ADVENTURE
Breathtaking Bullo
Story and Photography: David Hancock
Swooping
low along the Bullo River in a helicopter reveals saltwater crocodiles churning
up mud and sand as they launch themselves from the banks and shallows to
the safety of deep water.
Jabirus, egrets, ducks and cattle that line the meandering Top End
waterway don't pay much attention to the chopper and continue to drink and
feed.
Pilot Franz Ranacher is unfazed by the fleeing crocs - some more than five
metres long - and keeps flying the short distance to the mouth of the Bullo,
which flows into the mighty Victoria River, 300 kilometres south-west of
Darwin.
"That's the spot down there," he
says over the intercom with an enthusiastic nod of his head and a bank of
the Kawasaki helicopter. "We'll get a few good barra there. Guaranteed."
It's just after breakfast and the sun is burning through a layer of mist
mixed with smoke from a late dry season burn-off.
The Pinkerton Ranges to the south and Spirit Hills to the west are pastel escarpments that rise from a beige savannah. In three months, this country will again be vivid green and Bullo will be brimming with wet season run-off.
But
right now, conditions at the mouth of the river are perfect for catching
barramundi - the water is low, the tide has turned, schools of mullet are
feeding in the shallows and the mudflats aren't too boggy for intrepid anglers.
It isn't long before the barra are biting but, under instructions from Franz's
partner Marlee, anything under 4kg or 70cm long is thrown back.
After 20 minutes Franz hooks a 12kg fighter that leaps several times before being hauled ashore on a handline.
"That's dinner tonight," Franz
says. " Let's go. We've got some exploring to do." 
Full story: Issue 20, December 01 / January 02
