Alex and WIll Colvin caught these coral trout of 2kg and 2.5kg at Bass Reef on Arafura Bluewater Charters' Ocean Fox Matt Flynn's
Northern Territory It's great to hear that barramundi are already being caught from the storm run-offs along our rivers. These run-offs are from rain being dumped onto floodpains by the remains of Cyclone Debbie last week. Most of the river catchments important to Darwin and Katherine fishermen caught some heavy rain last week, and the important Daly and Mary Rivers copped a soaking. Of course, the fishing will improve tenfold if there is a steady stream of rain over the next few weeks, and then another heavy monsoon, but there are barramundi available right now. There are fishable colour changes on the Adelaide and South Alligator Rivers. The Daly should have some good run-offs this week once the huge amount of water coming down the Katherine River has dropped away. Peter Wilson at Aurora Kakadu said the run-off at the South Alligator was sensational, and he caught four fish in 10 casts when he went for a couple of hours of exploring. "I went up there on Wednesday and it was looking good,'' he said. "There is water everywhere - it is unreal. "We did not get a huge lot rain out here considering what happened with the cyclone - we were only getting 30mm to 40mm a day. "I have not heard of any big fish yet - my biggest was 70cm. "There were only three cars at the boat ramp on Wednesday, so they had the river to themselves. "All we need now is the follow-up rain to keep it ticking along." Aurora Kakadu has rooms available for run-off fishing enthusiasts who do not wish to camp in the damp conditions. Jeff Reid of Reidys Lures fished the South Alligator above the Arnhem Hwy bridge last week. He only caught two fish, but he went home with a feeling of optimism he has not had for a while. "We did more boating than fishing - there was water on the floodplains right across, but it's a little early for good fishing,'' he said. "At the boat ramp we noticed a lot of tadpoles that must have been washed down the river from the billabongs so the food source is there to attract the fish up the river. "There were a lot of birds working, with pelicans up there too. "We spoke to another fisherman who caught a couple. "We went up Nourlangie Creek where it seems the water is right up to the top floodplain. "The water is running quite clear and there are colour changes at most of the creeks, although the water on the floodplains was dirty in places. "The Mary River is out of the question right now as it was only about a metre under the bridge on Thursday, but it will probably be worth a look when it starts falling. "The Adelaide River has water right over the floodplains on the east side of the river - we have not seen that for a while. "Given the sheets of water over the floodplains I expect the Adelaide River might be worth a look this week." In the harbour, the heavy rain has not stopped harbour barramundi from biting. Lure One Fishing Charters Chris Hurt fished Sadgroves Creek last week after the fish kill dissipated. "I fished Thursday and Friday - I caught five barramundi on Wednesday and three on Thursday. "They were all 55cm to 65cm fish. "Everywhere I have been has been the same. "They were good tides then, but now the tides are a bit small. "The fish were biting mostly on the outgoing tide. On Thursday there were thousands of tarpon eating jelly prawns, but they were not there on Friday." Chris said he was not convinced by the official explanation for a substantial fish kill in Sadgroves Creek last week. A government spokesman said heavy rain had killed the fish. "I saw the dead fish push up with tide from the direction of the lock,'' Chris said. "I reckon someone put something in the water - that's what happens when you have large numbers of people living around the edges of waterways." Fishing and Outdoor World's Ron Voukolos said Matt West went fished the harbour last week and caught five barramundi in West Arm to 65cm on the new sinking Bomber lures. "There are quite a few small trevally and queenfish being caught off the wharves, and some people have been busted off by bigger trevally,'' he said. The Weather Bureau's river heights web page said on Friday that most rivers were falling. There was no sign of a further heavy monsoon on the weather chart on Friday, but there was plenty of cloud cover. There were few offshore fishing reports last week owing to the poor weather following the cyclone. A large swell is running off Darwin, but this should present no problem offshore once the wind drops off. Once the wind abates, offshore fishing is expected to be good. |
