!
I’ve only touched on this trip from my perspective and pics, the other boys smashed them as well, and would have similar tales to tell. You may have noticed I used a few words a lot – epic, wicked, mad, its hard to describe a trip like this when it all just comes together. I’ve left out so much, Naths Noeby lures absolutely slaying everything, Pete and Nath surrounded by kids handing out wrist bands at the village, the side catches of Snakehead, Saratoga, Alligator Gar, Tarpon etc, visiting the markets at POM was extraordinary, big dead croc floating down the river, Billy getting a hook thru his thumb that Pete removed and Nath wheezing at the bow – Billy just shoved his thumb in the fuel tank, "she be right". Billy calling up Moli on the radio - "Moli, Moli, Moli, I have been bitten by a Bass", turned out to be a scratch, we slayed him for that. It goes on and on and on, but I can only type so much. I also used smacked, banged, torrid and brawl, because that’s exactly what it is. They are the hardest hitting fish I’ve ever encountered. The fight is viscous, its not sustained like a kingy or big long tail, but just short, hard and downright back breaking. Imagine standing on the roof of your house and tieing a 20kg bucket on the end of a short piece of braid line, someone kicks it over the side when your not expecting it, that’s the hit. The other thing I mentioned a lot was flow – no run no fun here boys. Even 300 odd KMS up stream, the tidal influence still backs the flow up, slowing down the run and shutting down the fish. Its all about flow and color, you need that clean water. Will I go back? In a heartbeat. I’ve fished the Fly, I’m thinking the Kikori next time, more snag bashing, or maybe an expedition trip, see what pops up. Keep an eye out for Bush n Beach, pretty sure Naths doing an article. If your thinking about these fish, just do it!
Brian Rake
PNG Black Bass 40lb Club Member
