Porcupine Gorge NP 8th april
Some of the best things are not planned.
We had intended to head for the Oasis roadhouse on the way north to the coast, however we noticed a great picture in a brochure and decided to head for Porcupine Gorge National Park . It was absolutely fantastic . Weather was 29 degrees with a little cloud cover, we set up the van in the NP site which you have to prebook then headed down to the gorge itself . Its like a little grand canyon. The gorge is over 100 kilometres long and we were at the pyramid campsite. It takes its name from the rock formation that towers above the gorge floor. It is 2k down a steep track to the gorge floor where we saw wild flowers , rock pools , swimming pools and amazing rock structures. We passed a family with kids between 5 and 10 who were jumping off rocks into deep pools and squealing with delight .
We spent an hour or so exploring and and I was amazed at the amount of fish in the crystal clear slowly moving river.
Great night around the fire after a couple of sets of petanque. Breaking new fusion cooking ground with a whiskey flavoured damper to accompany chicken thai curry .
In the morning I got up to see the sunrise from the gorge . I hiked down into the gorge at first light and also took the lightest of my fishing rods and light braid line with me . First cast saw this little fella give a good account of himself.
I lost count of how many fish i caught around the 10-15cm mark.
To access one of the deepest pools i could only get a cast in from a rock ledge about 12 foot above the water. This would be where my lure was taken by the biggest fish of the day. Little rod bending in half and the clutch making that wonderful screaming noise . After about 5 minutes worth of fight i managed to land it on a narrow ledge about 10 cm out of the water. I started to climb down and of course it had one last escape effort and broke the line. However it was still on the ledge . I slowly inched my way down the rock face with all the poise and grace of an antique front row forward with poor mobility . I got within in an inch of grabbing it but alas it was a shy fish and didn’t want its photo taken and it slipped back into the deep pool. I estimated it was around 30cm long and 1.5 to 2 kg. It was some kind of perch or bass that i haven’t yet identified.
As i was fishing i heard the beat of wings , it was a white bellied sea eagle looking for thermals. It gave up and sat high above me in the gorge looking down. It tried again as the sun reached the lower parts of the gorge and seemed to catch one and was gone in no time.
I attempted to run back up the gorge and managed most of it before collapsing in a heap – however you have to keep your wits about you even when you are breathing through your bahookie as there are some other hazards to watch out for in the twilight !
The scenery was amazing and the fishing out of this world. What a place .
We did pop into the oasis roadhouse at The Lynd as we ventured north the following day . It has the smallest bar in Australia. Needless to say I had to breathe in to enter.
