Chris Edwards of Leaders Creek Fishing Base with a 20kg jewfish he caught within the creek Matt Flynn's
Northern Territory Threadfin salmon are the fish of the moment, with almost everyone reporting seeing large salmon cruising the creeks. And some people are catching them, which is good news as these are fickle fish notorious for thumbing their noses at anglers. Lure One Fishing Charters
Chris Hurt said he had a busy week fishing Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday. "The barra at the
beginning of the week were a bit difficult but we dropped
one substantial barra in East Arm,'' he said. "The fish were
boofing but they were really hard to catch. "On Wednesday we
caught some salmon which was a bonus. We got three salmon
about a metre long and dropped a couple of others. "This was all lure
fishing, using small lures worked very slowly. "We were using
shallow divers, and I think the trick is to get the lure
to go past the fish very close to them. "There was a huge
salmon at the top of Reichardt Creek that was plenty more
than a metre. "He was there for a
while, as we saw him as he came and went but he would not
take a lure." Chris's tip is that if you
are going to fish a run-off or creek drain, get
downstream of it and bring the lure the same way as the
current. "The fish are more
interested in lures travelling with the current and other
baitfish, and they seem to be biting better before the
tide has actually drained," he said. "We also caught five
barramundi and a tarpon up Middle Arm last week and
dropped two salmon. "The barra seemed to get better after the moon - right on the moon I reckon they feed at night and are harder to catch during the day." Jewfish have been on the
move with Leaders Creek Fishing Base's Chris Edwards
reporting that customers caught some big ones in the
creek last week. Chris's best in the past
fortnight was a 1.25m jewfish that weighed 20kg, caught
on a squid bait fished at a drain near the creek mouth. "Customers caught a
couple more big jewfish in the creek last weekend on the
incoming tide,'' he said. "The creek has also
been good for threadfin salmon, with a 95cm threadfin
weighing more than 5kg caught on a live prawn. "There are plenty of
prawns down at the mouth being caught in cast nets, and
some people reckon they are big enough to eat. "There have been a
couple of good snapper caught in the creek too, and also
out at Cape Hotham. "There are plenty of
queenfish and trevally and small mackerel around the
Vernon Islands. "There have been a
couple of barra caught, including two big ones, but there
not many barra around. "We have had no big storms out here yet, and the road is in excellent condition." Shoal Bay Boat Hire's Tony
Kaissis said that about a dozen barra near 80cm were
caught and a lot of small blue salmon were landed last
week. "The tides this
weekend are good,'' he said. "There have been some
mud crabs, with a run of big bucks caught mainly on the
flats. "The mouth of King
Creek has been good for big barra and the deep hole
around Hope Inlet has also fished well. "We have been getting
little rain but it has rained enough inland to start
fresh watercoming over the Howard River rockbar and some
fish have been caught at the rockbar. "Some fish have been
caught there on soft plastic lures. "The Little Howard River has been good for threadfin salmon on a falling tide." Equinox Fishing Charters'
John Jordan said the season had slowed with fewer
customers but the fish were biting hard and local people
were enjoying end of year work-related fishing trips. "There were good
snapper and coral trout last week,'' he said. "We have had
excellent coral trout this year. Most year's we would be
lucky to get six in a year but this year we are getting
six in a session. "Jewfish have been a
bit quiet out wide but they will invariably go back on
the bite again, even at this time of year. "March, April and May
are the best jewfish months around Charles Point, yet we
had seven hooked in one drop recently, and we only got
three of the fish to the top. "We caught two more
and then the school moved on. "As well as the coral
trout we have noticed a lot of cobia this year, and we
seem to be catching a lot more big snapper. "The biggest snapper we have seen this year would be about 7kg." Barramundi Fishing
Charters' Rob Marchant was in South Australia on holiday
when I called, having just landed a few "big
reds" off Port Broughton. "The fishing here has
been surprisingly good - we caught two 15kg pink snapper
out from Port Broughton on a charter boat called Stress
Relief." He said his charter boat
in Darwin was still operating with snapper and some
jewfish biting in the harbour last week. "The barramundi are
busy rolling on prawns,'' he said. "We use small Maribou
jigs when they are feeding on prawns, which can work
quite well. "Blue salmon are
biting too. "But I reckon the place to be now would be Shoal Bay at night." Fishing and Outdoor
World's Matt West said he fished on Thursday up Middle
Arm and caught nine barramundi. "We also caught
queenfish and trevally on the outgoing and dead low
tide,'' he said. "We couldn't fish the
incoming tide because of the storms. "There were plenty of
threadfin working but they were finicky. "The Daly River has
come up to level with the road but was still going under
the pipe last weekend. "South Gutter has
also been producing some nice snapper. "It's the last week of the goose shooting season this weekend so a lot of hunters will be moving across to fishing again when the season is closed." Top End Fishing Supplies'
Steve Compain said the shop charter boat had brought in
golden snapper and coral trout last week. "We got two boxes of
goldies on one trip all around 5kg which is good,'' he
said. "It's strange how so
many of the snapper seem to be in the bigger sizes this
year. "Bass Reef fished
well last week, and Loee Patches wasn't so good. "A friend at Dundee
said the same thing about the goldies being big this
year. "A 10kg jewfish was
caught bottom-fishing at The Rock in Shoal Bay last week. "Another customer at Buffalo Creek on Wednesday landed one 60cm barra and was blown away by a really big fish." Gurus Top End Fishing
Safaris' Michael Walsh caught an 85cm barramundi in the
harbour last week in West Arm. "I found the fishing
was best on the outgoing tide,'' he said. "There are heaps of fish moving around off the Larrakeyah wall, and a friend caught a 10kg mackerel trolling there before the last set of big tides." Borroloola Boat and
Fishing Club's Bernie Redfern said an 11.75kg barra was
landed at the McArthur River last week, and one boat
landed eight big fish on Thursday. "But there are not
many people here, it's only the real locals that are here
now,'' he said. "We got about an inch
of rain on Thursday which was the first serious rain we
have had. "And there are still
no crabs. "The crabbers have
had a very lean year. "And there is no sign
of it improving yet. "Even Queenslanders
are coming across and saying there are no crabs on their
side of the world. "But we are expecting a big year next year for tourism - word has got around that the fishing has improved markedly in the past year." Crab Claw Island
Fishermen's Village Bill Briscoe said the rain had
started falling at Bynoe Harbour. "The weather has been
fairly bad with severe storms but they usually come in
after lunch,'' he said. "The fishing is good
- the blokes are doing really well on barra in the creeks
but it has been too dirty out on the flats for good
fishing. "The fish have been mostly 75cm to 90cm, and Graeme Williams of Insight Fly Fishing has been getting
some metre-plus salmon during the week. "We had two lots of
people from England who went out in two hire boats and
they caught some barra - one lot caught six in a day. "I just told them to go up to Knife Island and cast at the feeding fish. They were using ordinary spinning reels rather than baitcasters which are easier to cast." Happy Micks Charlie
Chambers says the mouth of the South Alligator River is a
superb destination at this time of year. "This area is
suitable for larger boats whose owners like to spend a
couple days staying on board in a remote area,'' he said.
"It is also good for
day trippers from Jabiru and Darwin. "The river mouth has
a lot to offer from flats fishing and tidal creeks to
reef and steep sharp ledges. "These ledges hold
snapper, jewies and even large golden trevally. "The mouth fishes
best on the smaller tides and has a tendency to be dirty
when windy so the best time to visit is when the wind is
slight. "At the mouth of the
South there are two islands, Barrenn and Field, Barren
being the closest to the western side of the mouth. "These islands
provide good snapper and jewfish grounds. "With reefs and
ledges surrounding the area it isn't unusual to catch
several snapper and jewfish every day on good tides. "The barramundi
fishing is hot and cold at the mouth of the South but
some very big fish are caught there." For more information visit www.happymicks.com.au |
