Aramia River - August 9 - 16, 2017

Steven, Clayton, Standish, Michael, John, Alyn, Jeffery & Dr. Evil (John) joined us for the second leg of the Aramia Tour. With things being a bit slow on the previous trip we could only hope for the best on this one but sadly it was more of the same. Fishing was tough the entire trip and both the guides and guests had to work hard to get results.

Things would start off with a bang early in the morning as each guide raced to the spot he thought was best. The Bass were most active in the early hours, generally hanging around the mouths of the black water creeks or the snags in close proximity. It was often the first cast or troll of the day that produced the day’s Bass.

We did have a couple of crackers that seemed to come out of nowhere during the day but we battled to pin down a pattern in the fishing when it came to bass so we had no option but to grind it out hitting the likely spots and being as prepared as possible for when the bass hit came as we had to make every fish count.

We figured out the Barramundi early in the game as they were hanging out in the back eddies. If you could find a stretch of bank or a bend with a bit of counter current the chances were good that it held a few silver slabs, but again it was patience that would win you a fish. Well, patience and a Rasta flavoured 8m+ Halco Scorpion, the colour which accounted for the majority of the Barra. As expected the Barra ran big. Alyn who had never caught a wild Barra before started out on the first day with a fish of 98cm!

There was just the slightest bit of muttering among his mates about beginner’s luck at the dinner table that night so when he followed his opening act up with Barra of 105cm, I nearly fell off the back of K2O laughing when he broke the news. The five biggest fish measured as follows Clayton 97, Jeffery 98, Mike 100, John 104, Alyn 105 and they were all the sweeter for the hard work put in to catch them.

The guys where dream clients as the banter on the boats was epic. The attitudes and outlook was always on the sunny side and they really opened themselves up to the PNG experience interacting with the locals and getting a taste of life out in the jungle.

All fishermen are gamblers at heart, we roll the dice every time we step out the door with a rod in our hand heading to the local pond or some exotic destination. We do our best to stack the odds in our favour by buying the best tackle we can afford, choosing the best tide’s and moon phases, buying fancy pants electronics and boats, but in the end, we still roll the dice. The only difference is that unlike gambling, persevering and never giving up is a lot more rewarding in the long run. That fish of life time could be just a cast away, it could possibly be 15 minutes into the future when that cold beer at camp is definitely only 5 minutes in the future. All good fishermen know that dry hooks don’t catch fish.

As always thanks to the guys who came to fish with us we’re already looking forward to your visit next season and thanks to the Sport Fishing PNG crew for the hard work and big effort.

Cheers,

Cameron Mundy