Legendary Barramundi Fishing in Papua New Guinea

by Carla Ewin of Roaming Adventures

Flying in a twin engine plane over the flooded plains of some of the most southern, pristine wetlands of Papua New Guinea, gives one a real sense of what a great kept secret the Bensbach Wildlife Lodge really is.    For the majority of our short flight from Daru, the sun winked up at us from between the trees and the only signs of humans were the sporadic grass shelters of traditional villages.

As we landed on the airstrip, a team of local women were cutting the grass by hand at the end of the landing strip in preparation for the arrival of the lucky few who knew of the fishing adventures to be had in the Bensbach River.  Our plane taxied its way up its own ‘planeway’ through the jungle, dense walls of vegetation either side of us.

At the end of the ‘plane way’, we were greeted by Kapai, the local manager of the lodge and then shown to our accommodation.  After settling into our rooms, I chatted with Kapai about the fishing in the river just a couple of hundred meters from my room.  The local people call the Barramundi, Jarrawan.  It is a revered fish in these parts and an important staple of the local diet.

After a satisfying breakfast, of locally grown produce, we set off on a four stroke ‘banana boat’  downstream towards the mouth of the river.  We stopped at 5 different fishing spots en route.  The small ripples made by our boat were the only disturbance to the mirrored surface.

The Jarrawan share the river with a rich collection of migratory birds which rise up, startled from the reeds as we passed by.  Intimidating stags also watched over us from a short distance as we cast our rods into the water.  The Stags were introduced by the Dutch into PNG and migrated from the nearby border region with Indonesia.

Floating down the Bensbach, and soaking in its remote and pristine qualities, is a humbling experience.  Not to mention the thrilling fishing!  To try the trip yourself, contact: Trans Niugini Tours at Bensbach Lodge c/- Trans Niugini Tours 
PO Box 371 
Mt Hagen, Western Highlands Province 
Papua New Guinea 
Ph: (675) 542 1438 Fax: 542 2470 
e-mail: travel@pngtours.com website: www.pngtours.com

Getting there: Port Moresby is little over an hour flight from Cairns and only three hours from Brisbane.  Air Niguini, Airlines PNG and Pacific Blue all offer regular flights.  Airlines PNG flies from Port Moresby to Daru where Trans Niugini Tours can organise air transport to Bensbach from Daru.