Rod Hemley with a barramundi from the front of Leaders Creek Matt Flynn's
Northern Territory Fishing madness continued across the Top End last week with record numbers of boats chasing abundant queenfish in the harbour, jewfish on the wrecks, big golden snapper offshore and barramundi in all the rivers. No one can remember seeing so many boats on the Top End's rivers _ even the tidal Finniss River has been hammered in the mad annual rush to catch run-off barramundi. However the Daly River did not fire as well as expected last weekend after its rapid fall from 12.7m, despite 100 or so local and interstate fishing boats having a go. The Daly's public ramp was chockers with trailers and each good run-off hosted up to four boats. The Daly crossing was at 2m last Sunday, with the bigger feeder creeks still running strong. The smaller Daly run-offs had already dried up the week before. But while the fishing was slow most fishermen believe it was simply the huge amount of bait in the river keeping the fish satisfied. The few big fish caught were very fat. Jurassic Park-size cherabin were caught in pots, and there were thousands of other food fish in the river, including swarms of baby barra. Unfortunately there have been disturbing reports of anglers taking vast numbers of cherabin from some rivers. Better news is there are thousands of small barramundi about. Swarms of tiny barra - this year's fingerlings - were seen popping away along the Daly's banks and up creeklets, a good omen for years to come. Happy Micks' Charlie Chambers Charlie remains hopeful the Daly will fish well during this week's Barra Nationals. "This year is shaping up to be a vast improvement on last year and looks to be set for a good barra season on most rivers in the Territory,'' he said. "The Daly will stand out as one of
the better rivers this year and the two comps (the Barra
Nationals and the Barra Classic) should see most if not
all of the teams get onto big fish. "Most fish are now coming from between the barrage and the wreck," he said. "A customer came in with a report of a 98cm fish caught on a Tsunami Lure, next to a run-off near to the wreck. "He said he and his wife dropped a
few nice fish around the same size and landed several
fish between 60 and 70cm. "Glen Wilson caught a 110cm fish
off the barrage at night a few days ago. It took a DOA
Baitbuster and was as silver as a bullbar. The fish
looked to be in good condition and fought like a
champion. "A customer told me there was a 21kg barra caught at the mouth of Shady Camp last week by a couple of amateur fisherman from down south. Some have all the luck!" For more visit www.happymicks.com.au "There are many people catching their first barra down there - there are small fish everywhere,'' he said. "A 4.2m croc was pulled out of the Donkey Camp hole recently and people need to be mindful that big crocs are here in the river now. "The Roper River is slowing down in terms of run-off fishing but the fishing is picking up on the snags and rockbars. "We are starting to go through that change from run-off fishing to snag fishing and trolling. "There are still good fish about - 10 year-old Elisha West caught a 1.10m barra fishing at the mouth of Blackfella Creek on the Roper. "There have been mixed reports from the Daly. Even the locals are saying you have to work pretty hard to get fish. "The Barra Nationals will tell us what is really going on there. "But the number of boats we are seeing from down south is incredible - every local person I have spoken to thought they had a secret spot they could visit has found plenty of others already there. "Last Thursday at Big Horse Creek on the Victoria River there were 46 trailers. There are more people here fishing the run-off than I can recall. "This year's big wet season has made everyone decide to come up. And we are seeing bigger, flasher boats coming up that are worth many thousands of dollars." Warren said the Victoria River had been fishing well. "One boat got 12 on Thursday and nine the day before trolling lures over rockbars. The Vic has been fishing really well but some people are doing it hard. It's still not a case of being there guarantees you a fish." Top End Fishing Supplies' Dylan Jenkins said Shady Camp was fishing well but there had been complaints of more silting on the first couple of corners down from the barrage. "People will have to be careful there,'' he said. "One crew had a good couple of hours at the mouth of Nourlangie Creek on the South Alligator River. "The Daly has been really busy but I have not hard of anything huge being caught yet. "There are crabs moving in the harbour. The Barra Nationals will make it a busy place this week. "The shop's charter boat is still doing really well on jewfish. The jewies are avergaing 10kg. It's been a boomer year for jewfish and golden snapper." Fishing and Outdoor World's Ron Voukolos confirmed reports from the Daly River were mixed. "Kevin Thomas caught a1.04m barra in the Daly on Sunday and it coffed up a cherabin and a barra,'' he said. "Another angler caught a 1.08m barra and it weighed 20kg so it was really fat. "There are loads of big cherabin moving and we had disturbing reports of people taking vast quantities of them. "The area just below Shady Camp barrage seems to be most reliable for the fishing guides using large soft plastics bounced along the bottom. "Other fish have been caught using fizzers with a single-point hook. "George Voukolos fished the South Alligator River on Tuesday and they caught nine fish. "They fished upstream and right up the top at the signs. "The bluewater has been very good with anglers catching eight queenfish near the Iron Ore Wharf. "Mark Ost caught a stack of queenfish at East Point on Maribou jigs, and he said there were hundreds of fish. "There have been some really big queenfish at Mandorah Wharf including one of about 10kg caught after the angler changed to the smallest lure he had. "Also the Larrakeyah rock wall has been working well for queenfish and trevally. "There are stacks of jewfish on harbour wrecks, including a 15kg and 12kg fish by one crew. "There are plenty of options now. There are good threadfin salmon from Bynoe Harbour and around to Turnbull Bay. Got One's Craig Grosvenor said Lee Point had produced two 15kg mackerel on live garfish for one fisherman. "I have had quite a few people say there are mackerel around at the usual spots,'' he said. "One angler fished Shady Camp using mullet-coloured Squidgies and pinks, and caught 20 barra to 75cm on the freshwater side. "Poppers and fizzers have produced some good fish at Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River at night. "Magela Creek has produced loads of barra to 65cm. "I have had good reports from the Daly from an angler who was casting the M2-colour Reidys Judge on the incoming tide. "A 1.2m barra was caught at the mouth of Browns Creek on a Judge. "Dundee has been producing loads of jewfish on the reef out the front. "At the South Alligator River, red-headed soft plastic lures have been working well at Nourlangie Creek." |
