The Fly River is the second longest river on the Island of New Guinea at 1050 kilometres (650 miles). It flows through the Western Province. The estuary of the Fly River is 56 kilometres (35 miles) wide at the entrance.

Niugini Bass (Lutjanus goldiei) are also known as the Papuan Black Snapper, vivaneau de Papua in French; Ilkan merah in Malay; and pargo de Papua in Spanish.

The Niugini Bass and Papuan Back Bass are actually members of the snapper family that inhabit freshwater and brackish water.

Niugini Bass is a stocky fish with a deep compressed body. The first dorsal fin is spiny rayedadn separated from the soft-rayed second dorsal fin. The body is silvery to steely grey, darker on top and lightening on the belly and has large scales. It has two canine teeth on the upper jaw and smaller teeth on the lower jaw.

The Niugini bass can live in brackish and fresh waters. They can be found in streams and rivers draining into the Gulf of Papua. In the north, they can be found in the Sepik and Ramu river system. In the Fly river, the Niugini Bass has been found as far upstream as 828 kilometres/514 miles from the sea, but is usually found about 200-400 km/124 to 248 miles upstream. Essentially, it is found in large freshwater streams, though it has been reported in estuaries.

It is a popular sport fish forming the basis of a safari-angling industry that attracts tourists from around the world, especially Asia and australia. The Niugini Bass is a fun fish to catch and can be caught with a wide range of baits as they are opportunistic and omnivorous in their diet as they are known to eat crabs, catfish, smaller bass, small crocodiles and mammals.

Like all bass, the Niugini Bass are territorial and can be fished using techniques based on their instinct to defend their territory. In areas where there is little tidal influence, they remain in the one general area, but where there are large tides they move with the tides and changing river flows and water levels.

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a country on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and also makes up many islands off the coast of the main island as well. New Guinea is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A majority of the country is rural, practising subsistence based agriculture. The geography is very rugged on the island with dense rainforests in the low lying areas.

The Fly River

The Fly River is the second longest river on the Island of New Guinea at 1050 kilometres (650 miles). It flows through the Western Province. The estuary of the Fly River is 56 kilometres (35 miles) wide at the entrance and the quickly tapers to about one kilometre wide. Most of the Nuigini Bass are caught in the Fly and Sepik Rivers.

The Sepik River

The Sepik River is the longest river on the island of New Guinea at 1126 kilometres (700) long. The Sepik flows from the central highlands of Papua New Guinea into the Pacific Ocean.