Mike Neuman, Michael Lodge and I ended our 4th long day of travel last night at 6 PM at the Walkabout Hotel in Nhulunbuy, N.T. Outback Australia. The other three of my Yellow Dog Hosted trip folks, Steve Fitzsimons, Therese Rappazini and Jeff Smith were already here. They have actually been in Australia a few days. Steve and Therese were waiting for us to join them at the local pub for dinner and beers. Unfortunately Jeff if sick as a dog and he skipped dinner for an early sleep.
Nhulunbuy is a remote town on the Gov Peninsula with rich Yolngu Aboriginal culture. It’s at the edge of stunning wilderness that includes mainland bush, vast unexplored beaches, wildlife and the start of the Wessel Islands chain. Like many of the cities/towns in the north of Australia, what keeps them going is minimal tourism and mining for bauxite and a few other things.
At a reasonable time this morning we all met for breakfast and coffee. It’s hot. The birds are squabbling and its springtime here. At 10 AM the crew of the famous Wildcard mothership vessel fetched us and soon we were on our way for a ten to twelve hour boat ride with our skiffs in tow.
We’ll be living on the Wildcard for the next ten days. Living on a boat at sea is unique and not for everyone. The room Neuman and I are sharing is tiny but we’ll only sleep there and we’ll travel the Wessel Island chain stopping and fishing as we please for eight days.
Be sure to look on the map to see where we are exactly. The remoteness is mind boggling. After we settled in our rooms, we hit the dining room and got the full safety briefing and trip orientation. Then our captain, Tom Fowler, gave us a rundown on where he expects we’ll be fishing based on weather.
Once our briefing was over it was time to meet our guides and set up our gear. I’ll get more into the fishing in days to come but the main game fish here are flats fish. The are the Indo-Pacific permit, Anak permit, blue bastard and blackspot tuskfish to name a few. I always have a trip goal. You might expect me to want the Anak permit, but as the host I’m not going to torture the friends I fish with this week with a full on permit quest. I’ll save Mr. Anak for another time. I want to catch a blue bastard!
Once all set up with our gear, we hit the bow of the boat for beers, snacks and lunch. It was spectacular. The scenery doesn’t show in my photos. There were dolphins following the boat. Its just unreal. We ate dinner promptly at 7 and I’m now in bed chatting with Neuman in the bunk above me. The boat is still driving and we have another four or five hours to go. Tomorrow should be epic!
While I’m off fishing my webstore with my coffee mugs, beers steins, whiskey glasses, hoodies and sun shirts is open for business. You can also buy my fish decals from my friends at Pescador on the Fly. Get your Christmas Gifts for the Anglers that have everything!