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Little fish can be fun ... Jade Boak with a run-off barra

Matt Flynn's Northern Territory
fishing report: April 4, 2004

Also available in the Darwin Sunday
newspaper, Sunday Territorian

Barramundi slowed down with the neap tides last week but plenty of fish were caught in the superb run-off conditions nonetheless.
There seems to be quite a debate about whether run-off barra are better on big tides or small.
Some people prefer neaps at the river mouths, but the professional guides catching multiple metre fish are usually doing best on the building tide cycle with reasonably large tidal movement, fishing the outgoing tide. Different spots fish well at different times.
Once the swollen rivers have fallen below the banks, feeder creeks flow clearest on the early run-out tide, with many turning to liquid mud as the tide drops low.
Fishing seemed to be improving across the board as early as Friday as the tides picked up again.
There are plenty of saltwater barra upstream in the rivers now, with silver barra being caught at Shady Camp barrage, the top of the Adelaide and the South Alligator River last week.
Fishing this weekend and early this week is expected to be outstanding, except on the flooded Daly.
The Adelaide River is firing regularly, with the mouth of Beatrice Creek working particularly well on the outgoing tide, although most fish are under legal size.
Soft plastics remain the lure of choice on the clear upstream run-offs, but hard-bodied lures are producing good fish for people trolling.
The flooded Daly River is now falling and expected to start fishing consistently once it is below 10m.
Offshore, fat jewfish and snapper are being caught at the usual spots, and the harbour itself started producing some quality golden snapper late last week.
Fishing and Outdoor World's Matt West said it had been quieter on the neap tides at the mouth of Shady Camp.
"Even the South Alligator, which fished superbly for the Kakadu Klash, slowed down on the neap tides,'' he said.
"The Adelaide has been fishing well at times and I had a good recent session there at night on fizzers and poppers.
"But the reef fishing was a fair bit better last week than the barra fishing.
"Shoal Bay is looking good with freshwater still coming off the plains.
"This weekend the barramund fishing across the board should be very good."
King Kontis Fishing Tours' Tom Kontis said the harbour had been fishing well for medium golden snapper.
"The neap tides last week were poor for jewfish - everyone was catching jewfish before the cyclonic swell set in the week before and after the cyclone went by all that was around was grunter and sharks.
"But on Wednesday and Thursday we started catching large golden snapper.
"We got to one spot and the fish were everywhere, but they were only biting on the turn of the tide."
Happy Micks' Charlie Chambers said Sean Rupe and nephew Logan Rupe spent a night at Shady Camp barrage.
"Sean said everyone seemed to be hooking up on good fish,'' he said.
"Logan landed a metre fish from the barrage using a spin outfit loaded with 2kg line.
"It took over 20 minutes to land in the running water and was a real saltwater barra.
"As he could not cast a baitcaster his uncle gave him the eggbeater with the light line, and he hooked the big fish on a DOA Bait Buster.
"He is a visitor from down south and it was his first legal barra.
"They landed several other nice fish but called it quits once the sun came up.
"Shady Camp has been fishing well downstream as well with reports of fish at the S-bends.
"There have been some big fish caught at night between the barrage and the boat wreck near Shady Camp.
"A customer showed me a photo of a fish caught in the area just on sunrise which looked to be around the 115cm mark.
"He said that same day he dropped a couple of good fish trolling the S-bends.
"The Tommycut Creek mouth is still producing the odd big fish and the barrages are fishing well on the first of the spring tides.
"This weekend should be good for fishing.

"The South Alligator looks to be one of the best rivers so far as far as floodwater goes.
"The South and the Daly will produce good fish right up to the end of May.
"On the Daly a few boys have been fishing Clearwater Creek far downstream and doing well with reports of 30 fish a day and some around the metre mark.
"I was talking to a customer yesterday and he said the fishing started around Elizabeth but wasn't real good until you got to Clearwater Creek.
"But once the river height falls a little more things will definitely start to happen on the Daly."
For more information www.happymicks.com.au
Top End Fishing Supplies' Dylan Jenkins said the shop's charter boat had been catching big jewfish and snapper around Lorna Shoal.
"The snapper have been up to 5kg,'' he said.
"The barramundi are going off in the rivers.
"There are also loads of jewfish at the mouth of Sampan Creek.
"The South Alligator will go off again as the tides get bigger.
"There are some muddies moving in the harbour with one customer getting nine big bucks, but he would not say where."
Woolianna on the Daly's Stan Traczynski said the Daly River finally started falling on Thursday.
"Howabout that! At the crossing at lunch time on Friday it was down to 12.17m,'' he said.
"All the rivers are falling further upstream so it looks like this is it.
"There is still water over the road here but that will clear up soon enough.
"Hopefully all will be well for Easter - I would guess the river will be about 10m for Easter, but that's just a guess."
Got One Darwin's Craig Grosvenor said a customer had fished far downstream on the Daly River at Palmerston Island and caught fish to 90cm in a busy hour and a half session.
"There are heaps of jewfish to 15kg at Charles Point and on the Shady Camp reefs,'' he said.
"There was a big jewie caught on the Ellengowan wreck on a squid bait.
"There are queenfish being caught off Larrakeyah on maribou jigs and fly.
"A creek near the Rookery on the South Alligator has been fishing really well on the first hour of the outgoing tide with a customer saying the barra backs were coming out of the water like little dolphins.
"Nourlangie Creek fished really well on split-tail minnows with a red head."
"The customer, a guide, tried other lures and the split-tails worked best, which I thought was unsual.
"The Love and Carmour Creek mouths have fished well for multiple big fish.
"Another customer said the Sampan Creek region has been fishing well out wide on the colour change for large barra.
"Charles Point is producing jewfish with one customer hooking 22, and losing some really big ones."
Leaders Creek Fishing Base's Chris Edwards said the fishing last week had been good.
"Blue salmon have been going ape, and there have been big jewies caught and lost at the mouth,'' he said.
"There are snapper in the creek and out wide there are snapper, mackerel, jewfish and redfish.
"There are spanish and grey mackerel. "There were a couple of big jacks caught in the creek too, the first I have seen for a while.
"There have been a few small barra caught but no big ones.
"The weather has been kind and the road is like a highway again.
"The big tides are not a problem if you sneak in behind the reefs in the backwaters and you can still get a bait to the bottom."

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