Arafura Bluewater Charters owner Steve Compain with a saddletail snapper from the Bus Stop reef Matt Flynn's
Northern Territory Last week's reports suggest the harbour is full of active barramundi, but they are feeding on prawns and therefore hard to catch. Lure One Fishing Charters' Chris Hurt was up Bleesers Creek in East Arm when I called on Friday. "The fish are here everywhere but they are finicky. We have dropped four or five,'' he said. "They are just bumping the lures. "I fished last Monday at Sadgroves Creek and we caught a nice salmon and dropped two barra on fly, but the fish were everywhere. "The fish were up the top of the creek and there were plenty of them. "On Tuesday we got three barra and dropped a few more. "With the number of fish that are obviously around you would expect to catch more, but the amount of prawns in the water is unbelievable. "At this time of year a bag limit of barra should not be a problem but even though the fish are feeding they are hard to hook. "I cut one fish open and it was full of small prawns. "I would suggest using rubber lures and prawns imitations." Fishing and Outdoor World's Matt West said a customer caught a big barra from shore near the Nightcliff boat ramp on a popper at 4pm on Thursday. "He was fishing for queenfish and trevally when the barra hit,'' he said. "Apprently they pulled the fish just as the trace knot came undone. "The harbour has been pretty good over the weekend but some people are getting nothing and some get some. "Reports from out wide have been quiet because of the big tides. "A few people are heading wide this weekend and it should be good for snapper. "But a lot of our customers are enjoying goose shooting at the moment while the season is open." Dylan Jenkins at Top End Fishing Supplies said customers reported harbour barra to 90cm last week. "One guy got 14 fish out of the Elizabeth River and he said there were fish in almost every gutter,'' he said. "Otherwise, we have not had many reports." Warren de With at Katherine Rod and Rifle said the large tides last week restricted fishing in the rivers. There had also been little rain. "It has been pretty quiet - there have been some spasmodic catches down the Roper River,'' he said. "At the moment it is critical to pick the right tides. You have to work the tides in the right phase. "The Roper will fish better with a bit movement, probably because there is less movement in the tides in the Gulf, but the Victoria River requires neap tides, and that's where I will be going on these neaps. "The road is still open to the Towns and Limmen Bight rivers. They could fish well now." Tackle Up's Joan Miller said a customer went to Trepang Bay last week and said snapper and mangrove jacks were going berserk. "They had a really good trip and could do no wrong,'' she said. "Another customer was at Corroboree Billabong last week catching huge saratoga one after another, but no barra. "Good barra were reported in the harbour arms over the weekend. There were no reports of crabs. "Some guys fishing off the bank at Buffalo Creek caught a big barra last week and an undersize fish. "Stokes Hill Wharf has been producing some big hits, with people being busted off. "There have been some nice barra caught at the mouth of Rapid Creek by some customers new to Darwin who live near the creek." Steve Basted at Shoal Bay Boat Hire said the mouth of the King Creek had produced some fish but not a lot of people had been coming out during last week's big tides. "There have been some storms and there is fresh water in the creeks,'' he said. "Last time it rained heavily here it was high tide and the floodplain quickly filled. There is fresh coming over the Howard River rockbar,'' he said. "We have found lately that bait has been hard to find. "A customer went to Meckit Creek on Thursday and caught some barra. "I have not heard of any big fish come from The Rock, but maybe because we had the monster tides last week. "Only a few small crabs have been caught. But it should all change this week with the neap tides. "Spot 6 should be firing soon if the rain keep up." Chris Edwards at Leaders Creek Fishing Base said there were a couple of barra caught in the creek last week. "There have been some brave ones going out to the islands on the big tides and they got plenty of trevally, coral trout and queenies. "But they fished the turn of the tide. "They came back and got a 72cm barra in the mouth of the creek. "There were snapper in the channel before the big tides last week. "The road in is excellent at the moment and these neaps should be good." Crab Claw Island Fishermen's Village's Kathy McIntyre said not many fish were caught last week. "We are still having a few visitors but the women are sitting by the pool while the blokes fish because it has been a bit quiet,'' she said. "There are some fish being caught off the beach with live bait. "Hopefully it is picking up again now with the smaller tides. "There are still no crabs. but a big snapper was caught last Saturday." |
