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Jenna Samboro with an 85cm barra caught on the upper South Alligator River on a Storm 6" soft plastic in mullet colour

Matt Flynn's Northern Territory
fishing report: April 3, 2005

Also available in the Darwin Sunday
newspaper, Sunday Territorian



The run of big barramundi continued on the Adelaide River last week with some whoppers taken downstream of the Arnhem Hwy bridge, and plenty of smaller fish upstream.
The Daly River has also been fishing well, mostly down towards Elizabeth and Clear Creeks.
The South Alligator River rose a little last week thanks to some late afternoon storms.
Fishermen have been getting through the Magela Creek road crossing to launch at the East Alligator River but few reports have filtered back.
Corroboree Billabong is now open and early reports suggest the water is still a little high for good fishing, but further upstream the Mary River bridge lagoon has been fishing well.

Got One's Kane Dysart said the Dundee foreshore at Fog Bay produced jewfish last week.
"The Dundee jewfish reef fired up with 10 jewish caught of around 12kg,'' he said.
"There are schools of tuna and mackerel off Point Blaze with some sailfish sighted.
"The Adelaide River has been fishing well at the Marrakai Creek rockbar with fish to 90cm - the rockbar above Manton Creek has been fishing well too.
"Shady Camp has been fairly quiet for barra but there are loads of jewfish out on the reefs.
"The South Alligator River has been hit and miss for barra - the sandbars in the river are shifting and a few people have come to grief.
"The South Alligator also has jewfish biting at the mouth.
"I have not heard of much from Darwin Harbour.
"Corroboree Billabong is open but the fishing is fairly slow and the water is still high."

Fishing and Outdoor World's Matt West said fishing reports were mixed last week.
"The bluewater scene was good with loads of mackerel and schools of tuna down past the Peron Islands,'' he said.
"Equinox Fishing Charters has been doing well on the jewfish.
"There have been plenty of queenfish around the harbour rock walls.
"Shoal Bay has been producing the best mud crabs, but Leaders Creek and Saltwater Arm have also been producing.
"On the Daly River fishing guide Preston Higgins has had a good week with fish to 90cm mostly down toward Elizabeth Creek.
"One group fished Clear Creek on the Daly for a day and caught quite a few fish.
"The South Alligator River has had good numbers of fish but the top reaches have come up and is fairly flooded again.
"Shady Camp has been fairly dismal, even at the barrage."

Top End Fishing Supplies' Steve Compain said it had been an interesting week.
"There have been really good reports from the Daly River with 80cm and 90cm fish taken from a snag Clear Creek,'' he said.
"The Daly River was .8m over the crossing on Friday.
"The South Alligator River has produced some big fish from above and below the bridge.
"The East Alligator River has been accessible with .8m deep at Magela Creek last week and a few boats going in but I have no reports from there yet.
"Offshore has been exceptional with loads of jewies and snapper - they are everywhere.
"Mackerel are starting to show up regularly at Lorna Shoal around the 8kg to 10kg size.
"I went to the Adelaide River two mornings last week - it was still dark with the moon up - the fish were boofing on the surface and we caught some undersize and a 60cm and 70cm fish.
"Then I went the morning after and caught a 75cm and a 60cm and dropped quite a few - we got the 75cm at the mouth of Beatrice Creek.
"Another customer fished downstream and caught six fish around 90cm.
"One of our customers caught a 1.2m barra and dropped bigger ones fishing downstream - people are definitely saying it has been exceptional on the Adelaide this year.
"Another crew fished Sadgroves Creek and caught several 70cm barra on the morning incoming tide - they said the action was unbelievable.
"Crabbing is still pretty good all around.
"There are also quite a few big fish being caught at Manton Dam."

Katherine Rod and Rifle's Ben Wright said the Roper River fished well last weekend.
"My dad and I caught a couple of big fish - there was a 110cm and 130cm and a 90cm,'' he said.
"We let a lot of fish go - the biggest fish was caught by my father Greg on a livebait.
"The best fishing was early in the morning and most of the fish were caught at Blackfella Creek and the crossing.
"All I have heard from the Victoria River is that it is stil running a bit high and dirty."

Shoal Bay Boat Hire's Bob Morris said there was a 1.22cm barra caught opposite the private boat ramp on Thursday.
"The big fish was released - I do not know how the fish was caught, but the angler Matt Wheeler was pretty happy,'' he said.
"There are plenty of barra about - we had some guys from Perth here for a week - in one day they caught a 94cm, an 88cm and an 85cm barra.
"Spot 6 has been fishing well - people know it is reliable.
"The jewfish are still going strong out at The Rock - they are mostly around the 12kg range and there are plenty of them - some guys are just catching them and letting them go.
"There have been plenty of barra taken on lures by walking the holes at low tide.
"Crabs were sensational until about Wednesday and then they went quiet - it had been fantastic before then with some crews getting 20 big bucks in just a couple of hours."

Boatcom Installations' Tony Copley took a trip across to Melville Island last week and explored some of the eastern creeks.
He reported foul smelling black water pouring from most creeks, with dead fish hanging from trees - a legacy of Cyclone Ingrid which passed directly over the Tiwi Islands last month.
"Most of the trees have been stripped bare," Tony said.
"We caught a few jacks and bream but it was pretty dead - even the crocs looked sick."

Barramundi Fishing Charters' Rob Marchant took a trip to Corroboree Billabong last week and said he caught several barra.
"The fish were biting and the road was in excellent condition,'' he said.
"We had a lot of fun catching tarpon on small white slugs - they wouldn't stop biting."

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