On a flight back from the NT where I caught up with some old mates and shot some footage for an upcoming DVD, I had time to reflect on the experience. The NT is not new to me nor the waters we fished, around the Finniss River south of Dundee Beach, about an hour-and-a-half by road from Darwin.

Like the East Coast, wind has been in plague volume for many months this year and this trip was no different.
Bunked up in a beachfront shed at Dundee Beach, we faced northerly winds of between 15 and 20 knots for the duration of the trip, which had purposely been scheduled for the latter part of the year in mid-October.

Usually that time of the year heralds the build-up to the wet season which produces very high humidity, little wind and a fish bite that piscatorial dreams are made of. Well, the only thing that went according to plan was the date. Plenty of wind, short sharp chop of a metre and the inability to search the wider grounds for billfish and good bottom species was the order of the day - make that three!

Working in this sort of situation is difficult. Keeping cameras out of the salt, getting conditions calm enough to film from boat to boat and within the boat, is paramount. Not to mention getting there.
On this piece of exposed coastline in Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, there is tidal movement of up to eight metres diurnal - or twice per day.

Push such a volume of water against any sort of wind and you end up with a choppy mess that makes long hauling by boat not viable, with comfort thrown out and replaced by white knuckles and aching joints.
Luckily, two of the boats were capable of handling this slop as best as any available. They were from Ocean Master and fitted out in the NT by Territory Marine.

When you see the Timor and Hong Kong water police running these rigs, you have got to wonder why? Stability and a soft ride in atrocious conditions is the reason. So, bestowed with absolutely crappy conditions we ventured forth, albeit gingerly.
Without the zeal to do the miles offshore, we cruised the coast looking for fish in an area that receives quite a bit of attention from anglers.

Yes we got fish, not a lot, but they were a tasty meal. One thing we did rely on was the local knowledge of travelling with wind and tide.When these work in the same direction, life on board is definitely more comfortable. Have them opposed and it can be a misery for many a slow hour underway.

Sometimes, sitting on your favourite drop for an extra hour will allow the two elements to synchronise and have the waters flatten out. That hour lost is made up for by the fact that you can travel at far greater speeds with the engine running at its optimum. It’s a good time to do the scrub on the boat if the fishing has finished and pack gear away.

MAROONED

We managed a bit of that, but also ran foul of a big mud bank inside the mouth of the Finniss River. Travelling at high speed over shallow flats is great provided you don’t hit logs and other debris in the mud. That’s one of the risks of tidal travel. Speed is of the essence on occasions, as backing off the throttle will see a settling of the boat and a digging in of the outboard leg.
Meandering left to right over the shallow flats hoping to find water another half metre deeper than the 1.0m you have under the transducer is a nerve racking experience. And then it happens! The sounder goes from three metres to one, then loses the bottom and flat tidal water at a river mouth melds into mud - you can’t tell the difference at 60kmh and everything goes pear shaped.

With a leg hastily trimmed up as the big prop gouges a trench across the flat, one knows the inevitable is about to happen; marooned on the mud during the vital part of the tide synonymous with a good barra bite. Four-and-a-half hours are now spent in a moonscape so soft one cannot even get out to stretch the legs, studying the sex life of mud skippers and other nondescript crustaceans.

With the water’s edge becoming increasingly distant, a state of despair ensues as the other two boats hurl insults (once they realise you are in a muddy mess and past help) and fade away to catch the best part of a fishing day.
Moral of this story? Never run in shallow country near the top of a tide and if you do, make sure the next tide is higher than the one you might get marooned on. Failing to follow this rule of thumb might mean your boat being stuck on the mud until the next big moon. Heaven forbid - a fortnight without a boat!

By Rick Huckstepp, as featured in Trailerboat issue 225.