Kylie Henderson with a Bynoe Harbour jewfish Matt
Flynn's Northern Territory The weather cooled down last week, with cold blustery winds from a large high pressure system eliminating the rising heat of the build-up. However fishing remained good overall, particularly for jewfish and golden snapper. Fishing and Outdoor World's Ronald Voukolos said there were loads of jewfish being caught right across the seaboard. "Some people are catching three or four fish off harbour wrecks in a session,'' he said. "One customer caught a bag limit of jewfish at Charles Point. "There were tuna and mackerel caught off the wharf on the last neap tides - one customer caught two tuna, four broadbar and a trevally in one session. "Squid seem to be about in numbers now under wharf lights, with big trevally feeding on them. "There were some golden snapper caught on the spring tides from Saltwater Arm to 2kg. "But the jewfishing just seems to be phenomenal now. "The wind has picked up with a high over the Great Australian Bight, but there are plenty of fish in close. "On the barra scene Corroboree Billabong has been consistent." Top End Fishing Supplies' Dylan Jenkins said there were good barra in the harbour arms with the low tides in the middle of the day fishing best. "Steve Compain went out to East Arm on Wednesday and got four barra to 80cm and Mulga went out got some more,'' he said. "Crabs seem to be a bit slow - I went on Sunday and caught heaps of them but most were undersize. "I caught six barra on one gutter in East Arm last week. "The charter boats are catching plenty of jewfish and some big coral trout out around Lorna Shoal. "Mackerel are not as prolific as they were a couple of weeks ago." Katherine Rod and Rifle's Warren de With said the south-easterly winds had brought in cold windy weather that would slow barra down. "I would say this will knock the barra back a little but last weekend was fishing well, especially at the Roper and the Victoria Rivers,'' he said. "The Vic produced salmon, barramundi and jewfish and mud crabs, even on the bigger tides. "The weather is still going to dictate whether the fishing is good. "The Daly River is still fishing well, but mostly on cherabin live baits. "The Katherine River produced barra last week during the warmer weather with an 82cm fish caught, and black bream are biting well on small spinners. "There has been loads of pelagic fish out the front of the McArthur River and the reef fishing has been good out the front of the Limmen Bight and Roper Rivers, but it is probably too choppy now. "It is was good to hear about the fingerlings being stocked into Darwin Harbour and various dams. "The stocking program now seems to be heading in the right direction." Leaders Creek Fishing Base's Chris Edwards said last week saw a 1.28m jewfish caught at the creek mouth, and another big one caught out the front of Pussycat Island, the small island at the mouth of Leaders Creek. "I was out on Tuesday and the snapper were back - I caught more than usual,'' he said. "Some customers have been chasing barra around Cape Hotham. They are getting a few but not real big ones. "There have been plenty of mackerel out wide at Smiths Reef but the south-easter has since blown up again with a vengeance. "Crabs have been quiet - you get a feed but crocs raid the pots, as do the two-legged share farmers (pot thieves)." Got One's Craig Grosvenor said The Narrows at the Adelaide River mouth had produced golden snapper to 60cm using fresh squid and pilchard baits, and jewfish to 10kg. "Dundee has produced jewfish to 15kg and golden snapper to 50cm, with the snapper responding best on sardines,'' he said. "A customer caught a 12kg GT off East Arm boat ramp during the change of the high tide using a live mullet for bait. At Dundee two 11kg mackerel (cleaned) were caught trolling red-head Rapalas. "A 12kg tuna was taken in the harbour on a maribou jig. It was the only fish caught on the day, with the tuna only staying on the surface for a short period of time. "Barra have been active in East and Middle Arm this week with fish to 65cm barra. "Trevally, rock cod and barracuda were also landed, and there have been barracuda off the rock walls at Larrakeyah. "At Pococks Beach in Kakadu golden snapper to 6kg have been numerous on the shallow reefs out the front. "There have been good barra reports from West Alligator Head, with the largest a 97cm fish taken on a gold Bomber. "Blue and threadfin salmon were also caught to 70cm on small Classic lures. "There have been good reports from the Daly River. There are many fish in the 70cm range, with a lot of fishing being caught by tourists using cherabin baits." Shady Camp Boat Hire's Wayne said the freshwater had been fishing well. "The guides have been getting up to 20 fish a day to 90cm on soft plastic lures,'' he said. "I will be doing an eight-day trip shortly so I'll have some good information when I get back from there."
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