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The Got One Darwin Trailer Boat Club Kids Classic was a great success last Saturday, July 9. Got One's Craig Grosvenor said: "There was a chopper ride for a door prize which went off like a cracker and some nice fish were caught, including a 10kg jewfish by Mitchell Copley, a 12kg spanish mackerel and several smaller species. The day began with baitcasting, cast-netting and knot-tying tuition. We supplied several rod and reel combos, some of which ended up underwater or rolling around in the sand (wanna buy a cheap Curado?) But every child was a winner with a Got One showbag and several gift vouchers."

Matt Flynn's Northern Territory
fishing report: June 19, 2005

Also available in the Darwin Sunday
newspaper, Sunday Territorian


Barramundi management was in the news again last week with a double-page spread in Monday's Northern Territory News canvassing primarily the commercial industry's views on the future of barramundi.
The coverage was prompted by a newspaper report a week earlier revealing that Top End barramundi stocks were being harvested at and beyond sustainable levels since 2003.
This has prompted concerns that the barra industry might end up like the NT's Gulf of Carpentaria mud crab fishery, which collapsed after record commercial harvests.
In Monday's newspaper report fisheries director Richard Sellers said he did not believe barramundi stocks were in danger.
Let's hope so - but the fact remains that the Government's own data shows that barramundi are being harvested right on the edge of sustainability.
This heavy harvest probably affects the recreational tourism industry, which relies on large numbers of big fish to attarct tourists in the face of rising travel costs.
What was of concern in Monday's report was the way the commercial fishing industry described the areas of heavy barramundi harvest - the Daly, Mary and Kakadu regions - as "recreational only" areas.
This is misleading because the Daly, Mary and Kakadu areas are heavily netted.
Legislation does not allow netting inside the Daly, Mary and Kakadu rivers, however netting is allowed on the flats outside the rivers, and the fish taken are the same barramundi that make their way up these iconic Top End rivers.
To say these areas are recreational only is therefore wrong. I doubt that recreational anglers take most of the fish even in the popular rivers, taking into account the total barramundi biomass that moves in and out of the rivers from the nearby flats.
We will never know the truth however as netting catch data from small regions is not released to the public - only catch data over large areas is available.
Darwin Harbour and Shoal Bay are probably the only true "recreational only" fishing regions in the Territory, because there is no way to net the mouth of Darwin Harbour and Shoal Bay for barramundi, and these two areas are heavily fished by anglers.
Interestingly, there's still plenty of barra in the harbour - just have a look around the mangroves with a spotlight at night if you can't catch one.
I was also surprised to read that recreational anglers might face tighter bag limits in future - this stunned me because 99% of the fishermen in the Top End are recreational anglers, yet they currently only take about 40% of the total barramundi catch.
There are only 24 barra net licences in the Top End, yet nets take about 60% of the total catch.
Why should anglers therefore cop tighter bag limits? Certainly not without greater restrictions on commercial fishing effort.
Lastly, any changes to the rules are useless without enforcement, and by all accounts police fisheries enforcement in need of more resources.
****
The Lee Point artificial reefs have been in the spotlight with some fine mackerel and jewfish taken.
Livebait is best for both species, although some fine mackerel have been taken by trolling Halco Crazy Deeps over the Bottlewasher during the week when there are fewer boats around.
The yellowtail scad that are schooling around the Lee Point reefs are fine livebait.
Tuna are showing up at Lee Point from time to time.
The NT Government has announced that a new reef will be installed at Lee Point - a steel hull - great news, as this areas fishes so well.
In the harbour pikey bream are biting hard and there's plenty of mud crabs at Shoal Bay.
Barra are about on warmer days - look carefully over the flats for sunbaking fish during the noon sun.
Fog Bay has been producing red emperor and loads of mackerel and tuna.
     

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