DESTINATIONS: JOHNSON RIVER, NT
A trip to a good Top End fishing camp will live long in your memory banks. But a really great fishing camp is an experience of a lifetime. JOHN NEWBERY recounts a recent trip to one of the best camps in the country.
WHAT makes a great fishing camp? Well, the quality of the fish and fishing are clearly a vital part of the answer, and as you’ll see from the photos in this article the Johnson River has those in spades. A late season trip last year with the same group of mates I’ve fished with there for four years now saw barra to 103cm, threadfin (coincidentally) to 103cm, golden snapper to 5kg, and the usual mix of other suspects: jacks, blue salmon, cod, Queensland groper, queenfish, GTs and black jew. We took fish on hard-bodied and soft plastic lures, mostly cast but occasionally trolled. While most of our fishing was in the river itself, on the last day of our five day-trip we ran back down the Melville Island coast to Snake Bay and spent an hour or so on the way spinning up broad barred and spotted mackerel on metals from massive schools. Dropping a heavily weighted soft plastic through the schools scored us goldies and assorted tropical snappers as well.
This was the latest I’ve fished the Johnson, and as owner Mike Baxter predicted the barra were both bigger in size and harder to persuade than earlier in the season. Really big heavy soft plastics got us barra in the 90cm plus range, some seriously large threadies and some hook ups with unstoppable fish, probably a mix of XOS barra and threadfin. Each day we took some time out from chasing big barra to set up a famous Johnson River “jack attack”. On the right tides, jacks and goldies go quite crazy over soft plastics, chasing lures out from snags in what the guides refer to as “the red tide”. It was, as always, a memorable trip with relaxed, easy going fishing companions and top guides.
Which brings me to the second characteristic of a great camp. Guides who love what they do, know the water they’re fishing and offer whatever support’s required without intruding or patronising clients. The guides for our Johnson trips are from the bigger group based at Melville Island Lodge, which owns and operates the Johnson River Camp as part of its contract with the Tiwi traditional owners. They are uniformly skilled and good humoured all-rounders, each with their own slight preferences for blue water or river work, or lure or fly fishing, which allows good matching of anglers’ interests with individual guides.
At Melville Island Lodge itself, you’ve got all the comforts of a tropical resort. Mick and Lyn Chick manage a great operation, with chef-prepared buffet meals, a formal bar and indoor and outdoor eating and drinking areas. The Johnson provides more of a wilderness experience, like you get in an African bush camp. It’s situated about 40 minutes up the river from its entrance, virtually as far up as you can take a boat. It was always comfortable, with air conditioned rooms and hot showers, but in 2010 was upgraded with a new undercover dining area, retiled bathrooms, separate guide accommodation, new furniture, a fire pit, bloodwood benches and an auto washing machine. It sleeps a maximum of nine anglers in air-conditioned rooms. Unfortunately a big cyclone earlier this year totally wiped the camp out. By the time you read this, however, it will be back up and running, bigger and better than before.
The camp’s remote location means that pre-breakfast bush walks are an attractive option, providing a taste of the simplicity of the outback. You often spot buffalo, wild horses and dingoes out on the track, in amongst the cycad forests. In the afternoon and at night, around the fire pit, wallaby and bandicoot sightings are common. On the water, there are sea eagles, herons and other bird watchers’ delights, as well as the usual crocs.
One of the guides acts as head chef, with the other providing as much assistance as the “chef” requires. Meals have always been excellent. Fish lovers are served golden snapper, threadfin, barra or jacks in different styles on different nights, often with a sashimi queenfish entree. Non-fish eaters make do with rib eye steaks or stir fried pork dishes. Breakfasts, at around 6.30am, can be whatever’s wanted, hot or cold. There’s a full range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks available. Lunches are “make your own” fresh sandwiches, with the boat tied up under a shady overhang, with fruit and chocolate snack breaks taken as needed.
So that’s the camp itself, the guides and the food covered. But the “on ground” experience needs to be matched by the “on water”. I’ve already given the guides a wrap … they’ll advise on lures and tie fancy leader knots if you want … and display infinite patience extracting lures from snags and timber. But great camps should also have top fishing hardware.
The boats used on the Johnson are the same as those used out of Snake Bay, 6.4m Darwin-built stable alloy hulls with flat floors, marine carpet, forward casting platforms and rear consoles, which means that three anglers can cast lures comfortably with no crowding. They’re equally at home poking around the skinny creeks which feed the river as they are chasing mackerel, queenies, black jew and GTs in the blue water, with 150hp four-strokes to give you confidence. You can venture further afield from the Johnson to the big adjacent coastal bays and creeks if you feel like a change of scene or different fishing experience. The boats are, as you’d expect, fully equipped with landing nets, Boga grips, cold drinking water and wet weather gear, plus all the usual safety equipment.
Most barra fanatics own their own rods, reels, lures and terminal tackle, but if you don’t, turning up at a fishing camp and finding the gear on offer to be well, quite frankly, ordinary, is a bit of a turn off. The gear supplied at the Johnson is top stuff. Loomis rods and Shimano baitcasters spooled with 30lb braid for the river work, and T-Curve rods and matching overheads if you want to venture outside. The Melville Island Lodge “lure locker” provides a range of proven casting and trolling lures via the guides, plus any number of soft plastic variations, and doesn’t charge for lost lures. I generally take my own barra gear but often access the “guide’s favourite” lures, leader material and spare trebles.
For previous trips to the Johnson River we’ve always flown from Darwin to Snake Bay, stayed the first night at Melville Island Lodge and then travelled up to the Johnson by the boat we’ll be fishing in, or by road if the sea conditions were unsuitable. It’s about an hour by boat to the mouth of the river in good conditions and as mentioned earlier another 40 minutes or so up to the camp. The recent refurbishment (now further refurbished thanks to that pesky cyclone!) will mean that two boats can be stationed there undercover permanently, and guests can now choose to fly directly to the camp by helicopter or by fixed wing to a nearby airstrip, where they’ll be collected by 4WDs for a bush drive in.
While the Johnson River Camp will now operate independently of Melville Island Lodge, other than for bookings and flight co-ordination, guests can still combine a stay at both facilities and experience the best of both worlds … a remote but extremely comfortable bush experience and a resort stay.
For my fishing mates and me, the Johnson experience is truly special. Sitting around the fire pit with a glass of something pleasant under a carpet of stars, listening to hits of the ’60s as loud as we want, reliving the day’s triumphs and telling a few lies … I’m hoping we’ll be able to continue to do it together for a good few years yet.
For more information on the Johnson River Camp and booking enquiries, go onto www.melvillelodge.com.au , call (08) 8978 3664 or email mike@melvillelodge.com.au.
John Newbery fished the Johnson River last year as a guest of Melville Island Lodge.
