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Australia’s Halco has just released the Scorpion 90 Skin Deep, which combines unusually strong action in a shallow-water lure

Matt Flynn's Northern Territory
fishing report: March 28, 2004

Also available in the Darwin Sunday
newspaper, Sunday Territorian

Next week looks to be a boomer for run-off fishing on all the big rivers except the Daly, which was still too high and rising again last week.
Fifty-fish-plus run-off sessions are being reported by the best anglers on some feeder creek run-offs.
Results from the Kakadu Klash competition on the South Alligator River late last week clearly illustrated the presence of large fish both above and below the Arnhem Hwy bridge.
The fishing has improved in a big way at Shady Camp with the river now back below the banks and falling fast, and most anglers getting action.
Warren de With was probably the first boat to visit the lower Roper River this year and late last week reported tagging about 100 fish.
Catches are also being reported on the Adelaide River by anglers in the know, and although not in the numbers of other rivers, a 1.26m fish taken at a creek run-off shows there are good fish to be had.
This week looks extremely good for all the rivers, with the Daly firing in about a fortnight.
It is essential now to be carrying a wide range of medium-sized soft plastic lures, mostly in green colours.
Great success has also been had on surface lures that imitate popeye mullet, with a zig-zag swimming pattern.
There are several such lures, including some exciting new soft plastic models.
When fishing the bigger run-offs, be sure to work the edges of the creek mouths right in against the bank, both upstream and downstream of the creek mouth.
For the keen, night fishing at the run-offs with poppers is producing some spectacular fishing.
On the down side, the big jewfish run reported last week slowed right down with the rough weather, and monster swells were still rolling in at Dundee last week.
But with the rivers now falling below the banks, barramundi fishing is where it's at.
Peter Wilson at Aurora Kakadu said that on the Kakadu Klash first day alone 26 teams out of the 30 had landed good fish and five fish over a metre were recorded.
"The average size for the day just on Thursday was 86.9cm,'' he said.
"About 60 per cent of the boats were fishing downstream and 40 per cent upstream.
"There are plenty of other non-competitor fishermen doing well on the river as well.
"The biggest fish on Thursday was 117cm caught by the team of Steve Cootes, Ken Brown and Jerry Cootes.
"There is still a load of fresh water upstream but it's ideal conditions for this event - it is sensational, the river is fishing the best it has for six or seven years.
"The South Alligator is fishable in almost any state of flood but now it is working going really well.
"I also saw that a 1.23m barra was speared at the South Alligator culvert by a local traditional owner."
Got One's Craig Grosvenor said a 1.32m barra was landed at the mouth of Nourlangie Creek on Sunday on a guns'n'roses Classic 120 on 6kg Platypus Pretest line.
"There have been several fish from 90cm to 102cm caught in the same area,'' he said.
"I have a customer who has been fishing the top of Tapa Bay in the creek and he had an hour-and-a-half of crazy fishing with some barra around 90cm.
"He said there were heaps of billabongs flowing out into the creek.
"I went out to Dundee for a look and there was no wind but a huge rolling swell was coming in.
"There was not a breath of air but the waves were huge.
"I went to Manton Dam on the way back and fished in the creek under the wall.
"We got a fish almost every cast but they were only fish up to 55cm.
"I was using 3-inch green Swim Shads and they would not touch anything except a green Little Lucifer.
"There have been some 90cm fish caught at the mouth of Tommycut and Sampan Creeks.
"In the harbour queenfish are abundant off Larrakeyah, Cullen Bay and Mandorah, and they are mixed with the odd small mackerel.
"There have been barra to 80cm caught in West Arm on the flats at low tide.
"There have been good reports of mud crabs this week in all the harbour arms.
"Russell from BH Marine fished up Mitchell Creek in the harbour and caught some big barra on Skitter Pops."
Shady Camp Boat Hire's Wayne Turner said customers were catching fish "all over the place".
"The water is dropping significantly and the river banks are exposed so it is all happening now,'' he said.
"The river has dropped very fast even though there has been local rain.
"I went out last week but it was too cloudy and cool band we caught only a few small fish.
"But now people are coming back having caught 30 or 40 fish in a session.
"The fishing is more up on the feeder creeks now than at the mouth.
"The creeks are working very well now.
"There are some good colour changes on the outgoing tides now.
"I think there have been some good-sized fish caught upstream of the barrage too.
"One boat got a 20kg fish - one of 35 they caught - off a feeder creek.
"The fish are definitely not as hard to catch now, more people are catching fish.
"The Tommycut Creek shortcut is starting to be heavily inflenced by the tides so people must be careful or they will be stuck."
Woolianna the Daly Stan Traczynski said it was still too early to fish the Daly River.
"The river is on the rise again. At the crossing it is just short of 12m (on Friday) and rising,'' he said.
"The road near Bamboo Creek is damaged but we have been promised it will be fixed before Easter.
"We have had to put people off already because the water has been through the park and the orchard and through the road to Banyan Farm.
"The cherabin are coming through in waves.
"We have been catching a lot of cherabin with eggs and some of them are monsters almost like crayfish.
"You will put the traps and get a few and then nothing a few days and then bang they will be in again.
"We got one yesterday that was huge - it must have been close 25cm nose to tail - I'll measure him when we thaw him out for dinner."
Top End Fishing Supplies' Steve Compain said the past two days had been tough out wide, with a big swell running.
"We got some jewfish but we had to work hard for them and it was a complete contrast with the week before, and other charter boats reported the same,'' he said.
"I think the weather knocked the jewies out.
"There have been reports of barramundi on the Adelaide River and very good reports from Shady Camp with some big fish caught.
"The South Alligator has been good both up and downstream.
"There are guys filling 50L eskies with big prawns out of Darwin Harbour and Shoal Bay.
"There are small numbers of good quality mud crabs in Shoal Bay. "But the rivers should really start firing now."
Katherine Rod and Rifle's Debbie de With said most local fishermen were going to the Victoria River this weekend.
"Half of Katherine is going out there,'' she said.
"Warren is stuck at the Roper but he reported getting some good barra.
"He has tagged and released over 100 fish.''
Leaders Creek Fishing Base's Chris Edwards said he went out on Wednesday and Thursday and caught jewfish, redfish, big cod and sharks.
"We fished around the Vernons Islands in different spots.'' he said.
"The grader is working on the road right now.
"The weather is flat here - there is no swell running.
"There are prawns around - you can see them down near the creek mouth."
Crab Claw Island Fisherman's Village's Kathy McIntyre said four anglers went out on Thursday and caught a jewfish about 1.5m long.
"Other than that it has been fairly quiet but mud crabs are still showing up,'' she said.
"What few they have been bringing in have been a good size.
"The weather here today (Friday) is perfect. It is just like glass.
"Easter will be huge here ... we are booked out. In fact, we are flat out with lots of bookings all dry season."

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