# A few days up the Finnis River



## SteveNT (Apr 27, 2012)

Just got back from a few days up the Finnis River. Some pics.

Our camp (old pro crabbers camp but all the commercial fisherman have been booted out)






In the mornings we set the crab pots then headed upstream to the flood plains where the floodwaters are draining off. Full of small barra (and some biguns) and freshwater stingrays (very beautiful) and some rediculously large salties in channels 3 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep. (our little boat fits up these but we had some very close encounters. Bird life was abundant.


















these black shags were on a diving expedition and surfaced next to the boat- woops! they left quick






I love jabiru, they are ungainly and stately at the same time and the colours are fantastic









burdekin duck and typical river rat. Some were smaller than the lure. Barra have attitude! You wouldn't believe the fish you can pull out of these little channels.
















this dragonfly liked my mates hat and stayed there for 20 minutes, even at full throttle!






Back to the camp for lunch then out to mouth to bounce some bait. Lots of crocs and birds.










This was my best for the trip, a 1.3 meter jewie. He towed us around the river for 20minutes (not much you can do with 8kg line and a 22kg fish!) He wrapped around the anchor rope twice while we played Twister trying to lift the anchor, not lose the fish and not fall out of the micro tinnie. Note the happy belly full of mud crab and beer.  (mine!)







Finally here's what happened when a Mexican decided to take his rented 4WD for a spin on the mudflats at Easter. he he he he, we love mexicans!





Unfortunately my 18-35mm lens packed it in so I missed some great "big picture" shots of the river but there's always next time. Hope you like it, I did!


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## junglepython2 (Apr 27, 2012)

Unreal, I'd love to properly travel the NT.


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## edstar (Apr 27, 2012)

Great set of pics!!


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## Jeffa (Apr 27, 2012)

Great pics. Did the crocs think the mexicans were a bit too spicy or what? :shock:


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## SteveNT (Apr 27, 2012)

No, the real people dragged him back to the beach before the tide came in, hope he didn't have budget insurance!


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## Shotta (Apr 27, 2012)

awesome pics i'd love to catch a barra!!


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## Dragonwolf (Apr 27, 2012)

Great pictures of a beautiful land Steve, thanks for sharing.


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## abnrmal91 (Apr 27, 2012)

Awesome I can't wait to be there in less then 2 weeks


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## mmafan555 (Apr 27, 2012)

Mexican?? Australia has a large population of Mexicans??


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## browny (Apr 27, 2012)

so jealous right now looks like a hell of a time.....the fourby looks like an older model dual cab navara so no great loss haha


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## Darlyn (Apr 27, 2012)

Yes mmfan, huge population in Australia, they hide in bags of nachos (which we are quite fond of) and come in illegally and pose as locals.


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## SteveNT (Apr 27, 2012)

You can tell from the roof? We'll be targetting it as a structure later but 3 boats have hit it at speed when it's under and there's no joy in that.

south of the border cobber,

NSW/ QLD/ WA/ SA/ Victoria/ the rest.

This is the Top End. It's different.


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## browny (Apr 27, 2012)

roof of most vehicles can tell you more than you realise, just like you would notice things out walking I would miss  and I bet it's a nasty shock especially in a tinny omg would hurt from your toes to your ears

and of course it's different up there you got the best bush in Australia


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Apr 27, 2012)

Great pics Steve, Im jealous mate..you might get a visit from this Mexican.


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## Darlyn (Apr 27, 2012)

Steve and i would be pleased to have your company ssssnakeman.


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## SteveNT (Apr 27, 2012)

+1


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## Tsubakai (Apr 27, 2012)

Any pics of the freshwater rays?


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## moosenoose (Apr 28, 2012)

Really magic stuff!  Very jealous!


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## SteveNT (Apr 28, 2012)

Tsubakai said:


> Any pics of the freshwater rays?



Nope, just watched them from the micro tinnie. I was looking at these daek blotches on the bottom and some came alive. Cant ask for more than that!


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## Heelssss (Apr 28, 2012)

Fantastic soooo jealous


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## SteveNT (Apr 28, 2012)

Tsubakai said:


> Any pics of the freshwater rays?



Nup, afraid not, they shoot under the boat at high speed. I only took the camera on one day- we got no keepers at all. The other 2 days without the camera we got heaps!


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## waruikazi (Apr 28, 2012)

Nice one Steve! 

The only time i'll never ever help someone in need is when a turkey gets themself bogged on the beach. It's a beautiful way to get yourself into the same strife!


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## imported_Varanus (Apr 28, 2012)

waruikazi said:


> Nice one Steve!
> 
> The only time i'll never ever help someone in need is when a turkey gets themself bogged on the beach. It's a beautiful way to get yourself into the same strife!





Personally, I love any kind of turkey, the common bogged turkey just needs a bit of wash under the tap before it goes in the oven, too much sand otherwise!

Were you anywhere near the freshwater spring that comes from the cliff face and opens straight out onto the beach, Steve? Magic spot, thanks for the pics!


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## SteveNT (Apr 28, 2012)

waruikazi said:


> Nice one Steve!
> 
> The only time i'll never ever help someone in need is when a turkey gets themself bogged on the beach. It's a beautiful way to get yourself into the same strife!



There only one muddy mangrove creek to cross, we get a good run up and charge. The idiots who try to crawl across we cover in mud as we scream through and leave them for the high tide!



imported_Varanus said:


> Personally, I love any kind of turkey, the common bogged turkey just needs a bit of wash under the tap before it goes in the oven, too much sand otherwise!
> 
> Were you anywhere near the freshwater spring that comes from the cliff face and opens straight out onto the beach, Steve? Magic spot, thanks for the pics!



The bogged turkeys get very well washed ha ha. Not sure of the cliff you mention. There is only sandy beach (for 8km) with alternating dunes and freshwater soaks behind. There is a sandstone escarpment about 6km upstream (the rockbar) and judging by the number of palms poking out of the monsoon forest at the base there must be springs there, probably art sites too. We will check it out next trip. This time was for the floodplain run off!


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## imported_Varanus (Apr 28, 2012)

SteveNT said:


> The bogged turkeys get very well washed ha ha. Not sure of the cliff you mention. There is only sandy beach (for 8km) with alternating dunes and freshwater soaks behind. There is a sandstone escarpment about 6km upstream (the rockbar) and judging by the number of palms poking out of the monsoon forest at the base there must be springs there, probably art sites too. We will check it out next trip. This time was for the floodplain run off!



That's the one, thanks Steve! There's freshwater that conveniently pours out at shower height along that escarpment. I once took my hat off there to have a shower (as you do) and left it on the beach. My partner came looking for me, could only see my hat and thought a croc had taken me! When I came back to camp on dusk, I scared the life out of her and her family!


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## mmafan555 (Apr 28, 2012)

Just looked it up...now I understand 

*Mexican :* a person from south of the Queensland or New South Wales border 

Australian slang dictionary

I was wondering why the hell their would be real Mexicans in OZ


Anyway I googled the Finnis River and found a link with a massive Croc caught in the River in the 80's...What an awesome beast


Our Cassius could have been a star | News | NT News | Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia | ntnews.com.au


By the way what is a more rugged wild place...Far North Queensland or Far Northern Territory??


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## Jande (Apr 28, 2012)

Great photos, looks like you had a great time. I need to get out and see more before Nov when we leave. If only we had the time! /jealous


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## Darlyn (Apr 28, 2012)

mmfan you always make comparisons, which one is the best.
Reality is they are both rugged and wild and very beautiful, naturally I prefer NT.
From a very small city you can discover superb areas not that far from civilisation however Northern Qld
you have to travel a long way to get to the "remote" areas.


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## Darlyn (Apr 28, 2012)

Hey marshalmart spam elsewhere.


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## jahan (Apr 29, 2012)

Great pics Steve,very jealous aswell.
You can always pick us Mexicans we`re the ones with
the baked beans in our swag.


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## SteveNT (Apr 30, 2012)

Hey last thing (postscript)

Little Kingfisher- the smallest and the bluest!


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## imported_Varanus (May 1, 2012)

jahan said:


> You can always pick us Mexicans we`re the ones with
> the baked beans in our swag.



You Chicos are such messy eaters!


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## SteveNT (May 2, 2012)

Jande said:


> Great photos, looks like you had a great time. I need to get out and see more before Nov when we leave. If only we had the time! /jealous



pm me with what you're after. We can give you some clues. Kids? Dogs? 4WD? etc

It's a big place. I've been here 35+ years so I can help with some suitable options


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## Venomous1111 (May 2, 2012)

Nice jew mate what gear did ya get it on? Live baiting?


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## SteveNT (May 2, 2012)

Venomous1111 said:


> Nice jew mate what gear did ya get it on? Live baiting?



single hook rig on 100kg mono leader, sinker 3" below tight to the bottom, pilchard and squid combo bait, Abu Garcia 7000 reel (now they're built in Taiwan and need a service after every trip, My original Swedish built 7000 lasted 23 years and was hammered constantly) 8kg braid, 10kg Penn powerstick.

With big Jew you let them push it around for a while. There is no strike. They love to gum it before eating it. We were surrounded by charter boats after the first one but they didn't explain the subtelties to their clients. So first touch they reef their rods and all they get is catfish!


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## Venomous1111 (May 2, 2012)

Nice one. why such a heavy leader? How do you tie such a heavy leader to 8kg braid? Not a big fan of Abu love more of a shimano man myself, if my stella hasn't got the balls to catch what I'm targeting then I'll bring out the serious overhead gear.. I've been catching some decent jewies down this way in the surf haven't hit the 20kg mark this year though.. I mainly use live bait mostly mullet and yellowtail when targeting the big mulloway, if i can't get them I'll go to the fresh squid. Been having a hard time getting past the whalers of the toothie kind at the moment.

Yeah jewies are known to mouth the bait and swim of with it and will spit the hook if they notice something suss is going on, one of the reason I always use circle hooks when targeting them on live baits, pins em in the corner of the mouth most times and don't have the problem of gut hooking them.


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## SteveNT (May 2, 2012)

it's a different fish from ours but a close relative. Barra and Threadies can cut allsorts with their gill rakers. The big jewies up here will always go for a structure to wrap the line around. ( even My mate uses a marlin rod with 80kg braid. IT just slices through the anchor line but a big jewie is worth a sand anchor any day- you can always buy another anchor

with a 3 way swivel


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## imported_Varanus (May 2, 2012)

We used a walkout net off the beach and got a bit of everything. I have a feeling they may be slightly illegal now, though?


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## Darlyn (May 2, 2012)

Here's mine I caught on a lure on a barra line.
In 3 feet of water.


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## SteveNT (May 2, 2012)

Darlyn said:


> View attachment 250211
> 
> 
> Here's mine I caught on a lure on a barra line.
> In 3 feet of water.



Are you not embarressed showing that little guppy?


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## Venomous1111 (May 3, 2012)

imported_Varanus said:


> We used a walkout net off the beach and got a bit of everything. I have a feeling they may be slightly illegal now, though?



yeah mate Illegal down this way not sure about up north though. It's also illegal to use a throw net to collect live bait down here also.



SteveNT said:


> it's a different fish from ours but a close relative. Barra and Threadies can cut allsorts with their gill rakers. The big jewies up here will always go for a structure to wrap the line around. ( even My mate uses a marlin rod with 80kg braid. IT just slices through the anchor line but a big jewie is worth a sand anchor any day- you can always buy another anchor
> 
> with a 3 way swivel


I always thought they were the same species but different name. I know there known as black jewfish up that way but thought it was the same species.



Darlyn said:


> View attachment 250211
> 
> 
> Here's mine I caught on a lure on a barra line.
> In 3 feet of water.



Nice one.


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## imported_Varanus (May 3, 2012)

Aren't Golden Grunter/ Silver Grunter a Jewfish also? Please excuse my ignorance, fisho's.


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## Manda1032 (May 3, 2012)

BAHAHAHA Mexican! Great pics looks so wonderful!


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## Venomous1111 (May 3, 2012)

imported_Varanus said:


> Aren't Golden Grunter/ Silver Grunter a Jewfish also? Please excuse my ignorance, fisho's.



I think up north they have different common names for species to down this way.I've always known the silver grunter to be a silver perch and the golden grunter to be either a sooty grunter or fresh water black bream, same species different common names..


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## waruikazi (May 3, 2012)

Venomous1111 said:


> I think up north they have different common names for species to down this way.I've always known the silver grunter to be a silver perch and the golden grunter to be either a sooty grunter or fresh water black bream, same species different common names..



Nah these are all saltwater fish, silver/golden grunter are what we call ock ocks or javelin fish. They, jewies and mulloway are all part of the same family (the croakers) but in different species and genus.

Here's a little wiki goodness on the big family Sciaenidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ps. all of them are delicious. The best i've ever eaten is what we call a croaker jew or more normally just croaker. I'll see if i can find a pic, weird looking fish.


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## Venomous1111 (May 3, 2012)

waruikazi said:


> Nah these are all saltwater fish, silver/golden grunter are what we call ock ocks or javelin fish. They, jewies and mulloway are all part of the same family (the croakers) but in different species and genus.




aahh I see now. Down this way a jewie is just a common name for a mulloway.. So a black jewfish is different to the jewfish we get down here interesting.Thanks for that.


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## waruikazi (May 3, 2012)

Looks like a black jewie only a little retarded. They all have those big boney knobs on their dorsal fins and a weird mouth.


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## imported_Varanus (May 3, 2012)

Nice link, Gordo, thanks!

The golden version has exactly the same morphology as the one your holding. I wonder if they're not the same Sp, just younger/older or male/female?


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## Venomous1111 (May 3, 2012)

waruikazi said:


> Looks like a black jewie only a little retarded. They all have those big boney knobs on their dorsal fins and a weird mouth.



yeah I see what ya mean now. So what species would you blokes up that way call that a jewie? that looks nothing like the jewies we get down this way in the surf and estuaries.


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## imported_Varanus (May 3, 2012)

In the Kimberley, the one gordo's holding is locally know as a golden/Silver grunter and the one in your pic, Ven, a Jewie.


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## waruikazi (May 3, 2012)

Just going wildly off topic now, this is a brilliant website/guide on all the diff fish species in the world. A little difficult to use if you don't know scientific names but easily the best i've come across albeit a little slow to use. Just for fun here's all the different croakers Fish Identification=

and here's a big girl i caught at Cahills crossing last week. 






That pic isn't a jewie, that's a croaker 'jew' or sometimes called a jewel fish, Nibea squamosa. What we call a black jew is Protonibea diacanthus, look very similar to silver jew/mulloway just a little more stout and don't grow quite as big.



Venomous1111 said:


> yeah I see what ya mean now. So what species would you blokes up that way call that a jewie? that looks nothing like the jewies we get down this way in the surf and estuaries.
> 
> 
> View attachment 250330


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## Venomous1111 (May 3, 2012)

Ok so the jewies we get down this way are a different species, thanks for that. That's a beast. Damn Sydney and it over fished waters. Cheers for the link.


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## SteveNT (May 3, 2012)

Meanwhile back at the Finnis......






Note I am not holding this one out in front of me to make it look bigger! 

That's because my arms were aching and it was too frigging heavy.

It's fed us and the neighbours all week!






Not to mention a cloud of sea eagles, brahminy kites and whistling kites that decended as we left the camp!


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## waruikazi (May 3, 2012)

SteveNT said:


> Meanwhile back at the Finnis......
> 
> Note I am not holding this one out in front of me to make it look bigger!
> 
> ...



Hahahahah

Awww c'mon Steve! Don't you know i have massive hands?!?! Lol, she was still a big fish. Went 94cm, 2nd best to date.


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## Venomous1111 (May 3, 2012)

haha well if there's a bit of a photo comp goin on this is my PB jew caught on a squid ring in my local estuaries, unfortunately couldn't be released because it was gut hooked and bleeding quite heavily. No fishy photo tricks here :lol:


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## SteveNT (May 3, 2012)

Nice fish Ven. I dont know about those jewies down there but the jewies up here taste better the bigger they get. Them and threadfin salmon. Any barra over 80cm I put back. They are the breeders and they taste like crap over that size.


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## waruikazi (May 3, 2012)

SteveNT said:


> Any barra over 80cm I put back. They are the breeders and they taste like crap over that size.



Funny you should say that. Over 85 i always send them back on their way. Except this one... My boss, who's a local woman, saw me hook it and expertly told me how to get it in lol. Once i landed her and got a few pictures i was just about to throw her back when my boss shouted at me that i should keep it. I responded that it was too much fish for me to eat, she came back with an expert response 'You should share it!' Then i responded that it was a female and they are the breeders and make all the babies etc, she came back with the most brilliant response... 'So? Those males they gotta breed too!' LOL very intelligent woman!

Then she threatened to fire me if i didn't keep it lol, so i necked the old girl and fed about a dozen people. Even the guts got eaten out of her. Apparently the swim bladder is the best bit.


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## BARRAMUNDI (May 3, 2012)

last day trip to the finnis with the old man and friends, will be back up there in a few weeks. Jews were from the first rockbar from the mouth.......

Majic place Steve, I have never got that far up river, always launched at Dundee and fished the lower reachs. Next time will have to get a bit further up river......cheers for sharing


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## SteveNT (May 4, 2012)

imported_Varanus said:


> We used a walkout net off the beach and got a bit of everything. I have a feeling they may be slightly illegal now, though?



they're still legal here IV but I prefer to hold the beach end and let others do the wading 






I'm going out bush. Bye y'all


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## imported_Varanus (May 4, 2012)

At least in the Finnis you won't see it coming!


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## Venomous1111 (May 7, 2012)

SteveNT said:


> Nice fish Ven. I dont know about those jewies down there but the jewies up here taste better the bigger they get. Them and threadfin salmon. Any barra over 80cm I put back. They are the breeders and they taste like crap over that size.



Thanks mate. Yeah that's also the same with the jews down this way. anything under around the 3kg mark are very ordinary eating which is why there nicked name soapies down here then anything from around from 3-8kg we call schoolies which can be ok eating and anything over that is classed as an adult fish which are a lot better then the smaller ones but I do like to release any big jews I catch just for the fact that there the breeders and I can get much better tasting table fish around the same spots. Let us know how you go on ya next fishing session mate.


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## Magpie (May 8, 2012)

Tsubakai said:


> Any pics of the freshwater rays?














Seeing as other people were jumping in


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## SteveNT (May 11, 2012)

Noice!

They really do hunt in packs. Thanks for the pics. Where were you?


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## Magpie (May 11, 2012)

That was on the Wearyan river back in 2009. They were on the same sand bank each day.


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## SteveNT (May 11, 2012)

Did you see any bigger ones? Some of the ones up on the Finnis floodplains were 3-4 feet across.

Here goes the last of our Finnis River plunder!






Hey our avatars look like identical twins magpie


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## Endeavour (May 11, 2012)

You have some great wildlife in Australia I hope to visit one day.


Kindest regards


Endeavour


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## Magpie (May 11, 2012)

SteveNT said:


> Did you see any bigger ones? Some of the ones up on the Finnis floodplains were 3-4 feet across.
> 
> Here goes the last of our Finnis River plunder!
> 
> ...



Is yours one of the lost city monoliths?
Your beard is better than mine though.


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## SteveNT (May 11, 2012)

Magpie said:


> Is yours one of the lost city monoliths?
> Your beard is better than mine though.



Ha ha, that's not my beard! I'm the bloke holding the jewie earlier on. I'm the one with the camera so it's very rare I get a pic of me.

My avatar is a limestone column (one if several dozen) a few km north of Katherine, on the side of the road but invisible until after the fire comes through.

What is happening with you and that fish? Is that legal? :lol:


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## Tsubakai (May 11, 2012)

Magpie said:


> Seeing as other people were jumping in



Thanks for posting those. Glad I peeked back into this thread. I'm a big fan of sharks and rays.


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## Magpie (May 12, 2012)

SteveNT said:


> Ha ha, that's not my beard! I'm the bloke holding the jewie earlier on. I'm the one with the camera so it's very rare I get a pic of me.
> 
> My avatar is a limestone column (one if several dozen) a few km north of Katherine, on the side of the road but invisible until after the fire comes through.
> 
> What is happening with you and that fish? Is that legal? :lol:



Find your pleasures where you can I always say.


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## Magpie (May 15, 2012)

It's been pointed out to me that my photos are not freshwater rays but saltwater rays that had swum upstream to mostly fresh water. I know some animals do this to get rid of parasites but I suspect these guys just like the sand bank.


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## SteveNT (May 15, 2012)

I wondered about the vegetation on the other bank (looks like mangroves), but they are Whip Rays which the freshwater ones up the Finnis are. You find a lot of saltwater and freshwater species mixed up at certain times and places up here. (Wet season floods and monster tides make for a lot of salinity variabilty.) If the transition is not too rapid a lot of fish can handle the switch at least for a while.


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