Fishing Adventures in Kuri Bay, Australia

You realize you’re not in Kansas when:

1. You ask your information in regards to the 8-foot size of bamboo in a gunwale rod holder, and he says, “Oh, I take advantage of that to discourage aggressive crocs that get too shut.”

2. You’re working a topwater lure over the very tops of mangrove bushes moderately than across the roots.

3. Wallabies—small kangaroos—hop throughout your path in your solution to the dock.

I used to be removed from Kansas—9,560 miles because the crow flies. That’s the gap from Kansas Metropolis to an obscure place referred to as Kuri Bay in northwestern Australia. The spot sits within the coronary heart of essentially the most northwesterly reaches of the continent, a area referred to as the Kimberley. By no means heard of it? Don’t really feel unhealthy; for a fantastic many Australians, this huge space (164,000 sq. miles) stays a thriller, as few have ventured right here. Saltwater crocodiles most likely outnumber human inhabitants. 

What tempted me—joined by Adrian Grey of the Worldwide Recreation Fish Affiliation—into spending nicely over 24 hours within the air from Florida to Broome, Australia, to this rugged coast? Fishing, in fact.

And fish we did, for 4 full days, at Kuri Bay. We marveled at Indo-Pacific gamefish like nothing anglers catch again house and at a panorama like nothing we’d ever seen anyplace, like extraordinary rock formations and escarpments with gorges gouged deeply into towering pink sandstone cliffs.

Tangling With Trevally

We disembarked from the Grumman Mallard floatplane that introduced our group of 4 anglers from Broome, a couple of one-and-a-half-hour flight. We briefly organized gear in our rooms on the Paspaley Pearl Farm and, after a fast chunk of lunch, Kuri Bay Sport Fishing Excursions operator Peter (Tux) Tucker had us in two boats leaving the dock for some afternoon fishing.

All fishing right here is deliberate across the tides, our information Olly Farrant defined to Grey and me as we pulled away from the dock within the small “tinny,” as aluminum skiffs are referred to as right here. Accordingly, we stopped to float over shallow reefs off an island. 

Grey forged his go-to lure, a chartreuse ¼-ounce leadhead with a 3-inch paddle tail. Nearly instantly, he was straining towards an enormous trevally. Although it wouldn’t qualify as an enormous, the GT nonetheless proved a tricky buyer on his gentle spinning outfit with 15-pound braid. After that fish was unhooked and launched, Grey promptly attached once more, this time to a wonderful golden trevally, considerably smaller than the GT however nonetheless giant sufficient to check Grey’s gear. 

The readability of the waters right here shocked me. Whereas flying right here over a substantial size of the Kimberley coast, I observed the coastal waters had been usually fairly turbid—inexperienced or brown and muddy. That, Tucker defined, is why one gamefish that’s uncommon at Kuri, however pretty considerable in most of northern Oz, is the king threadfin. Threadies feed within the form of very shallow, muddy creeks which might be unusual right here.

However Kuri Bay doesn’t undergo from a scarcity of species anglers can catch. We went on to land extra types of trevally that afternoon, together with a shocking chrome-sided diamond trevally, shut cousin (similar genus) to the African pompano; a few small sorts of grouper (“cod” in native parlance); a queenfish; and the Indo-Pacific model of our grey snapper, generally known as a mangrove jack in Australia.

A Lure Angler’s Dream

The subsequent morning, we picked up the place we had left off the night earlier than, throwing leadheads and plastics, poppers, stickbaits and small metallic jigs. We drifted an space of rocks and boulders the place the clear water was swept by swift tidal currents. I used to be the child within the sweet retailer. 

This space appeared to be a preferred snack bar for a lot of predators, which we might typically watch smash our lures. We caught golden and brassy trevally to fifteen or 20 kilos, and one heavier GT, plus numerous cod (together with malabar and gold-spotted grouper). The aggressive little Spanish flag snapper—lit up in good yellow stripes—had been a dime a dozen. There have been additionally barcheek coral trout round, one among which proved too large for me to muscle out of the rocks, although I did get a very good take a look at it within the clear water.

A excessive level for me that afternoon got here after I hooked a bluebone on a Halco Madeyes gentle lure. Technically generally known as a blackspot tuskfish, these giant wrasse are identified to be powerful to land when hooked. Solely with luck, endurance and coaxing did I handle to get that one to the boat. The hassle additionally paid off as dinner that night.

Tides Greater Than Bushes

The afternoon discovered us in an entire totally different neighborhood. On the falling tide, Farrant had run us up right into a mangrove-filled bay. He defined that because the tide falls, barramundi are pressured out into the deeper heart of the bay. Nonetheless, the tide nonetheless had some solution to go till that stage. I discovered it fascinating to be casting over the tops of mangrove bushes, the place solely the tops had been seen. It was exhausting to wrap my head round the truth that these bushes could be almost totally uncovered in a couple of extra hours.

One of many anglers within the different lodge boat—skippered by information Sam Ward—was Aussie native Greg Loudoun, who did handle to catch a barra. Grey hooked a barra with some weight behind it, however it instantly blasted skyward and, far above the water, angrily tossed the lure again to us. Whereas we forged poppers and plastics with barramundi in thoughts, queenfish and blue salmon (a species of threadfin) attacked our lures too.

At one level, we ran 20 minutes or so to fish a slim, winding chasm minimize into towering cliffs, a backdrop so eye-popping that catching fish nearly appeared an afterthought. Actually, casting alongside spectacular rock formations alongside shorelines supplied dramatic landscapes typically throughout our go to.

On the way in which again to the lodge, we lastly noticed some fowl exercise in open water that warranted investigation. The group simply earlier than us had loved quick fishing for longtail tuna most days, and we had been hoping to run into faculties of the coastal tuna crashing bait. However they had been gone far too rapidly as we tried to run to the exercise.

Learn Subsequent: Barramundi Fishing in Australia’s Northern Territory

Gentle-Sort out Sport

None of our small group fly-fished, however that’s one thing Tucker hopes to see rather more of, since he feels it’s a very rewarding alternative to fish Kuri Bay’s clear waters, the place sight-casting is extra possible than in a lot of the Kimberley. 

In any other case, the secret right here is primarily light-tackle sport. After all, anglers can convey their favourite gear; nevertheless, the lodge presents appropriately gentle spinning outfits, and guides carry an assortment of lures. They’ll additionally cast-net mullet to hook up for less-experienced anglers, giving them the chance to fish dwell bait.

Grey and I selected to stay with lures. Total, small leadheads with Halco Madeyes and Z-Man gentle plastics had been the ticket for almost every little thing. Equally, any species proved more likely to seize the little 2- to 3-inch Halco Outcast jigs (particularly, the red-and-chrome mannequin, a queenfish killer). We additionally did nicely with Halco Roosta Poppers (135 to 160 mm), a should for large trevally. Tucker and his guides are particularly fond of sunshine bucktail jigs, one other synthetic that virtually every little thing appears to strike. Lastly, carry a couple of hard-plastic blade-type vibe lures.

With a restricted season and the resort internet hosting such small teams, solely a handful of fortunate anglers will ever get to fish Kuri Bay. Most would name it the fishing expertise of a lifetime.