queensland Our Black Bass Trip Into West Papua

[aussie123]

On the 25^th March, Stu and myself set out on a trip deep into the jungles of West Papua in search of the mighty Black Bass in some river systems that have never really been fished except for the local villagers in the area.

This was a trip of epic proportions with months of planning and 3 days of travel to reach our destination.

Our journey seen us fly to Bali and then Makassar where we spent the night in a motel and then we boarded another plane at 2am to fly across to Biak where we met up with our local mate Teddy.

We were supposed to jump on another plane the next morning for Serui on the island of Pulau Japen but bad weather seen all planes and ferries cancelled so we sat this out for 2 days.

This gave us a chance to have a look around Biak so we could  visit the local fish market and check out the different sights around the city.

 

 

On the

On the second day we got to hike deep into the most beautiful valley that you could ever wish to see to catch a Spot Tail Bass but unfortunately the fishing was very quiet.

The scenery and the waterfalls were just spectacular to see and not catching any fish here really did not matter.

Some local villagers that lived downstream paddled their way up river in their dugout canoes and picked us up and took us downstream through a series of rapids and log jams to where they had a long boat waiting to ferry us out of this insane prehistoric looking valley.

The scenery was absolutely spectacular with heavy rainforest reaching right to the water.

As dark fell, the fire flies came out which was just amazing to see.

On the third day, we decided to jump on a fast passenger ferry to Serui  instead of flying over due to the excess luggage and camping gear that we had to take with us.

This was a 5 hour boat trip and it gave us a chance to see some of the local islands and coastline which was a very enjoyable part of the trip.

We finally arrived in Serui  where we arranged a driver with a small truck to run us around to find a motel for the night and to do the necessary food shopping and fuel purchases that we needed to arrange.

After purchasing  1200 liters of fuel and enough 2 stroke oil for the trip and a ute load of food and water, we had dinner and then headed back to the motel  where we settled in for a hard earned rest before the huge trip into the jungle the next day.

Life in Serui is vastly different to other parts of Indonesia that we have travelled through.

The rubbish and filth around the city is unimaginable and really has to be seen to be believed.

No one uses a rubbish bin or takes their rubbish home, they just drop it where they have finished with it and the water’s  edge around the small harbour was a tip site on its own.

It is one place that I would be very happy to never see again.

The following morning we struck our first major hurdle when the guy supplying one of the boats went missing  so we were left with only one  boatman with his 6.5m long boat to take us fishing for the week.

We loaded this poor boat up with all the camping gear, food, water,  fuel and 6 people and  I estimated that we had over  a 2 ton payload all up but she went like a rocket ship with the twin tiller steer 40hp Yamahas.

Our  boat trip was around 150km to where we wanted to camp but our plans changed when our  boatman grew up in a small village on an adjacent waterway.

It just happened that they also owned the river system that we wanted to fish in so on our way into the jungle we stopped at the village where he grew up so he could introduce us to the chief and also so he could catch up with his family and friends.

After meeting the chief and the other village elders over a coffee, the chief invited us to stay the night in his house with his family.

As it was getting late in the day and with no chance of reaching our campsite before dark, we kindly accepted his offer and we spent an amazing night with some of the nicest people you could ever  wish to meet.

Up bright and early the next morning, we headed off through this long and narrow waterway where we eventually popped out into the river system that we wanted to search for the elusive Black Bass.

Spread throughout the river system were these  little fishing shanties on stilts over the water that the villagers have built for their fishing trips and we were offered the opportunity to use any of these that we wanted.

We checked one out down near the river mouth but it was a bit small for us all so we ventured further back up river where we found this amazing little shack sitting proudly over the river with its own little jetty at the front door.

This was now going to be our campsite for the week so we unloaded the boat and then ventured off to have a look around and to have an arvo fish.

We ventured upstream into a small lake system that was 3.5km long and it had 5 separate entrances from the main river.

These creek entrances all held Black Bass, Mangrove Jacks,  Trevally and Tarpon and then inside this lake was hundreds of small palm islands, trees and stumps,  which many had good numbers of fish around them.

This was an amazing little waterway to begin our week of Black Bass fishing.

The next 2 days were spent down around the river mouth in the pure salt water looking for the bigger Black Bass.

We fished many miles of creeks and anabranches and even the adjacent river system but sadly we couldn’t find any fish down in this area.

They would have to be there as the water looked good but they were either shut down or maybe there at another time of the year.

The next few days we decided to stay well up river in the lake area where we caught our fish on the first day.

This proved to be a bonanza with many fish being hooked, landed and lost.

Most of the fish caught this trip were on the topwater  using mullet poppers and just a few were caught on deep divers.

Tarpon were everywhere this trip and were fun to catch when the bass fishing was quite.

You could see the schools of Tarpon finning on the surface and their bubble trails in the water everywhere.

A quick cast over their heads soon stirred multiple strikes at the popper.

 

The last day we had some bad weather coming in so we decided to get out of the jungle and start the journey back to Serui.

We spent the night in a boatmans hut at the village again as the spring tides had made the creek too shallow to navigate in the dark.

After a good nights sleep, we headed off at 4.30am to beat the falling tide.

This time we hit many stumps and also had to drive the boat over whole trees to reach the deeper section of the creek.

Once out it was full stick down the river and across the bar to the open water where it was quite choppy for the first 50km.

About half way back to Serui we pulled into a small village where our boatmans wife lived so we managed to get a nice jug of hot coffee and buy an extra drum of fuel to complete the trip.

 

Hugging the coastline to avoid the choppy waters, the  trip back was beautiful as we navigated through a series of tropical islands and over some shallow coral reefs.

Once back to Serui, we found a motel for the night and we all enjoyed a good feed and a few cold Bintangs.

The next morning we boarded the ferry for another 5 hour journey back to Biak

Here we stayed another night at Teddy’s house before the final 2 day journey back home.

Overall it was an amazing trip and venturing so deep into the jungle with no support and no idea of what to expect added to the thrill of this adventure.

The people we met and the places we got to experience will be something that all of us will never forget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Drop Bear]

Wow

[aussie123]

 

[aussie123]

 

[kmcrosby78]

Sensational report Lance - well done to Stu and yourself for pulling off such a complicated and yet ultimately rewarding trip. Beautiful part of the world.

[aussie123]

2 minutes ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Sensational report Lance - well done to Stu and yourself for pulling off such a complicated and yet ultimately rewarding trip. Beautiful part of the world.

It was a massive trip Kelvin and for the most part, everything that was planned worked out well.

We did have a few unexpected things change on us which is hard to know in advance but we worked through the issues and all worked out great in the end.

[Drop Bear]

I expected a great report but that is incredible. What an amazing thing to do. You left out a lot of the tough things you would have had to put up with like mozzies. 

I will be dreaming of that fishing hut by the river forever now and i think i will need to do a trip like this next year. Sorry in advance for all the questions you are gonna get.

Thanks so much for sharing this unique and extream adventure. 

[Angus]

Yes!

That is all I can think to say right now...

Yes!!!

[rayke1938]

Amazing Cheers

Ray

[tugger]

Just epic the scenery the rivers the waterfalls the journey the huts the fishing the adventure 

[aussie123]

4 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

I expected a great report but that is incredible. What an amazing thing to do. You left out a lot of the tough things you would have had to put up with like mozzies. 

I will be dreaming of that fishing hut by the river forever now and i think i will need to do a trip like this next year. Sorry in advance for all the questions you are gonna get.

Thanks so much for sharing this unique and extream adventure. 

Thanks Robbie.

The mozzies were no worse than anywhere over here.We had them for about an hour each night just on dark and i think twice we found a few sandflies while out fishing.

Those huts are amazing and I did put an order in for one to be built up in the lake area that we fished,lol.

I don't know if you could ever find a charter to do something like this though so it is probably something that you would need to just go and do yourself like we have done twice now.

Next year if things are still going ok for me, we might look at doing it again but with a few extra mates tagging along.

 

[Drop Bear]

5 minutes ago, aussie123 said:

Thanks Robbie.

The mozzies were no worse than anywhere over here.We had them for about an hour each night just on dark and i think twice we found a few sandflies while out fishing.

Those huts are amazing and I did put an order in for one to be built up in the lake area that we fished,lol.

I don't know if you could ever find a charter to do something like this though so it is probably something that you would need to just go and do yourself like we have done twice now.

Next year if things are still going ok for me, we might look at doing it again but with a few extra mates tagging along.

 

Available. Happy to be camp cook too

[aussie123]

1 hour ago, tugger said:

Just epic the scenery the rivers the waterfalls the journey the huts the fishing the adventure 

Once we crossed the river bar Mark, we had to navigate 40km of rivers and creeks to reach our destination.We travelled through 3 major rivers and a number of small connecting creeks, the scenery was breathtaking and the pictures do not do it any justice.

 

[aussie123]

Just now, Drop Bear said:

Available. Happy to be camp cook too

hahahaha, and you are an awesome cook too.

We took a few meals over there to give us a break from their usual fish and rice that they eat and one guy couldn't eat our food, it was all too spicy for him to handle.

They enjoy very plain food over there.

[aussie123]

This was our crew for the week.

Nicko, he was the boatman and owner of the boat.

He would have to be one of the best boat operators that I have ever fished with.

Ono, he was our deckhand for the week.They both really enjoyed their Beetlenut.

Eko was our cook and general hand who did all of the running around to arrange, pay and pick up anything we needed both before and after the trip.

Then we have Teddy. He is our fishing mate over in West Papua and we have fished with him twice now.

I am hoping that he will come over here in the near future as his bucket list fish are of all things a Kingfish and Murray Cod and we will return the favour by hosting him here in Australia and taking him out fishing to experience some of what we have to offer here.

[straddiebrad]

great report lance the river system and the water falls look great the fishing too could be a wanderers trip there in the future,great vids too

 

[Drop Bear]

2 hours ago, aussie123 said:

They both really enjoyed their Beetlenut.

Me likum kiki buai

[tugger]

Definitely wild country the scenery would have been enough for most punters then throw in bass that want to pull you out of the boat for the whole experience

[Luvit]

Just had the chance to read and enjoy the report. That’s livin.

What a great trip and the hurdles that popped up just add to the experience. Be good to hear more about it next time we talk. 

Well done to you both. 

[Bi_polar]

Great report Lance and there are so many more things that happened that I pop into my head each day and i have a little chuckle to myself.

One of the most memorable was one afternoon when Lance and I were fishing a particular area that was holding plenty of Bass and we were slowly motoring up to a really good looking snag and I looked at Lance then looked down at his rod and Said.  "Jeez...give me a look at your rod".....well gullible Lance went to hand me his rod and I quickly fired a cast off to land it right beside this big vertical log sticking out of the water. Well that backfired on me and because I was laughing and trying to get the cast off so quick I put the lure straight over a branch above the log and it didn't hit the water. Well Lance was quick on the uptake and fired a cast straight at the log also and didn't do much better and went straight over the top of the log and tea bagged his lure right beside the log. Well a cranky bass came flying up and grabbed his lure that was barely touching the water and took off. There was a few frantic moments getting it off from around the log and the fish was boated. Lots of laughs and it was released to happily swim another day. That was just one of the many moments that will stick in my head for a very long time. 

I feel very lucky to have done what we did and it was awesome to do it with a good mate. I think it's best if we add to this report as we remember things and clearly we probably should have written a diary every day. Anyway good job Lance and bring on the next trip.

Here's a picture of the hut from the river and some mangrove jacks that were smoked traditianally over the fire in the hut.

[tugger]

Great trip Stu moments you will never forget

[Luvit]

Memory’s made for a lifetime, Stu. 

[Old Scaley]

What an experience.  Couple of questions (getting in ahead of the crowd). Are the fish in the second photo in @aussie123 report hardy heads? And, how good did those smoked mangrove jack taste @Bi_polar? They look incredible.

[Bi_polar]

1 hour ago, Old Scaley said:

What an experience.  Couple of questions (getting in ahead of the crowd). Are the fish in the second photo in @aussie123 report hardy heads? And, how good did those smoked mangrove jack taste @Bi_polar? They look incredible.

No sure what sort of fish they were....some sort of white bait. As for the smoked jacks....well that was a bit of a strange one.....lol.....the boatman was smoking them to take back to his family. Once smoked he would just stack them away in his stuff never to be seen again.....lol....but we didn't care, he was a really good boat operator and a really funny guy. It's always a lot of fun living with guys you can't understand and they can't understand you. Every night they offered us beetle nut, mustard beans and lime and it was great to be with such humble people. All the others would eat our dehydrated meals but Niko the boatman was really into his clean pure food. One afternoon we caught some tarpon and kept one and as soon as we got back to camp he had a fire built and a stick in it's gob cooking it. (Pic attached) By the way....Tarpon are extremely bony.

[Drop Bear]

17 hours ago, Bi_polar said:

I think it's best if we add to this report as we remember things

Yes please do

 

[Drop Bear]

14 hours ago, Bi_polar said:

By the way....Tarpon are extremely bony

Could you still eat it? Where there more than just the pin bones and rib bones?

[Bi_polar]

There were more bones than in would like to remember....lol

We had a few tastes and decided to boycott the Tarpon

[Luke Landrunner]

What an epic fishing adventure !

 

[Drop Bear]

This was such an epic report from an AFO member we lost last year. 

I would have loved to do a trip like this with Lance. RIP brother. 

Anyone know how we could put a trip like this together? 

 

[Do$tylz]

Wow. Thanks for bringing this back up Robbie. In my 4yr absence from AFO, I didn't get to see this report.

What an amazing trip and I'm gutted that I'll never get a chance to talk to Lance about this in person.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Well I just read through and this thread is AMAZING! I'd love to get up to PNG one day targeting the legendary Black Bass.

RIP Lance.

Cheers Hamish

[Drop Bear]

21 hours ago, Do$tylz said:

Wow. Thanks for bringing this back up Robbie. In my 4yr absence from AFO, I didn't get to see this report.

What an amazing trip and I'm gutted that I'll never get a chance to talk to Lance about this in person.

yep he spoke about it with such youthful excitement. It has been stuck in my head for a long time. 

One day I hope to do something similar. You would need a lot of local knowledge to pull it off. 

While they caught some cracking fish, you can see by the photos that the trip was more about the adventure.