Kununurra Trip

[DNYE]

Morning Gentlemen!

So ive got a trip to Kununurra planned, we will be staying at doon doon station from the 2nd to the 14th of July and im keen as mustard to try my luck at some barra and other local fish in some of the local waterways!

I have never caught a barra before so ill need all of the help and advice on places, gear and flies to tie and bring with me, any advice would be appreciated!

Ill have a hire 4WD but dont really want to go anywhere too tricky as im not an overly experienced 4WDer.

Ill be taking my 5wt, 7wt and 10wt outfits with me.

Im going with the missus and her sister, as well as her dad and two step siblings (11 and 12 year olds). If anyone knows of any kid friendly spots to take them for a bit of a fish it would be appreciated too, although its not strictly a fishing trip ill be trying to get out for a serious fish as many times as i can!

Cheers in advance for any advice

-Dave Nye

[peter birch]

Troy Sinclair was in kunna',now in carnvarnon.if he visits this site he'll know.

[DNYE]

Fingers crossed he sees it then!

[troy]

Doon Doon is a fair way up the catchment of the Dunham so Barra will be starting to fade from the system, but you will still find them in bigger pools but the fish might be small. Heading downstream of the Dunham bridge on the highway might find more barra. But in July they are pretty sleepy so you will have to get the fly right in front of them to stir them up and the warmer afternoons are the better time to fish for them. Anything that hovers well and has lots of shimmy will work well eg Gold bomber or pink thing and is around 2-4 inches long 2/0 to 4/0 would be a good start. Don't forget some 60lb bite tippet or just fish 60 lb straight through

There should be some good sooty grunter fishing around there and the local mob love them so they will be able to point you in the right direction. Any dark buggy fly will do the trick and they are lots of fun on a 5wt. The latest Western Angler mag has an article on hunting sooties on fly by the local sootie manic, Dick Passfield, who we managed to convert to fly fishing whilst I was up there. Be worth trying to find a copy, but I will give you a tip the dog Patch gets in more photos than most....

Other than that you will only find catties (which are good fun just watch out for spines), spangled perch (but think 1-2wt for them) and possibly a few tiddler poons.

Great countryside and worth exploring. Although to be honest your best chance at a barra or 20 and if you have half a day and some $$$ hire a chopper out of Kununurra or Home Valley and head to the barra mecca west of Wyndam where some of the predator footage was filmed. Even in July it fishes ok.

Cheers Troy

[DNYE]

Thanks very much for the advice Troy, ill have to get busy tying some flies in the next two weeks!

Ill definitely find a copy of that western angler!

Excuse my ignorance but what/where is the dog patch?

Id love to go and do some heli fishing, i might just explore that idea a bit more. Can you reccommend any good local guides or companies that offer the service?

Cant wait to get stuck into some fish, sootys on the 5wt sounds like great fun!

-Dave

[troy]

Lone eagle out of Kununurra, and it has been covered in a couple of issues of fishing Wild by Cole Roberts. Not too sure who runs it out of Home Valley station.. look at their website they should have details.

You will work out about Patch when you read the Wangler mag

[DNYE]

Thanks for your help Troy, much appreciated

[troy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-oT6s3GfHs

here is a video staring patch

[lyle rogers]

that was an awesome video. that dog is so cool. do you not have to worry about crocs or snakes in the tall grass?

[troy]

Most of patch's travels are above the dams so they are salty free. You don't see many snakes up there, but their around. But you do stumble (literally) on freshy's hiding in the spawning runs. They are hunting sooties the same place and time as us so its all just part of the adventure.

I have fished that particular creek a few times and other than long walks over freestone river beds it is a great experience and our equivalent to fishing NZ rivers, but a LOT hotter

Troy