Hiking for fresh adventures BRISBANE
Bob Thornton
It’s easy to think that to access really good fishing you need a boat, but this is just not true. Some of my most memorable and successful trips have been on foot, and given that I am still boatless, I’d say there’s a few more of those to come! While a vessel can open up certain waterways for anglers, there are still those little pockets that don’t receive a lot of fishing pressure where a boat just can’t reach, or isn’t properly suited to. For these places, we need to use our legs. Putting in that extra effort to hike into the backcountry where others don’t get – where a boat is totally out of the question –
“There’s a river down there somewhere”. The author sizes up the downhill leg of the journey to untouched bass water. be running high and full of nutrients, and plants will be blooming and driving the insect life that depends on it. The larger the flood, the longer this period lasts. There really is no better time to be getting on the foot falcon to find a fish or two! NO THANKS, I’LL WALK When I was a kid I used to love reading articles by anglers like Warren Steptoe and Andy McGovern. Their contemplative musings and glossy photos of trophy
Long sleeves, good hiking boots and snake-proof gaiters may seem overkill, but lake edges are a perfect environment for a multitude of snake species. Tom suits up accordingly so he can enjoy catching solid carp like this one on his fly rod. choose to walk long distances to fish from the bank, and had honed their craft to make them as deadly as any boatie. They’d also turn each trip into an adventure, taking time to sit quietly and observe nature from one of terra firma’s
surroundings and wildlife, which you tend to feel part of when you’re standing amongst it! In some places walking is the only option, such as in a small overgrown creek that’s too skinny for any craft and only accessible by
Going on land-based adventures with other anglers is the best way to make the most of the experience, and is by far a much safer option. is still my favourite way to fish, especially for bass. I’ve never seen not owning a boat as a disadvantage. Rather, I tend to choose venues where land-based fishers are at an
advantage over boaties, the key often being that I am able to access water that a boat cannot. It’s also worth remembering that right now
we’re coming off the back of large-scale flooding events around much of the country, and this will kick-start a process of long-term gain for the environment. Rivers will
Crawling over slippery boulders and river stones isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, but most fly anglers will suffer a good deal of discomfort when there’s spoils like this available. This protected eastern cod was a welcome by-catch while bass fishing the Clarence system land-based. The fish was handled very carefully and released.
The author was fishing in a boat and had a hunch that the bass that were sitting very shallow might be easier accessed from the bank. The hunch proved to be right! It always pays to have a selection of shore fishing gear with you when you take the boat out. 8
MAY 2022
freshwater fish really brought their land-based adventure stories to life. These days I enjoy reading and watching content from Robbie Alexander for the same reasons. These columns really made me want to go land-based hunting for species like sooty grunter, jungle perch, trout and Murray cod, which I didn’t have available to me in Brisbane. These anglers would
many hidden vantages. In my teen years, if no one was willing to drive me I’d jump on public transport or a pushbike to get myself to the limits of Brisbane’s suburbia and hike into the scrub as far as the dwindling daylight hours would allow. Catching little bass in these clear streams with a heavy pack on gave me a rush that I still get now when I don the boots and go bush! I really enjoy taking in the
walking overland. However, there are situations where it’s possible to use a boat but more logical to be on foot, such as polaroiding fish around the edges of a lake. Sight fishing from the bank gives the angler the option of hiding behind cover or crouching down quickly, or stopping on a dime to keep the fish unaware of your presence. Basically, stalking fish from the bank means you are stealthier, you can
