As a young fisho cutting my teeth on the local bass populations in my area, I remember seeing pictures of Jungle Perch in magazines and always wanting to someday get far enough North to chase these aggressive and impressive looking fish in the crystal clear, notoriously beautiful country they reside.
Although I’m sure our partners, wives, and girlfriends would describe our expensive fishing obsessions differently, fishermen being the driven and ambitious bunch we are, often have a list of fish we dream of someday catching. Last year, I finally had the chance to tick off one of my dream fish – the impressive looking Jungle Perch.
"Fisherman being the driven and ambitious bunch we are, often have a list of fish we dream of someday catching"
Setting My Jungle Perch Plans In Motion:
The wife and I planned a long talked about extended trip North, hopping our way up the coast hoping to make it up to the Daintree Rainforest. Jungle Perch from my research were said to be found anywhere from Townsville to Cape Tribulation … Perfect!
While planning our stays on the way up North, my wife and I were looking at local things to see and for bushwalks and activities to do to keep a toddler entertained. Secretly and perhaps a little deceptively, I was looking at activities to do within proximity to fishable water. Specifically, I was looking for rivers and creeks that were not land-locked and which were ideally upstream enough to see some elevation, knowing this would mean the waterway would pool up. I knew pooled up sections of the river would hold quality JP’s.
"Secretly and perhaps a little deceptively, I was looking at activities to do within proximity to fishable water ... I knew pooled up sections of the river would hold quality JP’s."
When I should have been helping my wife plan our holiday, I read a few fishing articles before I left about Jungle Perch lure selection and their natural food sources. From my research, small topwater imitations seemed to be the most productive lures from all accounts, so that is what I stuck with. I was trying to imitate small frogs or lizards, but also interestingly, I read that the Jungle Perch will feed on small red berries, so I made sure I had some small presentations that were red. In fact, the lure that produced the largest fish from my trip was a small clear popper with a red cup. The red cupped popper seeing success might not have been mere coincidence, proving it pays to do your research.
"I was trying to imitate small frogs or lizards, but also interestingly, I read that the Jungle Perch will feed on small red berries"
Key Learnings From The Trip Up North Tangling With JP’s:
On my Jungle Perch journey, my key learning along the way was that ultimately the further I got away from people, the better the quality of the fish I found. Not surprisingly, looking back on this trip, the best fish came from a system that did not even come up in any of my search results when looking for Jungle Perch hot spots. I was climbing over boulders and scaling rockfaces to get to the last pool at the base of one of the largest free-falling waterfalls I have ever seen … I am serious, there were rock climbing cleats (I think they are called) in the stone which I was making my way around when I caught the best fish of the trip. This, to me, is one of the very reasons these fish are so special. The country is rugged, seemingly untouched, capable of causing the unprepared injury, but despite all this, it is insanely scenic - the perfect country to target JPs. The further you pushed into this seemingly untouched country, the better the fishing became because the JPs had seen less angling pressure.
"The country is rugged, seemingly untouched, capable of causing the unprepared injury, but despite all this, it is insanely scenic - the perfect country to target JPs."
Another thing that became apparent from the first pool that held fish I happened upon a little too casually, was that these guys are particularly shy, and the ones that are not shy, are well schooled and are not worth throwing a lure at. We visited two ‘croc free’ swimming holes while staying up at Cape Tribulation and both were stacked with Jungle Perch. I fished one of these creeks early one morning before any tourists arrived for a dip, yet still, I did not hook a fish until I was a good half hour hike up the creek from the pools which regularly saw a tourist or two.
Mossman Gorge was another tourist stop we made where the JPs were easily spotted free swimming among people cooling off. Although there must have been good access points in the Mossman Gorge to allow for some red-hot JP fishing, I was not there long enough to do any exploration. Mossman Gorge was stunning though!
At this point, I should encourage people to do their own research on where is “croc safe”. Although I was told “they are saltwater crocs … They don’t travel into the fresh” by the local servo attendant, I did not exactly feel comfortable wading through waist deep water at dawn knowing the only thing between myself and a death log, was a very easily traversed single lane gravel causeway and five hundred odd meters of fresh water, but I did it anyway … like an idiot the missus would later tell me (in more colourful language). After all, the local servo attendant sounded like he might have been repeating things he did not entirely believe himself. As the saying goes, do as I say, not as I do, so BE CROC SAFE! Saltwater crocodiles are known to inhabit freshwater! Research the areas you fish and certainly don’t rely on croc safety from a servo attendant. AND, if you do come face to face with a death log, I recommend leaving the area and finding new water to fish.
"Although I was told “they are saltwater crocs … They don’t travel into the fresh” by the local servo attendant, I did not exactly feel comfortable wading through waist deep water at dawn"
My father, once an avid trout fisherman, had told me as a young kid that freshwater fishing, especially trout fishing, is almost like hunting.
My old boy would often tell me:
You need to be mindful of the direction you traverse a stream. Most fish will be facing upstream waiting for food to come down, so work your way upstream, not downstream. This will help to both stay out of sight and to present your lure in the most realistic way (floating your lure downstream in the current presents most naturally).
Keep in mind where your shadow falls. Casting a shadow over a pool is a sure-fire way to spook any wary fish.
Wherever possible, keep out of sight, especially when fishing clear water systems.
With Dad’s words of wisdom ringing true, I found hiding behind boulders wherever possible and casting well back from the water’s edge, sometimes even from the pool before the one I was casting into, helped me stay out of sight which helped me get better results.
"With Dad's words of wisdom ringing true, I found hiding behind boulders wherever possible ... helped me stay out of sight"
Lure Selection, Tackle, And Fighting Ability:
Lure selection was primarily smaller topwater presentations, poppers, and walk the dog style lures. Lures in the 50mm range accounted for a lot of fish but the standout for me was a weedless rigged Zman Finesse FrogZ simply because I could cast them into areas that I would not throw lures with multiple trebles. The Zman Finesse FrogZ had the added benefit of easily rolling over boulders when fishing in more shallow areas. I do however have it on good authority, that the Jungle Perch will take some fairly large lures at times, much like our Aussie Bass, so do not be afraid to step up the size of your lure offerings and go a size or two bigger than 50mm.
"Lure selection was primarily smaller topwater presentations, poppers, and walk the dog style lures."
For the trip, I was running a 2-4kg 7” Shimano Zodias matched with a 2500 Shimano Vanford. This combo was suited to the way I was fishing, but if I was to fish some of the bigger systems which have faster flowing water, or if I were to upsize my lures, I would up the size of my stick a little to something in the 2.5kg-5kg range. For the entirety of my trip, I ran 10lb to 12lb leader, but if the bite had been super tough, I would have downsized my leader.
The Jungle Perch packed a punch with their fighting ability. I might be a little bias being a keen Australian Bass fisherman, but our Aussie Bass punch above their weight in comparison to the fighting ability of a JP. In saying that, I did not catch enough JPs to argue that point. Again, did I mention I am biased? Even if it was the case that the Aussie Bass fights harder than the Jungle Perch, the locations and scenery the JPs are caught in, definitely make up for any shortfall, if any, in their ability to put on a good show.
"The Jungle Perch packed a punch with their fighting ability."
Closing Remarks:
At the end of the day, my bucket list Jungle Perch was easier to find than I expected, but the bigger models were hard to get access to and were even harder to fool. As I had heard and eventually witnessed, chasing Jungle Perch was a very rewarding experience … I will definitely be back to tackle a few of these bruisers in the future.
My trip up North taught me a few things. The first thing, when travelling with your family, always pack a rod just in case you can get the time to target your dream bucket list fish. Secondly, the Jungle Perch fights well, looks stunning, and the places they will take you are second to none.
The Jungle Perch of the North truly belongs on each and every fisho’s bucket list.
Written by Joel Cook and Edited by
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