Ep.06 | Owen Douglas | Fishing WA's Kimberley Region, Malcolm Douglas & Crocs!

Welcome to The Rodcast! — the unfiltered, salt-crusted fishing podcast based out of The Wild West of Australia!
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In this episode we’re joined by Owen Douglas.
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Owen grew up in the Inner West of Sydney, NSW where he cut his teeth fishing for Bream, Flathead, Kingfish and many other species in the Parramatta River. Owen moved to Broome in Western Australia at the age of 16 where he embraced the change in Fishing options, now focusing on Barramundi & fast Pelagic fish in the blue water.
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Owen now works as a Tour Guide at “Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park” which was founded by Owen’s late Grandfather & Australian Outdoor & Fishing Pioneer, Malcolm Douglas, while pursuing a career in the outdoor industry!
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In this episode we flap our gums about…

• The Influence Malcolm Douglas had on Australian Outdoor Culture & his legendary films.
• Learning to fish in Sydney’s Parramatta River
• Moving to Broome and the fishing opportunities in the Kimberley
• Working at the Croc park, some CRAZY Crocodile stories & some valuable lessons on Croc safety.
• Refurbishing Malcom’s old Trail craft boat &  Landcruiser, which was the first ever 1HD-FTE Troopy on Australian Shores + Future Plans for the rig!

Follow Owen on Instagram & TikTok

www.malcolmdouglas.com.au

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No filters. No fluff. Just fishing, good banter, and real stories from the people who’ve lived them.
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TALL TAILS!!

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INTRO TUNE
🥩 Red Bellied Black Snake - The Beefs 🥩
Courtesy of Sam Smith
Click here to listen to The Beefs on Spotify

For all enquiries about Tall Tails Fishing Podcast, please contact jakerotham@gmail.com

Transcript

00:00:49:01 - 00:01:06:11
Speaker 2
Yeah. Good. Hey, guys. Thanks for having me on. I'm excited.

00:01:06:14 - 00:01:21:08
Speaker 2
Yeah, so I needed to get get a little bit of an itch scratched out just before I headed down here. So he headed up to bagel Bay, which is about halfway up the Dampier Peninsula. About an hour and a half north of boom. So there for the long weekend. Just went up there camping, and then we went back our fishing and got a few nice barrels.

00:01:21:09 - 00:01:24:27
Speaker 2
Yeah, it was a really good trip.

00:01:24:29 - 00:01:26:21
Speaker 1
For me.

00:01:26:23 - 00:01:43:21
Speaker 2
Yeah. So using a mixture of Lewis and live baits as well. Yeah. So we started off, it was nap tied. So for the run in we were just using those new hell coated barrel. Lewis we're using the gold collars and they seem to be firing. Got a couple 80 centimeter batteries. And then we moved on to live, baiting a bit further up in the creek.

00:01:43:21 - 00:02:07:00
Speaker 2
Originally we were trolling at the Rock bar in the mouth of the creek, so I moved on, to this really nice deep hole at the back of the creek. And we're fishing with lives and we're just getting. Right. So yeah, 67 me models. Yeah.

00:02:07:03 - 00:02:33:29
Speaker 2
Yeah, it's a great size because, you know, it's good fun because you going to be catching those little fish, but then the big fish are going to be eating it as well. So you're getting a really nice, consistent day of catching fish throughout the entirety of the day. That's why I like using them. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

00:02:34:01 - 00:02:54:29
Speaker 2
Yeah. They,

00:02:55:02 - 00:03:01:16
Speaker 2
It's an 80. I haven't cracked tomato. No, I haven't cracked tomato. I've just been flying the rat, so I. I'm due for a big one.

00:03:01:16 - 00:03:07:00
Speaker 1
The, You.

00:03:07:03 - 00:03:25:00
Speaker 2
Yeah, man, I'm just there for the fun of it.

00:03:25:03 - 00:03:42:19
Speaker 2
Yeah. Well, he passed away just before I turned six, so I had a few memories of him that, that, you know, they're in the back of my mind, which are still great to have. And I cherish greatly. But I feel like up until I moved to Broome when I was about 15 and came over the West, I mean, I'd grew up in, you know, the inner west of Sydney.

00:03:42:19 - 00:04:12:10
Speaker 2
I was in the concrete jungle, so I'd never fully understood how much it meant up until I've moved over here and spoken to people and understood the influence that he had. And now, with a better understanding of, you know, our influence. Let's say you talking about it just then even. Yeah. Brings a nice feeling to myself here.

00:04:12:12 - 00:04:28:22
Speaker 2
He was from, say he was from Shepparton, which is in country Victoria, and then he moved to Melbourne as well. Now he actually spent a lot of time up on, well, not loo. So an island in the Pacific because his dad was a headmaster at the school up there. And then he boarded to Wesley College in Melbourne.

00:04:28:22 - 00:04:57:01
Speaker 2
So he spent a lot of his childhood just diving off the reef, spearing, fishing up in low. So I think that's where a great part of his sort of, I guess his outdoor abilities and his, you know, fishing, started. Yeah. A sense of adventure started was up. And so that's how he started off. And then he moved up to Sydney, just planning to do a couple shows at the opera House to show how Across the top, his first film, planning to make his way all the way up to Byron Bay, got stuck there and then dad ended up doing schooling.

00:04:57:01 - 00:05:22:27
Speaker 2
Is all schooling there. And, he was in between Sydney and Broome a lot because his production was in Sydney and, obviously starting in the Crocodile Park in Burma as well.

00:05:23:00 - 00:05:38:20
Speaker 2
Yeah. I felt like it was something that was always there. And I did a term of schooling in year nine in Burma, did one term, and I came back to Sydney. And ever since that term in Broome, got back to Sydney and I was out on the water every day, you know, going up, hiking in the Blue Mountains, just really eating to get out.

00:05:38:20 - 00:05:59:16
Speaker 2
I just yeah, I did living in, in the suburb. I always wanted to get out in the water and luckily enough got a boat, was able to get on the water. And this was during Covid as well. So school was shut down and I did about 800 hours on the boat in eight months. I was on the water every single day from before the sun came up to after the sun went down, just fishing constantly.

00:05:59:19 - 00:06:12:13
Speaker 2
Kingfish were the main fish. Yeah, absolutely. Loved it.

00:06:12:16 - 00:06:22:03
Speaker 2
Yeah, it's an incredible fish.

00:06:22:05 - 00:06:43:14
Speaker 2
It just seem like everyone my age, there was quite a tight knit sort of group of fish shows around my age. And once, you know, we started off licking plastics from, you know, the edge of the river for flooded bream. That's sort of how it started for myself and a couple of my mates. We all slowly grew together, started fishing for kingfish, got a couple rats, and after you get those first couple rats, it just goes on from there.

00:06:43:14 - 00:07:02:04
Speaker 2
And then we started to get down riggers and the heavy gear and learning from the older blokes about how to do it, venturing a little bit further offshore. Then eventually, yeah, we were sort of in the sort of unit of fisheries in Sydney hearing about the kingfish going to be there and, you know, King is going to be there the next day, and then you just start all working together, getting these massive fish.

00:07:02:04 - 00:07:22:16
Speaker 2
And it's it's a really good community over there. The kingfish shows in Sydney. There really. Are you. Yeah, there is as well. Yeah. We did tag a few Kings as well. Yeah. It's so interesting to target Kingfish and then say it, you know, travel down the coast or even up the coast. I had one that I tagged a middle head in Sydney and ended up in Brisbane, in the next summer, one year.

00:07:22:16 - 00:07:31:23
Speaker 2
So yeah, really incredible. Great system here.

00:07:31:25 - 00:07:48:12
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:07:48:15 - 00:08:04:04
Speaker 2
Yeah yeah yeah. Are they venture really far up, really far up the river that you've had them all the way up in Parramatta, which is, you know, you say from the start of this one you'd be looking at let's just say Guildford in distance. Obviously it's a lot deeper and wider. The, the Parramatta River and Sydney Harbor is.

00:08:04:05 - 00:08:17:23
Speaker 2
But that's the distance you're talking. How far the venturing up. Yeah it's really quite incredible. When they're going up there they're usually feeding off the surface for little jelly prawns. That's usually the summertime. You find them getting up into the upper reaches.

00:08:17:25 - 00:08:19:05
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:08:19:07 - 00:08:19:25
Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah. On.

00:08:20:00 - 00:08:28:03
Speaker 3
Oh yeah.

00:08:28:05 - 00:08:44:02
Speaker 2
It's frustrating when they're feeding on the jelly prawns. Yeah. You've really got to fish in with why. That's the only option when the. Yeah. Because I mean the baits these small you know it's absolutely minuscule. So unless you got small little plastics or fly.

00:08:44:04 - 00:08:45:23
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:08:45:26 - 00:08:53:20
Speaker 2
No not. Yeah I gave it a go of giving it a try a couple times and I just can't get my head around it. Yeah. I feel like I need a good mentor and teacher to really get into it.

00:08:53:21 - 00:08:54:13
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:08:54:16 - 00:08:56:29
Speaker 2
Now there are a few swearwords let out. Learning to fly.

00:08:57:06 - 00:09:01:11
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:09:01:14 - 00:09:15:02
Speaker 2
No I haven't. I'll have to get into him, get a good set up.

00:09:15:04 - 00:09:18:29
Speaker 2
It seems like when they get into it, they, you know, they get into it, you know.

00:09:19:01 - 00:09:19:26
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:09:19:28 - 00:09:20:12
Speaker 2
Seems like.

00:09:20:12 - 00:09:48:02
Speaker 1
That.

00:09:48:04 - 00:10:25:19
Speaker 1
Well, I.

00:10:25:22 - 00:10:27:27
Speaker 2
I will have to do it together.

00:10:27:29 - 00:10:48:29
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:10:49:01 - 00:10:57:28
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:10:58:00 - 00:11:15:08
Speaker 2
Oh, I absolutely love it. I love being able to get out of the house driving hour. And there's no one around you by yourself. You know, you're in the inner Sydney, and you go in there and, you know he is still in Sydney. So I love being able to just get out of the head. It's really great to be able to get out and clear the head and just do something different every day.

00:11:15:08 - 00:11:26:29
Speaker 2
There's such a variety of things you can do, you know you can go mud crabbing one day, then you can go, you know, fishing for three days the next day, and then you can go up hunting the next day. Just a really yet varied, amount of activities you can do up in the Kimberley. That's what I.

00:11:26:29 - 00:11:30:25
Speaker 3
Love. Yeah.

00:11:30:27 - 00:11:45:20
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I've been work in the Crocodile Park Avenue in two is there for about a year and a half. The tour is definitely the best part. You know, we have tourists come through in the village every day of the year, except for Christmas Day. People come through, they can see us feeding the crocodiles. There's very educational tours as well.

00:11:45:26 - 00:11:59:28
Speaker 2
You know, being the entrance of the Kimberley, it's really important for us to educate people on where they can and can't go swimming and really show them the sheer force of these animals. So, you know, coming from down south, hop in their caravans, they might think twice about where they going to go swimming. Once I do finally get up into the Kimberley.

00:11:59:28 - 00:12:28:15
Speaker 2
So it quite possibly going really well.

00:12:28:17 - 00:12:39:02
Speaker 1
Oh my. Yeah.

00:12:39:04 - 00:12:51:06
Speaker 2
100%. Yeah. It can't even be debate.

00:12:51:08 - 00:12:53:13
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:12:53:15 - 00:12:55:17
Speaker 2
So it's just a leg. A bit of beef. I think it was.

00:12:55:23 - 00:12:57:04
Speaker 1
What was it?

00:12:57:07 - 00:12:58:14
Speaker 2
All the blue vine?

00:12:58:14 - 00:13:00:14
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:13:00:17 - 00:13:06:03
Speaker 2
The cobia. Yeah. Stronger. The strongest bite force of any animal.

00:13:06:06 - 00:13:06:15
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:13:06:15 - 00:13:11:00
Speaker 2
The strongest bite force of any animal in the world.

00:13:11:02 - 00:13:20:10
Speaker 3
Yeah. It is. Yeah.

00:13:20:12 - 00:13:20:27
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:13:20:27 - 00:13:37:14
Speaker 2
Feeding the crow. So on TikTok, it's own dog was adventures. On Instagram, it's own Douglas fishing. I got to stop posting a bit more on the fishing page, but the tick tocks good because I can be at work and there's a crocodile. It looks hungry. Just get a bit of beef out, feed it to him, film it. There you are.

00:13:37:14 - 00:13:46:07
Speaker 2
Done and dusted. Yeah, and these things just come launching you out of the water. Come launch and up at the food. It's exhilarating stuff.

00:13:46:09 - 00:13:46:29
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:13:46:29 - 00:14:05:14
Speaker 2
So come on. Yeah. Get them up.

00:14:05:17 - 00:14:20:14
Speaker 2
Yeah, that's why we do it. Because these Crocs have heard. Come on. For 40 years now. So that's the signal for them to come up to fate. So even if you don't have any food, you're walking around the park and you say, come on, I'll be launching out of the water, right? Yeah, because that's a signal to food.

00:14:20:17 - 00:14:38:23
Speaker 2
I wouldn't say recognize the voice. I would say, yeah, they come on, they know they hear that. And it's like, yeah, but a yelling and it gets them going. Also we fed them with blue bucket. So like the chickens in a blue bucket. So I've had a tourist walking around with blue t shirts on, bright blue t shirts on, and they come up the fence thinking they're a chicken bugger.

00:14:38:25 - 00:14:46:16
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah.

00:14:53:15 - 00:15:07:04
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah.

00:15:07:06 - 00:15:11:16
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:15:11:19 - 00:15:25:14
Speaker 2
Because the thing is, with these animals, while they are looking at the chicken, they're looking at your head, your arm, your leg. You know, they'd much rather grab you than grab the chicken. Whereas, like feeding the American alligators that we have at the place, they're just solely looking at the chicken. That's all that they're going for. They know I'm their food provider.

00:15:25:21 - 00:15:29:22
Speaker 2
Where the crocs. I see me as a source of food as well, just as much as the food provider.

00:15:29:29 - 00:15:36:20
Speaker 1
How old were you when you first up here? Exposure to.

00:15:36:22 - 00:15:57:01
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I moved up here when I came up and, you know, and I wasn't really working the park. So it's probably about year 11 that I started working at the Crocodile Park there. And that just started off, you know, landscaping, cutting trees down, poisoning. And then eventually, as I started to get a bit old, turned 18, then I was allowed to get in there and start feeding them a bit more regularly and then start to do the tours as well.

00:15:57:03 - 00:16:11:20
Speaker 2
Now you can't you can't put yourself in the position to even have a close call. You've just got to be so careful. I guess coming from the outside of someone doesn't work with crocodiles. You might look at some of the things inside. Geez, that's a close call. But yeah, I never want to put myself in an uncomfortable situation.

00:16:11:20 - 00:16:27:28
Speaker 2
I haven't yet, so hopefully I won't. But, yeah, just got to be so careful.

00:16:28:00 - 00:16:29:04
Speaker 2
Yeah, it's quite nice.

00:16:29:05 - 00:16:52:10
Speaker 3
I.

00:16:52:13 - 00:16:55:05
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:16:55:07 - 00:17:10:22
Speaker 2
Yeah. The berm jet is a little secretive one. It's one of those ones where it holds some fish that you wouldn't think it holds fish. We've got Mackey's on top. Water at night time there. You know, it always have plenty other a variety of features. Well, yeah. You get better there as well. Yeah. So it's a really good spot.

00:17:10:28 - 00:17:28:23
Speaker 2
It's a shame they've cut the walkway out. Used to be able to walk out the whole thing. So it's really good for people that might not have had a boat to be able to go out and fish off the jetty there. But now the walkway is about a third of what it was. So at a high tide you can fish it and you do get some fish, you get Queenie's coming through, you get trevally coming through so you can catch just about anything there.

00:17:28:23 - 00:17:48:11
Speaker 2
You get mangrove jacks under it, you get blue bone under it. You get a lot of ray fish as well that come in and sit underneath it. It's got. Yeah, a really good bottom there to fish off as well. Yeah. You're not allowed to go within 150m of the jetty. But you know, you get in under there.

00:17:48:13 - 00:17:48:23
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:17:48:24 - 00:17:54:27
Speaker 2
Real big cast. Yeah. With the drone, you get the drone off the lure in under there.

00:17:54:29 - 00:18:03:18
Speaker 3
Oh, yeah. Always do.

00:18:03:20 - 00:18:09:06
Speaker 1
Yeah, and you're wrong. Yet?

00:18:09:08 - 00:18:13:11
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:18:13:14 - 00:18:14:21
Speaker 2
It's so special.

00:18:14:23 - 00:18:15:04
Speaker 3
Yeah, it.

00:18:15:04 - 00:18:30:08
Speaker 2
Is so incredibly special. Whenever I head off on a Friday, I've, you know, the cars packed, the boats on the back and I'm. I, you know, grandpa would do the exact same thing. Dampier Peninsula is heading up, so I've got to make that as a property at big Bay. So we spend a lot of time up there fishing off there.

00:18:30:13 - 00:18:48:18
Speaker 2
It's got really good fishing in the creeks. Then you've also got incredible bluewater fishing just off the mouth of it as well. I also spend a lot of time up, around where Cygnet Bay is. So there's a really nice resort there that you can camp at or you can stay in if you like. Yeah. And, then you've got the whole venture to be able to go around all the islands.

00:18:48:18 - 00:19:06:27
Speaker 2
So you've got sand islands. So a lot of islands off one on point, which is just absolutely incredible, you know, crystal clear water, even considering their huge tides. They've got to be careful through there, there with the big tides because you get whirlpools popping up. Yeah. It's pretty hairy.

00:19:06:29 - 00:19:23:20
Speaker 1
Yeah. Then they, we're round trip.

00:19:23:22 - 00:19:29:16
Speaker 2
Far out. Away. What an adventure.

00:19:29:18 - 00:19:42:04
Speaker 1
It.

00:19:42:06 - 00:20:09:02
Speaker 1
Like I got rescued.

00:20:09:04 - 00:20:26:15
Speaker 1
Well. Oh, no.

00:20:26:18 - 00:20:31:26
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:20:31:28 - 00:20:32:27
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:20:32:29 - 00:20:50:18
Speaker 2
It, It's incredible. You go up there and you're the only one around these islands. Sometimes in this just picturesque, you know, beautiful Islands Award is beautiful. The fishing isn't incredible. I wouldn't say it's incredible. Like you when you go further up in the Kimberley, just because a sheer amount of water moving around these islands is just incredible.

00:20:50:18 - 00:21:11:09
Speaker 2
You wouldn't be able to get lower down in some of these areas for sure.

00:21:11:11 - 00:21:22:26
Speaker 2
Yeah, it really puts in perspective, doesn't it? Seeing what we have nowadays and being able to look back and just being like, are you serious? Right.

00:21:22:28 - 00:21:25:01
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:21:25:04 - 00:21:38:24
Speaker 2
Yeah, it's still even even the stuff carries onto that. I we're currently trying to get out hard top very well too. It on his old trail croft boat from when he rolled it and cracked it so lot still bits of fixing up.

00:21:38:27 - 00:21:48:16
Speaker 1
Yep.

00:21:48:18 - 00:22:05:29
Speaker 2
So our age. I love it in there because. So you go from the rocky Kimberley and then you go in and you have these beautiful ranges and you've got these flood plains. And the fishing up there is really good during the dry season is good. So it's really good option during the colder, months to go up there camping in the fishing there's quite good in the fresh water.

00:22:05:29 - 00:22:20:12
Speaker 2
So you got the saltwater barrier fishing and you got the freshwater barrier fishing in the river. I mean, it's not like we have any dams like they have over on the East Coast, not that sort of freshwater fishing. It's pretty similar to what you're fishing in the saltwater rivers. But it's a little bit different, the fresh. And also there's brilliant hunting as well.

00:22:20:12 - 00:22:34:17
Speaker 2
You got plenty of wild boar up there, which caused a lot of problems with the environment. So it's really important for us boys to be able to cut back on that, to try and create, you know, the environment, pure and pristine to what it should be.

00:22:34:19 - 00:22:44:05
Speaker 2
Good chairman, big chairman. Yeah, that's always good fun, isn't it?

00:22:44:07 - 00:22:53:28
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:22:54:00 - 00:23:11:20
Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah. I mean, the Fitzroy River is a special place for so many people in Broome because it's a really easy spot for people because if you, let's say you can't afford a big boat to go blue water fishing, you can get your tinny in, you can go up to hours. You know, I don't know if two hours north of Broome check in and go catch really big barramundi.

00:23:11:20 - 00:23:45:18
Speaker 2
So it's a really good option for a lot of people in Broome. It's a very popular spot as well. Also now with Caravanners, to go up there as well. It's got a bit of a name for it. Yeah. And there are some big Crocs in there, you know, for 4.5m crocodiles, which you've got to be really careful for.

00:23:45:20 - 00:23:47:14
Speaker 1
So yeah.

00:23:47:14 - 00:24:00:00
Speaker 2
So he would have been, I assume, a big crocodile. Well, yeah. So he would have been one of the territorial males in that area. So he would have had, you know, a stretch of riverbank, the water. That's his home. That's his spot. Extremely territorial.

00:24:00:02 - 00:24:08:18
Speaker 3
So that is him just saying. Yeah. Get out of here, mate. Get out of here.

00:24:08:20 - 00:24:20:29
Speaker 2
Yeah. I was with one of my good mates, and we were fishing up there for Barra, and we were just getting live. These will I will feature some of these, you know, is the AVO, you know, had a few beers like, I will see that. We'll just chalk the lives out and we'll just chill out, watch the sunset.

00:24:20:29 - 00:24:37:23
Speaker 2
It'll be beautiful. So he put the tinnie up on the sandbank. Can we walk along to try get some lives? Were thrown the cast net anyway, so my mates names really close out all the teens. We look back. The tinnies floated off in the middle of the river. Yeah, the tide's coming in and we just. We thought we'd pull it out.

00:24:37:25 - 00:24:50:16
Speaker 2
Oh, we thought we'd pulled it up far enough anyway. So we waited and we were like, jeez, you know, there's a crossing down there. We might have to cross now. There's crocs. No, I'm not going to do that. And we're thinking, oh, there's a bridge about ten kilometers up. Go up to the bridge, get someone to give us a lift back.

00:24:50:16 - 00:24:57:17
Speaker 2
Oh, jeez, mate, what are we going to do anyway? You know, after about an hour, these gray nomads came up and round the corner towing our tent.

00:24:57:17 - 00:24:59:27
Speaker 3
You know, like, they did, and we.

00:24:59:28 - 00:25:04:27
Speaker 2
Were like, oh, thank God. And then, funnily enough, they're on one of my tours of the Crocodile Park about a week before.

00:25:04:27 - 00:25:12:02
Speaker 3
They're like, oh, Malcolm, God bless his grandson. Yeah. And I was like, yeah,

00:25:12:05 - 00:25:20:23
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah, I that's it. I, I what are you doing, man. You know, learn how to do it. But anyway.

00:25:20:25 - 00:25:39:01
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah. One. Yeah. The vehicle. Yep.

00:25:39:03 - 00:25:47:09
Speaker 1
Yep.

00:25:47:11 - 00:26:02:20
Speaker 2
Yeah. I do a lot of bluewater fishing off berm. That sort of the main thing I do. So I got a 4.2 made TuneIn. That's what I used to go out. We got 25, 25 guys. Yeah 2530 guys. Yeah it's a ripper bike because then I can use it up, up in the river. I can tall it anywhere I want to taller.

00:26:02:20 - 00:26:10:22
Speaker 2
I can use a cruiser to taller along the beach with ease. I can go off 2530 K's down for Sailfish. You know, it's, for 20 renegade.

00:26:10:24 - 00:26:11:25
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:26:11:25 - 00:26:17:20
Speaker 2
What is 60 on the back? So it hums along.

00:26:17:22 - 00:26:18:22
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:26:18:25 - 00:26:35:14
Speaker 2
Oh, yeah. It's wicked. I'm getting about 27, 28 knots when I'm by myself in it. Yeah. So it goes nice and quick. I do have my encoder on it. Yeah, I actually bought it with. Well, I actually bought the boat in Sydney originally. I got it in Covid. I got it super cheap. It was like 16 grand.

00:26:35:14 - 00:26:53:11
Speaker 2
I had, you know, nine inch the front 12 inch of the helm encoder, 300 hours on 40 horsepower. Good. Aluminum trial, auto water. So rip it down. And then since had I'm tied up to and it's not looking it's flash anymore. It's orange. It's pin the Einstein orange. Now.

00:26:53:13 - 00:27:08:19
Speaker 2
That's it. Yeah. So adapting to the fishing off boom was you know it was a bit of a shock getting off. But considering I was fishing in Sydney, it's just so different. I mean, you can take the same skills, but it does take a while to learn about a new area. You know, you can use the same skill is going to be, you know, the baits going to be here.

00:27:08:19 - 00:27:27:11
Speaker 2
The tide's pushing here and you can add that to it. But just about knowing where to go. Also about the big thing was launching the boat as well. You know you got a ten meter tie. It's really hard when to launch a boat. So once you got that sorted heading out. Yeah, I'd love my mackerel fishing. So trolling for mackerel Topwater mackerel is also one of my favorite types of sport fishing for sure.

00:27:27:14 - 00:27:32:19
Speaker 2
All made. It's ripper.

00:27:32:21 - 00:27:43:02
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:27:43:05 - 00:27:54:29
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:27:55:01 - 00:27:58:18
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:27:58:21 - 00:28:15:16
Speaker 2
Yeah. Just got to make sure. Always like if I'm going out by myself. Have my life jacket on, you know, got the, k plugged in stuff. Pulls out, turns off straight away. I got the a pub, got the Po Bay as well.

00:28:15:18 - 00:28:17:29
Speaker 2
Yeah. Hopefully redo the trial off.

00:28:18:05 - 00:28:27:12
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:28:27:15 - 00:28:38:26
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:28:38:29 - 00:28:54:08
Speaker 2
So the plan is eventually to have it ready to go and a brewery create a trip through the Kimberley. That's what I wanted to get everyone together. Do a big trip up through the Kimberley. Keep it as simple as possible. You know, angle at the front. Nothing flash. Just keep it is how it was and head up there.

00:28:54:08 - 00:29:00:23
Speaker 2
Hopefully have a LandCruiser as well to tow it with and get it in the water. Yeah I let's go on the road.

00:29:00:27 - 00:29:07:25
Speaker 1
Bit like the.

00:29:07:27 - 00:29:11:29
Speaker 2
Yeah. So doing it up.

00:29:12:01 - 00:29:16:01
Speaker 2
Yeah. The first one after a true P in Australia.

00:29:16:03 - 00:29:26:11
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:29:28:01 - 00:29:32:27
Speaker 2
Yeah. Completely rusted out. Yeah. It hasn't been looked after very well.

00:29:32:29 - 00:29:39:28
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yep.

00:29:40:00 - 00:29:44:04
Speaker 2
I know.

00:29:44:06 - 00:29:53:11
Speaker 2
Yeah, you should say it. It's like all the body work is done now. It's gonna look nearly brand new. With Garrett Ross works down in paper like.

00:29:53:13 - 00:30:05:13
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:30:05:15 - 00:30:21:23
Speaker 2
I want to use it. I want to get out and use it. Imagine saying nothing with a child car for Honda driving through town. People think that. Yeah, grandpa's come up from the grave driving it around, you know? Yeah, yeah, well, we just got a new blue here. We just go to an island. Yeah. Grandma just got a new catalog.

00:30:21:23 - 00:30:29:27
Speaker 2
Yeah. She hasn't had a dog for about a year. And she loves having cattle dogs. Bundy. Yeah. Bundy. Number four, maybe number five even.

00:30:29:29 - 00:30:30:27
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:30:30:29 - 00:30:37:04
Speaker 2
It's just. Yeah. Easy. Yeah. In her mind.

00:30:37:06 - 00:30:45:27
Speaker 1
If she's done.

00:30:45:29 - 00:31:01:20
Speaker 2
So, Kimberley be the first one for sure. 100%. Kimberly would be the first spot and then second spot I want to go. It would be Arnhem Land around Elko Island. So we were there mid last year, actually up in Arnhem Land for a funeral. Grandpa lived there for a couple of years in Arnhem Land in the 60s, so went up there.

00:31:01:20 - 00:31:08:15
Speaker 2
Absolutely incredible. Would love to take it up there also. Papua New Guinea, the third spot if you watch North New.

00:31:08:15 - 00:31:10:04
Speaker 1
Guinea.

00:31:10:06 - 00:31:28:14
Speaker 2
I don't know if I do what. So what he did was he launched a boat in Sydney Harbor, a five made a queen triggerfish about, you know, just a little half cabin boat. And he took it from Sydney all the way along the east coast up to New Guinea. I don't know if I do it from Sydney, maybe do it from up Cape York.

00:31:28:16 - 00:31:29:00
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:31:29:02 - 00:31:38:17
Speaker 2
And the footage in that, the footage is incredible. You know, he's launching up these waves and just getting serious air time in a little tiny boat. All my.

00:31:38:19 - 00:31:39:00
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:31:39:00 - 00:31:45:20
Speaker 2
It's incredible. It's my favorite film. North New Guinea. There's I don't think there's any fishing in it actually. But it's just a pure adventure film.

00:31:45:23 - 00:31:52:04
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:31:52:06 - 00:31:55:02
Speaker 2
Yeah. For sure. I mean, the fishing up there, it's just mental.

00:31:55:05 - 00:32:00:12
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:32:00:15 - 00:32:04:26
Speaker 2
Yeah. It all builds up to that big. What is it? Made a plus barrel.

00:32:10:23 - 00:32:26:06
Speaker 1
If it's.

00:32:26:08 - 00:32:28:14
Speaker 3
A.

00:32:40:07 - 00:32:48:28
Speaker 2
It's something that I look up to. It's just the ability to go and catch a big fish and just for the adventure and just. Sally. Jeez. Yeah, this is for me. And then puts it back.

00:32:49:00 - 00:32:50:08
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:32:50:11 - 00:32:58:02
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah, I know.

00:32:58:05 - 00:33:18:23
Speaker 2
And that's what. That's what I love about the Kimberley's. Well, is because you, you're doing a proper adventure to get to some spots. You know, you get on really remote. And while these fish might not be massive trophy sized fish and you post on social media and they won't look good compared to what everyone else is catching, I don't know the story behind you getting in there, so what it means to catch what might not be a great fish, just an adventure.

00:33:18:23 - 00:33:29:27
Speaker 2
And to get to that end point, make the fulfillment like nothing else.

00:33:29:29 - 00:33:34:07
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:33:34:09 - 00:33:39:06
Speaker 2
Yeah, I did it. The footage I've shot in the last year.

00:33:39:08 - 00:33:42:23
Speaker 1
Yep.

00:33:42:26 - 00:33:52:25
Speaker 2
Yeah, that would be nice. Alternate. And not a bad one to come along on.

00:33:52:27 - 00:34:10:06
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I'm at university. I'm studying marketing and PR at the moment, so. Yeah, I mean, I'd love to be fishing every day, but I had to get some sort of qualification. Just put my head down for a little bit, keep the parents happy. So yeah, just something hopefully to then be able to potentially use in for drive industry, outdoor industry, fishing industry.

00:34:10:08 - 00:34:20:14
Speaker 2
I really want to get into that industry and it just look like a decent little course to start myself up. Oh for sure. Yeah.

00:34:20:16 - 00:34:30:29
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah. Well.

00:34:31:01 - 00:34:31:19
Speaker 3
That's what I'd.

00:34:31:19 - 00:34:41:14
Speaker 2
Love to do. Yeah. A bit of YouTube. Get out there. Retrace the steps and see if I can do it.

00:34:41:17 - 00:34:43:12
Speaker 3
Oh, there we are. That's all I need.

00:34:43:14 - 00:34:48:24
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:34:48:26 - 00:35:00:29
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:35:01:01 - 00:35:06:05
Speaker 2
Oh. I'd love it.

00:35:06:08 - 00:35:08:13
Speaker 2
Yeah. You get trout out in the hills.

00:35:08:15 - 00:35:16:10
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:35:16:13 - 00:35:29:25
Speaker 2
Yeah. I love trout fishing. Yeah. Really? We used to do in the Blue Mountains. So it's about an hour and a half from where I lived in Sydney. I never going down to the Snowy Mountains Forum, but I've had some mates who have gone down there and they get some absolute stinkers.

00:35:29:28 - 00:35:35:16
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:35:35:19 - 00:36:09:18
Speaker 2
On trout. Trout was actually grandma says trout was one of Malcolm's favorite fish to catch. Trout. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. They. Yeah I mean I get fired up. They're pretty aggressive, aren't they?

00:36:09:20 - 00:36:10:04
Speaker 2
Really?

00:36:10:04 - 00:36:16:13
Speaker 1
Well.

00:36:33:23 - 00:36:51:02
Speaker 2
That's so interesting.

00:37:06:00 - 00:37:06:29
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:37:07:01 - 00:37:29:29
Speaker 2
Yeah. Me too. On the trout fishing. When we were doing in the Blue Mountains, all the boys would be about three of us. And because, you know, you'd have a sort of shallow section, then you'd get to a deep section where they'd been sort of obviously running to try and get the first course in there on the trout running along, and then there'd be wombat holes so you could run over the wombat holes, and then you'd get the wombat coming out behind you to stop the boys behind you guys.

00:37:30:00 - 00:37:33:29
Speaker 2
One better be going off with the boys behind your brain.

00:37:34:02 - 00:38:52:18
Speaker 3
And yet they're massive. They are huge. Yeah.

00:38:52:21 - 00:38:57:01
Speaker 3
Yeah. Well.

00:38:57:03 - 00:39:01:05
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:39:01:07 - 00:39:16:03
Speaker 2
Eating the young.

00:39:16:05 - 00:39:16:24
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:39:16:24 - 00:39:21:17
Speaker 2
Funny old story. That one, isn't it? So is in July 2010.

00:39:21:19 - 00:39:23:10
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah.

00:39:23:13 - 00:39:38:18
Speaker 2
So how it's how it works is we've got the old Croke Park and then next to us is Diver's Tavern. So it's the best pub in town. It's a local pub. Yeah. I ride my quad bike there. It's not close, you know. So anyway, bloke that got on the pace pretty hard and he says, yeah, about 15 years ago now.

00:39:38:20 - 00:39:55:00
Speaker 2
It was the middle of July. Mine's in the middle of a dry season and the crocs are cold blooded animals. So berms a pretty southern point for a larger crocodile, especially during those colder months. They don't have much energy, you know, they might even go a couple months without eating any food as well. So over those colder months, I've got no energy now.

00:39:55:00 - 00:40:10:02
Speaker 2
He jumped in a fat size pond who's a super aggressive big croc. He's a five meter crocodile and he tried to go on go for a swim, so he got him on the leg fat. So I got this bloke on the leg, ripped them apart. I think he had to get over 100 stitches. He managed to get into a corner.

00:40:10:09 - 00:40:25:22
Speaker 2
It was a pretty jagged corner where he's able to get in there and fat, so he's got a huge, wide, big head, so fat. So try to keep going at him, but luckily jammed his head in in. The bloke was able to get out. He walked back to the pub with a leg pretty much torn apart and tried to get another bit.

00:40:25:24 - 00:40:27:13
Speaker 3
But hey, try it over another.

00:40:27:14 - 00:40:28:25
Speaker 2
Yeah, try to get another body.

00:40:28:25 - 00:40:36:18
Speaker 1
Be yeah. Hey.

00:40:36:20 - 00:40:41:29
Speaker 2
You should watch the interview the day after. Yeah. The character, the character, speaks for itself, let's say.

00:40:41:29 - 00:40:46:26
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:40:46:29 - 00:41:06:08
Speaker 2
Yeah. So my favorite croc is called guts. I love guts, and I love guts because he's only got one good eye, and it's still not a very good eye. And he's really big. And every time I come up and I say, come on, he comes out. He's in a really nice large enclosure with a big pond. And I go there and I feed him the biggest food that I've got.

00:41:06:08 - 00:41:09:01
Speaker 2
Any eats at every single time.

00:41:09:03 - 00:41:29:05
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:41:29:08 - 00:41:35:13
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:41:35:15 - 00:41:39:22
Speaker 1
But.

00:41:39:25 - 00:41:59:14
Speaker 2
I think that the furthest they'll come is Carnarvon. I personally think that Carnarvon is going to be how far they come down. When you have a look at the rape charts you can see where the warm water sort of congregates around Carnarvon. There they need, you know, for a smaller croc to a minute call. You're looking for 27 a let's just say like in Perth Zoo, the water, there's 27 degrees for that crocodile.

00:41:59:17 - 00:42:17:26
Speaker 2
Yep. So you're looking at 26, 27 degrees is quite cold for a crocodile. Now, you'll find that during the, you know, the colder months, these crocs aren't going to be traveling down there. Then it's when you've got the warm currents that they're traveling down. Now, the reason that they're traveling further down south is because back in the 1970s, these crocodiles were nearly to extinction.

00:42:17:26 - 00:42:37:12
Speaker 2
They were nearly killed to extinction. So they're over 2.5m. I estimate there were 4000 crocodiles in WA over 2.5m in 73. So since it's been protected, which Malcolm was a huge part of, went to the government and said they need to get protected. I mean, he was traveling up to the Kimberley for years. He got to see the decline in population personally.

00:42:37:14 - 00:42:56:14
Speaker 2
So since they've been protected, the numbers have drastically increased. That's another reason why the farm started as well was to potentially breed them up to reintroduce them. But in the wild the stocks just replenished so well. So being such a territorial animal, what are these Crocs? Are you saying around Exmouth going to be just over two meters? You know, that's a young adult, a teenager.

00:42:56:14 - 00:43:10:02
Speaker 2
That's when us humans are the same. If you put in a context, you know, we're getting out of the house, we're stepping into the big world. That's them wanting their own territory. So they're getting kicked out of every creek up north by the bigger ones, and they're slowly making their way down south to trying to find their own spot.

00:43:10:05 - 00:43:16:14
Speaker 2
You know, we've got a housing crisis, not enough houses. Our population. These crocs have got a great crisis. Might not off Craig Swan.

00:43:16:16 - 00:43:20:14
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:43:20:16 - 00:43:48:10
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:43:48:12 - 00:44:08:16
Speaker 2
Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, like, truly how big the crocodiles can get? We don't really know. I mean, around seven meters as big as they're going to get. The largest ones you find around the equator because they're able to fade throughout the whole year, because it's warm throughout the whole year. It blows.

00:44:08:16 - 00:44:14:20
Speaker 1
Warm.

00:44:14:22 - 00:44:18:13
Speaker 1
Yeah, well.

00:44:18:16 - 00:44:36:23
Speaker 2
Yeah. Papua New Guinea have the biggest ones for sure. Biggest crocs around Papua New Guinea. The usual one I've seen would have to be up the white River. He was easily just short of five meters. It was a big boy. I haven't been to any of the rivers of the NT yet, but I assume that'll be where I'm going to see my biggest one.

00:44:36:23 - 00:44:37:13
Speaker 2
Next stop.

00:44:37:13 - 00:44:46:01
Speaker 1
In.

00:44:49:03 - 00:45:12:18
Speaker 2
Oh, I mean, they've been eating, you know, eating corals since Caliban in Australia and even these ones in Papua New Guinea. They're eating the wild boar that have been there for years as well. They're getting huge. I mean, these animals have been eating humans as well for years. You know, their diet ranges from anything up to buffalo, which I get in the intake all the way down a small, you know, marsupials as well.

00:45:12:20 - 00:45:22:10
Speaker 2
That's not ideal, is it?

00:45:22:13 - 00:45:39:29
Speaker 2
So I think the main thing is just to when it comes to being around areas of water where crocodiles can be just to be extra careful what you think might be all right. There's going to be careful. Go up a level, you know, because these things are so quick and agile, you wouldn't believe it. You've seen the videos that I post.

00:45:39:29 - 00:45:56:04
Speaker 2
Really how quick they are. So you've just got to be so careful around the water Cape back from, you know, a few meters away from the water at all times. Even if you're fishing in your casting, keep away from that water. Allow yourself to make sure you look around you go fishing with trees behind you. Make sure you got a clear exit if you need it as well.

00:45:56:06 - 00:46:15:11
Speaker 2
Also, I mean the saltwater crocodile is called the saltwater croc. They can live in freshwater as well, quite easily. So my biggest thing is to come to Croc Park. You get a full educational tour about where you can and can't go talk to locals, go into the visitor centers, talk to the rangers as well, especially up on the Gib River ride because a lot of people go swimming around there with a freshwater crocodiles.

00:46:15:13 - 00:46:21:00
Speaker 2
So you've just got to talk to locals. But what I'll say over and over again, murky water. Stay well clear.

00:46:21:08 - 00:46:28:28
Speaker 1
Yeah, I'll be doing some.

00:46:29:01 - 00:46:36:07
Speaker 3
Great. Yeah.

00:46:47:25 - 00:46:48:29
Speaker 2
All right. Go for.

00:46:48:29 - 00:46:56:01
Speaker 1
It.

00:46:56:03 - 00:47:07:10
Speaker 2
I'll say mangrove Jack's my favorite fish, and I go Bluebird and kingfish.

00:47:07:13 - 00:47:18:29
Speaker 2
Dyer. I would say hello, twisty.

00:47:19:01 - 00:47:23:18
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:47:23:20 - 00:47:24:27
Speaker 1
Oh.

00:47:24:29 - 00:47:34:07
Speaker 2
I'll just say Smith's chips, mate. Yeah. You know, after dealing with the squid in the bait, just get right in there.

00:47:34:09 - 00:47:35:14
Speaker 2
So in vinegar.

00:47:39:17 - 00:47:50:12
Speaker 2
Yeah. It's got to be anywhere up in the north, the Kimberley, north of you, in Australia in general. That I haven't been yet. I want to travel everywhere. I.

00:47:50:14 - 00:47:54:22
Speaker 2
Brook. See. Yeah. Brook. See for morning tide fishing. Yeah. Absolutely. Love is.

00:47:54:22 - 00:47:56:26
Speaker 3
That. Yeah.

00:47:56:29 - 00:48:08:20
Speaker 2
That's that's other than Malcolm fishing. Morning tide fishing. Brook. Sea. Briggs that spot me up to get in as and boy started up. Yeah. It's so.

00:48:08:20 - 00:48:12:03
Speaker 3
Raw.

00:48:12:06 - 00:48:19:24
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:48:19:26 - 00:48:26:14
Speaker 2
I have to get into it. The old morning tide stuff.

00:48:26:17 - 00:48:40:09
Speaker 2
I would say start simple. Yeah. Start simple. Start on. The edges are really gone for floods and brim. That's how you start out. And then you can work your way up. Don't get caught up in saying what everyone else is catching. All the pros are catching. Start off small.

00:48:40:12 - 00:48:41:02
Speaker 3
But I reckon.

00:48:41:08 - 00:49:02:17
Speaker 2
Yeah, that's it. That's right.

00:49:02:20 - 00:49:17:27
Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah. We love.

00:49:17:29 - 00:49:20:21
Speaker 2
Yeah. Cheers, guys. Benbow.

00:49:20:23 - 00:49:25:08
Speaker 1
Let's do it.