Dave Buckley from Bunbury WA caught this monster barra in Darwin's Shoal Bay Matt
Flynn's Northern Territory Barramundi have been biting well in both the salt and fresh water. In the fresh water Manton Dam and the Four Mile Hole have been good, with the best fishing at night. In the salt water, West and Middle Arms have been fishing well. Many anglers are fishing now despite the famous build-up heat, and last week the newly expanded boat ramp car park at Dinah Beach was already overflowing with trailers despite a lot of fishermen being at competitions on Bynoe Harbour and the Mary River last weekend. Which begs the question - when will the Dinah Beach car park be expanded again? Fishermen also need a pontoon and wash down facility at this popular ramp. Offshore, big golden snapper have been biting from the deep water of North Gutter to the shallows of Bass Reef. Fishing and Outdoor World's Ronald Voukolos said big golden snapper were over Bass Reef last week coming off the neap tides. "The snapper were following hooked fish up to the boat,'' he said. "There were some good mackerel caught wide of Point Blaze and wide of Sail City on a couple of lumps,'' he said. "The mackerel were to 14kg and there were a lot of mack-tuna about. The same group of fishermen also fished on the bottom and caught some coral trout and trickies. "A fishing guide working Darwin Harbour's West Arm last week caught 10 barra to 75cm and two threadfin. "Matt West fished Middle Arm last Sunday and they saw loads of fish around the rockbars and caught queenfish and trevally. "The Bottlewasher Reef produced some mackerel during the week - customers reported broadbar mackerel to 6kg taking jigged Bumpa Bar lures - some traces were bitten off so there may have been big spanish mackerel among them. "This jigging thing has really taken off over the artificial reefs." Top End Fishing Supplies' Steve Compain said there were a lot of big golden snapper on offshore reefs last week. "We are trying different areas and deeper water and getting a lot of goldies around 6kg,'' he said. "Our charter on Wednesday caught eight big jewies and several snapper around 6kg even though the tides were large. "We are hitting the deep water at South and North Gutters on the turn of the tide. "There were plenty of tuna out there but they were very flighty. "The weather has been calm for offshore fishing, and October is usually a good month for reef fishing. "I fished Woods Inlet last week and caught one legal barra and dropped about 10 as the tide started to turn - some other guys went there and put 10 crab pots out all day and only caught two crabs. "Middle Arm has been producing some good barra and salmon." Shoal Bay Boat Hire's Bob Morris said Dave Buckley, who caught a 112cm barra in the Little Howard River a fornight ago, caught a 116cm barra in the same spot last week casting an unspecified lure. "The Rock produced some jewfish and two 1m queenfish last week - the barra have been steady at The Rock but not sensational,'' Bob said. "Most people are getting two or three barra a trip - I think it will get better this week as the tides drop off. "There are plenty of blue and threadfin salmon about. "There have been the first signs of some big buck mud crabs about with the latest big tides - someone caught 14 out the front last week. "We generally do well on the big tides just leaving the pots out overnight against the mangroves out the front. "One customer reported seeing tripletail free-swimming in Hope Inlet - these are great eating fish and they will take barra lures." Happy Micks' Charlie Chambers said he and father Mick fished Darwin Harbour in their new boat last week. "It was the first time I had been in the harbour for 12 months,'' Charlie said. "We saw a lot of good fish in feeding mode and a lot of bait that looked like it didn’t enjoy being near the bottom of the food chain. "We pulled up near a draining flat to have a few casts at some snags. Mick spotted several barra shoulder to shoulder, half an inch under the water waiting for something dumb enough to pass their way - that dumb thing was his lure. "Mick landed a 68cm barra which christened the new boat. "A customer reported large quantities of crabs in Middle Arm, getting more than his bag limit in less than a day and getting to choose the best of three mud crabs on his last pull to make the difference. "He said catfish and barra frames were the best bait to use. He said he put roo meat in one pot and it never got touched. "He said while the pots were soaking he had a fish at the top of one of the creeks. He said he caught three barra and a mangrove jack in three hours of fishing. "West Arm has fished well. Most anglers are catching five or six legal barra out of the gutters and the snake drain from the left fork midway up West Arm." "I was talking to Harold Sinclair from Sinclair’s On The Daly at the launch of the 2004 Barra Nationals official video last week. "He said fishing at the Daly has been pretty good for this time of year. He said the water was clear for as far as Elizabeth Creek and there are plenty of fish being caught on lures on the good tides. "He said he hasn’t heard of any large fish caught for a while but it won’t be long until things heat up." For more see www.happymicks.com.au Got One's Kane Dysart said Shoal Bay's low tide holes were fishing well for barra and salmon, with some big threadfin salmon. "We used live flathead there because we could not get any mullet and caught a 70cm barra and 70cm threadfin,'' he said. "Shady Camp barrage has been fishing well on the big tides with plenty of smaller fish caught on the freshwater side but the big fish did not come up with the last tides for some reason. "Tommycutt Creek mouth last week produced a lot of fish in the 80cm range on the change of the low tide. "Tuna were abundant in the harbour on the last neap tides and were taking Maribou jigs and chrome lures. "There have been a lot jewfish on the Mauna Loa and other harbour wrecks. "Four Mile Hole fished really well on the weekend with two fish over a metre in a catch of 40 fish in one night. "Corroboree Billabong is producing a few fish to 70cm."
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