Chad Hamnett with two Darwin Harbour jewfish, caught with King Kontis Fishing Charters Matt Flynn's
Northern Territory Fishing overall has been good in the building summer heat, with golden snapper and barramundi the main catch. This weekend's tides are perfect for harbour barramundi. Offshore, big golden snapper and some jewfish are filling bags, as well as tricky snapper, coral trout and - perhaps surprisingly - spanish mackerel. If you are going watch out for the late afternoon electrical storms that form at this time of year. Fishing and Outdoor World's Matt West said one regular customer caught big goldies and jewfish out from Point Blaze last week while another went to Charles Point on the same day and caught nothing. "There were still reports of barra on the neap tides around the harbour,'' he said. "The Mandorah jetty has been producing queenfish and trevally. "Billabongs have been quiet. Corroboree has been quiet, and not many people seem to be fishing it now. "Jewfish were caught on the Meigs wreck in the harbour during the neap tides. "The Rock in Shoal Bay produced an 18kg barra on Wednesday night. The guy who caught it just about lives there." Shoal Bay Boat Hire's Steve Basted confirmed the bay had been fishing well. "There have een some big barra around The Rock, and on the weekend five over 1m were caught,'' he said. "There haveeen some nice fish at the mouth of King Creek averaging 80cm to 90cm. "They are catching them mainly on live bait, although some in King Creek were caught on soft plastics. "Tony Kaissis has been taking people to Hope Inlet on the low tides and catching about six fish a day, with some going 80cm. "We have also been walking across the sandbars and fishing the edges and catching barra. "The barra are boofing everywhere now. The water has warmed right up. "Crabbing has been average ... we have had a professional crabber working here which is not helping." Leaders Creek Fishing Base's Chris Edwards said golden snapper were on the bite, as well as salmon, queenfish, trevally and spanish mackerel. "Some of the snapper brought in on Thursday were 4kg, caught in the channel between the Vernons in 38m of water,'' he said. "There are plenty of redfish with them. "Big jewfish are busting people off in the creek. "There was a mob of barra caught in the creek on Thursday morning but they were all undersize. "There are only a few mud crabs, but the ones caught are big. "We have had no rain out here at all." Crab Claw Island Fishermen's Village's Chris Sinclair said some big snapper had been brought in. "Barra are biting everywhere in Bynoe Harbour ... we have had a lot of visitors here and they are hooking fish but losing a lot of them. "Even out the front you see the bait being chased by barra and queenfish every morning. "We have had dolphins in feeding regularly so there must be a lot of fish around. "Barra have been caught off the beach in front of the resort. "We had two beautiful big crabs brought in on Thursday, but otherwise it has been quiet, although not many people are chasing the muddies now." Darwin Harbour Fishing Charters' Rob Marchant reports jewfish and even some 50cm coral trout off harbour wrecks. "But this weekend's tides should be good for barra and salmon,'' he said. "Harbour barra have been good, but are mostly small. "They seem to be everywhere and like gold lures best. "I caught snapper in Saltwater Arm in numbers recently, and some jewfish were caught right next to my boat." Katherine Rod and Rifle's Warren de With fished the Victoria River on Tuesday and Wednesday and caught a metre fish and a dozen other barra, and 18 big mud crabs. "The river was beautiful and clear,'' he said. "We caught the barra by trolling. "We had a few sharks and lost four barra to hungry sharks. "We went as far down as Growlers Rockbar but the fish seemed to be spread throughout. "We went to the McArthur River two weeks ago and caught 78 barra, the biggest 1.18m. "The McArthur is better now than a lot of people can remember and seems to be the place to go - it is amazing what a difference the net closure has made. "But it's still dry season weather down here now, it's just getting warmer." Lure One Fishing Charters' Chris Hurt said this weekend would be good in the harbour. "I fished last week to try some new gear and caught five barra on Tuesday and 10 on Wednesday on the falling tide cycle,'' he said. "I released a couple of 80cm fish and dropped a few fish. "The pelicans were on the flats feeding on the prawns - they always tell you where the bait is. "My advice is still to get to the top of the creeks on the really low tides." |
