King Ash Bay-Northern Territory

[Talina]

Hi all, first of all thanks to everyone who sent me emails, PM’s & text messages while I was away...As per all of your requests I have put together a report of my trip, so I hope you enjoy…

2 weeks ago I traveled up to a place called King Ash Bay which is on the Northern Territory side of the Gulf of Carpentaria. I made the trip up with my parents, together with a small group of Townsville Game Fishing Club Members in search of our Annual Barra fix…

Where is King Ash Bay

King Ash Bay is situated on the banks of the McArthur River approx. 52km past the township of Borroloola in the Northern Territory. There is approx. 25 km of formed dirt road accessible to 2 wheel drive vehicles for most of the year between April to December.

About King Ash Bay

King Ash Bay is a privately owned and managed by the King Ash Bay Fishing Club and has a small community of local fulltime residents. There is a two lane concrete boat ramp which gives you access to a huge (& I mean huge) system of rivers and channels. Several main rivers lead to the Gulf of Carpentaria which is approx. 30km by river from the King Ash Bay Fishing Club. Offshore you can fish for Mackeral, Tuna and a variety of reef fish in the tropical waters of the Sir Edward Pellew group of islands.

This year was my parents 9th trip up to King Ash Bay and the reason they keep going back each year is not only for the fantastic fishing but because of the creature comforts the area provides.

For your convenience there is a Service Station, Mini-Mart, House Boats and Accommodation available. I also can't forget the local watering hole (The Groper Bar) either, which is always great for a cold beer or 10 as well as a fishing story or 2

The Club has 240v power available 24 hours a day and its own water supply suitable for drinking. Coin operated washing machines are situated in the main toilet block if needed.

Our trip Up

Well it’s a 20 hour trip from Townsville so we left at 4am Saturday morning. About 6 hours into our trip we had a tyre on the boat trailer blow out & upon further inspection we found the one of the leafs on our spring had come off which caused the tyre to blow. So we crawled into Richmond & hoped that someone had a spare spring. Well, we weren’t that lucky so we had to leave the boat & drive back 2 hours to Hughenden where we found someone who had one (thank god). Well already 5 hours behind time we made it to Mt Isa for the night and although the trip didn’t’ start the way we planned, we knew it could only get better. Sunday morning we met up with a couple of our friends & continued the trip across the NT border & up the Barkley Highway. For those of you haven’t been up there way, the landscape is extremely baron and in some parts you are even lucky to even see a tree. The road is just a 1 lane road so you quite often have to pull over to let the huge road trains go past!...We arrived at King Ash Bay at about 3pm on Sunday afternoon without any further problems

Our Camp

A few of our mates had headed up earlier in the week so most of the camp had already been set up so it was just a matter of pitching our tents and more importantly getting the boat ready. The facilities are fantastic at King Ash, so it was great to have a nice hot shower to wash off all the red dust in preparation for a beautiful Roast Dinner at the Groper Bar which was washed down with several coldies.

My little tent which was appropriately named

"King Ash Bay Hilton"

The Fishing

The fishing at King Ash Bay is absolutely exceptional and the area offers great fishing no matter whether you’re a professional or novice and no matter what style of fishing that you prefer you are always guaranteed of finding a feed. Meen while if you are thinking of travelling to the Northern Territory, its is very important that you are familiar with the fishing laws, as they do difer from State to State. While we were up there, we had Northern Territory Police Offices check our freezer's 3 times during our 2 week trip, which is always great to see as it's very important that people are abiding by the relevant laws!!

Our preferred style of fishing is lure casting and 90% of our fishing up there is all site fishing along the flats, gutters & rock bars which are scattered throughout the area. Most of the time we don’t even throw a lure until we see a fish. The last 2 years I have spent most of my time filming some absolutely awesome lure fishing action because as you would imagine there’s nothing better then seeing a big barra sitting in about 2ft of water (Sometimes with there back even out of the water), throwing at it & then watching the hookup!!...Here are a couple of examples…

Heres a Mangrove Jack leaving the comfort of his snag & followed the lure right to the side of the boat

Tackle & Fishing Equipment

We use G-Loomis GL4 Rods with Shimano Curado reel & find the shallow diving Halco Laser Pro L120 & Reidy’s B52 Bombers all in Gold Colours the most effective.

Mud Crabs

Although there are Professional Crabbers camps found throughout the area (See below) this didn’t deter the mud crab population one bit. To put it straight, the mud crabs were absolutely everywhere!!! And we were all fortunate enough to feast on fresh mud crabs every second night which as much as I thought I would never say it “I was sick of eating mud crabs by the end of the trip)…They were that thick, check out the photos below of my dad scooping one off a mud flat in the land net!!

Camp Menu

Forget the sausage sizzles & damper, when we go camping we all eat better then what we do at home. With planned roast, fish n chip & seafood nights I have no doubt that the waste got a little bigger & there will be many Gym sessions coming up in the next month or so…Here are a couple of my favorite dishes!!

Northern Territory Locals

Well there definitely was no shortage or big monster reptiles through out the area and it was nothing to see 8 or 9 Crocs over the 8ft mark on the way home of an afternoon. Because it was so cold, most of them were happy to stay basking in the sun on the bank which gave us some great photo opportunities!!

Fishing Photos

Here are a few photos from the trip

Check this one out...As you can see, the trebbles are not in the fish in anyway. The lure simply got stuck sideways in the fish's gob & thats how we landed him



Well thats pretty much it, I think!!...If you have any questions on the area, fishing etc etc, please don't hesitate to ask!

If you haven't been to the Northern Territory before, I thoroughly reccommend it & as much as I am a proud Queenslander, I could easily live in the Territory anyday.

I'll leave you with a couple of photos of a couple of awesome NT Sunrises!

[TROLL]

That is just perfect.... Yet so wrong to sit down on a ugly cold wet day hear... and read this and wonder if there is enough time to duck of to the NT before work tommorow..

Superb right up there Talina...

[camo]

Nice report Talina with some top photos to back it up .Just makes a bloke jealous especially the a-la-carte photos.

cheers camo

[Two Utes]

Great report and pictures Talina. Thanks for sharing your super family fishing holiday with us. Sounds like you had a great time. Can't wait to catch up with you in Townsville soon, so you can tell me some of the stories in person.

[adidaspeteman]

Now that is a bloody good report Talina, looking at them photo's just takes my mind away dreaming of happy fishing paradise land.

Ok, I am gonna start planning my next holiday!

[Craig]

AA get together there next year?

[Frenzy 500]

Talina,

It certainly is a great place, I have been about 6 times to KA Bay and loved it. Some great pics there too. OOOhhh I want to go back there now!!!

I think February/march we are going, got the second booking on the housboat I am told by the crew organiser!! Cant wait!!Thanks for a great story. Those crabbers are a wild (and smelly) bunch aren't they.

cheer steve

[Nath86]

Great report there Tlina, loved the in depth info.
Looks like you've given those lures a beating.

Do you upgrade the trebles and split rings on your lures at all?

Cheers Nath

[Talina]

Thanks guys...

Nathan - Yes would definitely be nice to have an AA Meet & Greet up there!! All we need for it to happen is for Ben to win the Gold Lotto!!!

Frenzy (Steve) - If you ask me, the House Boat option is without a doubt the best way to go as the only disadvantage about the place is the 30km run (5 beers) down river & back everyday...

Nath - Yes Nath we change the standard hooks to VMC 6 X Strongs Chemically Sharpened hooks & then flatten the barbs (to save any nasty injuries & for better release on a fish) before we even head up there. And yes it's definetly important that we take spares up as the fish can be extremely brutal at times (notice that the B52 Bomber in the photos above is missing a bib)

[ando_04]

Well what can i say, awsome report one of the best!!

looks like you guys had a ball.