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Gondwana Tours nailed this chrome 56 pound Tommycut Creek barra in the record 2004 Northern Territory wet season run-off

Matt Flynn's Northern Territory
fishing report: March 7, 2004

Also available in the Darwin Sunday
newspaper, Sunday Territorian

Most anglers would know that record rains hit parts of the Top End last week.

Yet there are still plenty of fishable areas along many rivers.

The Adelaide, Mary River (well below Shady Camp) and South Alligator were all fishable last week.

While the Mary was flooded at the Shady Camp barrage and just below, there was only a little little run-off from most Tommycut feeder creeks.

The Roper River remains high and inaccessible, as is the Victoria River. The Daly River is also too high for fishing.

However, while superb colour changes coming off the floodplains on the South and the Adelaide have been raising hopes for some time now, last week the fishing was again fairly slow.

For example, 22 boats fished the mouth of Tommycut Creek on Wednesday for only a handful of barra and salmon.

Surprisingly, the sea-going jewfish seems to be the fish of the moment, rather than the more famous barramundi.

Jewfish have been biting on the reefs just out from Sampan Creek, on Simms Reef in Bynoe Harbour, and on Darwin Harbour wrecks among other places.

Katherine Rod and Rifle's Warren de With said the Victoria River was back up and over the bridge again last week, after rising 3m on Thursday night.

"The Roper River at Roper Bar was 12.1m on Friday which is very high and the Roper Highway is cut in four places,'' he said.

"The Daly River was 13.3m at the Daly River Crossing last week, with associated minor flooding.

"And in Katherine we had a lot of water around here on Wednesday when the low-lying areas along the Victoria Highway got some flooding from the Katherine River.

"The Katherine River went up to 15m last week and was down to around 12m on Friday.

"Once again, it's looking good for the season ahead, but it is perhaps worrying that we are not hearing of more fish being caught at the South Alligator and Mary Rivers."

Got One Darwin's Craig Grosvenor said Simms Reef in Bynoe Harbour produced jewfish to 15kg last week.

"Closer to Darwin, during the recent neap tides the Shoal Bay rock produced jewfish to 20kg on squid baits,'' he said.

"There have also been mud crabs in Shoal Bay.

"I would like to have seen more fish come out of the Tommycut Creek mouth last week _ there were two dozen boats there on Wednesday but hardly any fish were caught."

Aurora Kakadu's Peter Wilson said he took the Breakfast Crew from a local radio station fishing last Sunday and they hooked and lost a metre-long barra.

"We caught about 25 fish up on the floodplain,'' he said.

"We used soft plastics but they were going at anything _ you could have put your toe in the water and got a bite.

"We were fishing the top of an incoming tide and there was plenty of water up there.

"I know many fishermen are coming back empty-handed but the carcasses in the bins show that some people are getting their share.

"I am lucky in that I can fish the South Alligator at short notice on the right tide, and the more you fish an area the better you get at it."

Fishing and Outdoor World's Matt West said fishing guides reported mainly salmon at the mouth of Tommycut Creek last week.

"The top at Shady Camp has not produced too many barramundi either,'' he said.

"The South Alligator River hasn't really fired yet. Most people are hitting Shady Camp."

Ronald Voukolos said there have been golden trevally to 7kg caught off the foreshores from the Deckchair Cinema foreshore around to Iron Ore Wharf.

"There have been some good barra in Shoal Bay and jewfish in the harbour on the lost shipping containers."

Top End Fishing Supplies Garth Edie said Shady Camp and Tommycut Creek had been most consistent for barra.

"Some people are lucky and others aren't and other places are too flooded,'' he said.

"The top of the South Alligator River is good at times but there are more fish offshore when the weather is calm.

"The Adelaide River may be starting to produce some barra.

"We had one report of two jewfish being caught off the Gunn Point beach."

Leaders Creek Fishing Base's Chris Edwards said fishing had been quiet.

"There were a couple of small jewfish and salmon caught on the last neap tides,'' he said.

"One boat went out to the North West Vernon Island and got some fish.

"But I think there was too much freshwater and it was still pretty rough around the front _ you had to be brave to go out.

"There are crabs running in the creek now.

"The road is pretty rough now after all the rain - hopefully the government will get it fixed up soon."

Joan Miller at Tackle Up said a lot of her customers had been fishing but not many were catching fish.

"But it is still early yet," she said.

Jeff Reid at Reidys Lures also said he had little to report.

"Darren's Barra and Bluewater Safaris put a customer onto a 1.08m barra last week below Shady Camp, and some jewfish outside on the reefs,'' he said.

"Otherwise reports have been quiet."

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