Cobourg and Mary River: Mostly Fishing

Once upon a time in a land far far away, there was a lush tropical paradise surrounded by white beaches and sparkling blue waters bursting with fish, turtles, dolphins and dugongs. It was a place where the campgrounds were quiet and shady and no caravans were allowed. But most of all it was a place to fish, known as one of the best fishing spots in Australia.

We heard of this place and it was called 'Cobourg'. And very soon our new mantra was, "we must get to Cobourg". Rob's brother Andy had also heard of this place and our mantra became his. And so the wheels were set in motion, we applied for our permit three months in advance, which entitled us to 7 nights from the 17th July. We would be one of only 20 vehicles (at the most) in the national park at that time and the permit included our camping fees and access through Arnhem Land.

Cobourg (or the Cobourg Peninsula) is within the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park, the most northern tip of the Northern Territory mainland and to access it by land we had to travel through Kakadu and then head north 300km through Arnhem Land. The drive through Arnhem Land is rough and slow (about 5 hours) but parts of it are beautiful and apart from the occasional land cruiser full of locals screaming past with a wave and a big grin, we pretty much had the drive to ourselves.

After five hours of bum-numbing corrugations, we were met by an extremely friendly and helpful ranger who gave us the low down on camping, crocs, fires, fishing, boating and exploring the area. We set off in the direction he had indicated towards the campgrounds. The campsites were nestled amongst the trees and so were very shady and private. In addition, each campsite had its own shade cloth, fireplace and a bin that was emptied every day. The toilets were clean and there was even a shower (all unexpected luxuries for a bush campsite).

We spent the next six days waking early to bird calls, reading, walking, cooking, exploring the beaches, learning bush tucker from one of the rangers and of course fishing. The only problem was, the fish weren't coming to the party. That's not saying we didn't catch anything, it's just that the boys were "keen to stretch their lines", as they put it. They did managed to catch a couple of trevally, a barracuda, some small mangrove jacks, a few decent sized queen fish and the crowning glory was a coral trout. We cooked it whole, wrapped in foil with loads of ginger, fresh coriander, lemon grass and lime. Coral trout has been declared by all present as one of our new favourite eating fish.

Although the isolation at Cobourg was a welcome change from the overcrowded national parks elsewhere and the scenery was spectacular, after several days of battling windy conditions (yet again) and less than forthcoming oceans, we decided it might be time to move on. Andy still had a couple of days left in the NT and the main purpose of his visit had been to catch some big fish, so we decided to head back to the BIllabongs and try our hand at some Barramundi and Saratoga fishing.

Before Andy arrived in Darwin we had spent several days at a place called Shady Camp on the lower Mary River. A barrage had been constructed there in the 1980s and had created the ideal Barramundi fishing environment. The campground was hot and fairly basic but our time spent on the boat on the BIllabong was spectacular. We got out on the water early in the morning when no one else was around and the water was so still it created a perfect mirror of the surrounding wetlands. It was amazing floating around the wetlands, lillypads (helipads, according to Jarvis) and expansive floodplains. We saw hundreds of birds including jabiru, egrets, brolgas, kites and sea eagles. A large buffalo was grazing near our fishing spot with an egret punched on his back and large salties lazed on the banks or watched us with just their eyes and nose poking above the still water. And we caught Barra. Several of them, in fact. Em caught her first one ever and then went on to catch two more. They were all under the legal size so they had to be carefully released but the hunt was fun and watching them stalk our lures and dance above the water as we reeled them in was magical.

Based on our experience at Shady Camp before Cobourg, we decided we would head back in the direction of the Mary River system again. This time we ended going to another spot further upstream called Corroboree Billabong. Rob and Andy had been there 12 years ago and said it was beautiful out on the water and a great fishing spot. On arriving at the boat ramp it appeared that not much had changed, including the croc warning signs. As we were unloading the boat, a fellow fisherman came up to us to warn us of the 5m crocs that inhabit the area. He was looking dubiously at our 3.7m tinny and our Jarvis sized croc bait. We assured him, we would be careful and Jarvis has been instructed on several occasion not to EVER put his hands outside the boat or go anywhere near the riverbanks whilst we are on the shore. Regardless, we decided it would be a good idea if Andy and Rob went out the first afternoon to check out the conditions whilst Em and Jarvis hung out at the campsite and played Lego.

Andy had come to Corroboree with a mission. Twelve years ago, he had almost managed to land a Saratoga with a fly rod, but alas the fish had got the best of him. This time he came prepared, with lures, flies and twelve additional years of fishing practice under his belt. On the first afternoon out, he landed two of the beasts. The grin was ear to ear. Not to be outdone, Rob also managed to land a whopper the following day. Although the Barra seemed to be in hiding, the Saratoga catches, dancing brolgas, giant crocodiles and amazing scenery made the trip to Corroboree Billabong and fabulous time.

Although the fishing wasn't perhaps up to the standard that we would have hoped, we had a fantastic time on the hunt. Plus, Andy and Rob seem to have the itch now and will certainly be back to the area during the wet season when the fishing is really happening. We have now sent Andy safely back to his family and on the same day, picked up our dear friends Tash and Adam. They are going to join us on our final NT adventure: Kakadu, Nitmuluk (Katherine Gorge) and Arnhem Land.