Wild River Tours

Wild River Tours We offer specialist guided fishing days and multi-day trips throughout the Northern Rivers of NSW.

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Wild River Tours offers fully guided and fully insured fishing adventures in and around Northern NSW. We operate from Casino NSW right in the heart of the action. Our guided tours will take you to the best Bass fishing waters in Australia such as the mighty Nymboida, Mann River and the Clarence.

Winter’s here, the rivers are cold, and apparently I’ve had too much time to think.Since kicking off the new Wild River ...
24/06/2026

Winter’s here, the rivers are cold, and apparently I’ve had too much time to think.

Since kicking off the new Wild River venture (watch this space), John asked the dangerous question:
“Would you ever design your own canoe?”

So naturally, I got to work.

Introducing the WRT Esky Explorer 3000:

Twin “Esky” outboards
luxury captain’s chairs
built-in Esky`s
enough gadgets to make a ABT bass boat nervous

We’re expecting strong interest from the US market.

Winter Bassin' - Two Old FoolsWith the season closed for most, I still like heading high into the mountains to see which...
09/06/2026

Winter Bassin' - Two Old Fools

With the season closed for most, I still like heading high into the mountains to see which bass didn't make the run downstream to spawn. I've always found the shallow water produces the better fish, although there are usually fewer of them. Every trip I'm chasing that elusive winter 50, but this one just didn't deliver a big girl.

The weather threw a bit of everything at us. We started with blue skies and crisp winter mornings, then finished with rain on the last day.

Most of the fish came from the lower sections of the river. My guess is the drought conditions had pushed them down a few months earlier.

We managed a handful of quality bass, with the standouts going 48cm and 49cm. Not quite the magic 50, but close enough to keep the dream alive.

There were a few moments of excitement along the way. Rich managed to pin his canoe in a rapid, and somehow also managed to come down with COVID on day one. Tough effort to keep paddling after that.

The cold water made us work for every fish, and the portages definitely tested everyone's patience. Stephen and The Twins (if ya know what I mean) were less than impressed, to put it mildly.

Well, as he now has a stake in WRT, I thought I'd take him for a paddle and show him the ropes.
18/05/2026

Well, as he now has a stake in WRT, I thought I'd take him for a paddle and show him the ropes.

The lads had a great few days on a very low but crystal-clear river. Fishing was a bit slow, maybe the daytime moon was ...
11/04/2026

The lads had a great few days on a very low but crystal-clear river. Fishing was a bit slow, maybe the daytime moon was playing a part, who knows.

One of the boys managed an absolute cracker, a 50cm bass on a prop bait. Even better, it was his first bass ever. He hadn’t fished since he was a kid, always the way.

The fish buried him straight into the snags, and when we finally got it out, the snag was wrapped in old leader. Makes you wonder if that wasn’t the first time that fish had pulled that trick.

That’s a wrap on paid gigs for the season. My right shoulder is pretty well cooked, so it’s time to sort that out and get ready for spring.

😈
03/04/2026

😈

Trip ReportThings have been flat out in the solar game, and with the guiding starting to wind down I figured I’d sneak a...
29/03/2026

Trip Report

Things have been flat out in the solar game, and with the guiding starting to wind down I figured I’d sneak away for a solo trip.

River heights looked alright, maybe a touch low but still good. Weather check was mint… warm, no wind. Perfect.

Rolled into the launch the night before, set up the rooftop and got some sleep. Then at about 1:30am the wind started… and it wasn’t just a breeze, it was howling. Proper “WTF is going on here” stuff. Woke up to it still cranking in the morning. Unreal.

Lucky it was mostly behind me for the paddle, but it made the fishing pretty average. I was finding a few fish though. Bass were up in the shallows but most of them were just tail-slapping the fizzer, not really committing.

Got into camp and by about 7pm the wind finally dropped out. Straight into the canoe for an evening session. Picked up a few nice cod and a couple of mid-sized bass. Kept fishing into the dark and ended up at the top of a rapid.

Went to paddle back… rod slipped over the side.

Jumped straight in after it but had no chance, watched it disappear down the rapid. Nothing you can do at that point. Paddled back, made a cuppa, tried not to think about it.

Up early the next morning with the spare rod, just picking off a few fish here and there. As soon as it got light I went back to look for the lost rod. Best way to do it is stand up in the canoe to cut the glare… hit a rock… and in I went.

Didn’t even know what happened.

And yep… spare rod straight off down the same rapid.

Unbelievable.

Got lucky this time, though and managed to find the spare pretty quickly. No luck on the first rod though, she went to the bottom :(

About an hour later, I cast the fizzer into a little eddy and BOOM… this big black cod just inhaled it. No real fight, just sort of cruised in like “yeah mate, let’s get this over with.” Quick photo and straight back in. Awesome seeing fish like that over the metre mark. Would love to weigh one properly, but fair enough, they’re protected and it's best to get them back quickly.

The next couple of days delivered the goods. Bass going airborne, cod smashing surface lures in a foot of water, proper heart-stopping hits.

Prop baits, fizzers… whatever you want to call them… hands down my favourite way to fish. I’d take 5 fish on topwater over 20 on a diver any day.

Unreal weather in the end and good to just slow things down and get out there on my own.

Shame about the Samurai Refraction and Metanium Reel, though… that one hurt.

Few days up in the mountains on a mixed trip. Rain on day one, big wind on day two, then the river came up to 1.5m on th...
16/03/2026

Few days up in the mountains on a mixed trip. Rain on day one, big wind on day two, then the river came up to 1.5m on the last day.

Day one was wet, but the fishing was still OK. We only had one real shot at a bass, with the rest of the fish being cod. Josh jumped in at the last minute after a time-waster let me down on a booking. It’s always great seeing someone who hasn’t had the chance to paddle a big river before, take on rapids, and watch fish smash lures in proper country.

The standout moment was watching Josh hook a 50cm cod, only for an absolute cracker to come up, smash the smaller cod off the lure, and take it for itself. Josh’s face was priceless.

Day two was hard work with the wind. We picked up a few fish here and there, but it was a grind. We went back out in the arvo, and as we paddled in for dinner, it became obvious the river was rising, and rising fast. I spent the night on river watch, alarm going off every two hours, until I was confident things had stabilised.

By the last day, the river was still pumping, but safe enough to get out. Josh took a decent stack in the canoe and lost his rod on day two. Shame the water had dirtied up a bit, because I reckon we would’ve got it back otherwise.

The bass are very slow up in the high country at the moment. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time they were this boring.

Unfortunately I’ve been mucked about again. Pretty annoying as a small business when you only have so many weekends a ye...
05/03/2026

Unfortunately I’ve been mucked about again. Pretty annoying as a small business when you only have so many weekends a year to offer. Anyway… what’s done is done.

The weekend of the 14th is now free.

We’ve got some rain coming this week and the lower river should be just right. We might even do something a little special 😮

If you’re interested, send me a DM and let’s chat.

When I first started this game, we used to take a PLB with us, the same one you would use offshore in a boat. Then came ...
02/03/2026

When I first started this game, we used to take a PLB with us, the same one you would use offshore in a boat. Then came the EPIRBs with the added location text it could send out. Then there were the text-to-text versions, such as the Garmin. Then a sat phone that paired to my phone with text and EPIRB built-in. All have had their uses, but it’s time for an upgrade. The Starlink Mini not only allows me all the above, but it will let my customers have access. It will allow me to work away from home if needed, and more importantly, check the weather and river heights. It has an adapter for an 18V power battery and also a roof mount T for the car. Cool huh 👌

Address

PO BOX 553
Casino, NSW
2470

Telephone

+61477779983

Website

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