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Recreational fishing officer Phil Hall releases barra fingerlings

Matt Flynn's Northern Territory
fishing report: August 8, 2004

Also available in the Darwin Sunday
newspaper, Sunday Territorian

The NT Fisheries Group released 25,000 surplus barramundi fingerlings into
Darwin Harbour's East and Middle Arms last week.

Another 50,000 fingerlings will be stocked in the disused water supply dam
at Mount Todd, near the Edith River in early August.

The 120 ha Mount Todd dam is on land owned by the Jawoyn Association, which
will allow visits by recreational fishermen once the fish have grown out to
the minimum legal size of 55cm.

In June fisheries stocked Lake Bennett with 55,000 large barramundi
fingerlings to create a viable freshwater fishery.

On top of that, 60,000 large fingerlings have been put into Manton Dam in
the past 12 months.

NT Government recreational fishing officers Phil Hall and Pip Clement have
also been looking closely at how young fish are introduced into the
waterways to improve fingerling survival rates.

"Stocking a large number of large fingerlings in one go creates one class
size which can't therefore eat each other ... you don't want a small group
of large fish eating all the new small fish,'' Phil said.

Phil said he had been examining fingerling transport and the way fish are
introduced into the water to improve survival rates.

The artificially spawned barramundi fingerlings are from the Fisheries Group
's Darwin Aquaculture Centre, which supplies large numbers of the
fingerlings to commercial fish farmers.

Fortunately for recreational fishermen, it is difficult to accurately
control the number of fingerlings that are hatched from each spawning, and
large numbers of surplus fish often result.

Pip Clement said the Fisheries Group expected high survival rates because of
the fish's larger size at the time of release.

"These surplus fingerlings are usually about 50mm to 100mm long, an ideal
size for stocking waterways such as Manton Dam," he said.

Mr Clement organised the release of the 25,000 surplus barramundi
fingerlings into Darwin Harbour.

"It is not the Fisheries Group's usual policy to stock barramundi in natural
waters but these fingerlings would otherwise be wasted, so they are being
stocked in places where their value to local and visiting anglers is
maximised," he said.

The fingerlings were transported in an oxygenated tanker and distributed
from a boat among the types of habitat that juvenile barramundi typically
use to shelter from predators and for hunting food.

"There is now a limited number of publicly accessible impoundments that are
either suitable or available for stocking and those already stocked carry
the recommended limit of barramundi,'' Pip said.

"We are therefore now releasing excess fingerlings in the natural waters
around Darwin, and expect some brilliant fishing there and in the stocked
dams over coming years."

***

Offshore fishing remains the best bet, with the abundant longtail tuna schools in the harbour working close enough to shore for small dinghies to access.

At least one tuna was caught off Stokes Hill Wharf last week, and schools were seen working within casting distance of the Darwin side of East Point rocks.
Spanish mackerel are about too, with the Lee Point inshore reef and Angler Reef the best spots close to Darwin.

Top End Fishing Supplies' Steve Compain said his charter boat Ocean Fox did well at Lorna Shoal pinnacles last week.

"We caught some nice mackerel and reef fish, including coral trout,'' he said.

"Our other charter boat went out to Skottowe Shoal on the same day but did not catch much.

"We fished Fenton Patches during the week and there were plenty of jewfish but we could not get one up past the sharks - the jewfish would have been about 10kg size.

"There have been bigger jewfish over towards Loee Patches.

"Shoal Bay and Bynoe Harbour seem best for crabs.

"A customer rang in with a 58 pound barra taken from the East Alligator - he was looking for a taxidermist - but I have no other details.

"Duane Trouchet of DNA is getting a few fish at Corroboree Billabong.

"Another guy hooked and lost a small black marlin on a red and white Rapala off Sail City (wide of Fog Bay), and they saw a bigger marlin free jumping later on."

Fishing and Outdoor World's Matt West confirmed tuna had been abundant at East Point and Lee Point last week.

"There have also been several billfish seen off Dundee,'' he said.

"Some of the billabongs at the top of the South Alligator River have been producing a lot of barra, but mostly small stuff.

"Corroboree Billabong has been fairly quiet, and last week I caught five small barra at Hardies Lagoon in half a day of fishing."

Got One's Craig Grosvenor said blue water was the go with Bynoe Harbour being the place to be wit loads of jewfish on the reefs around Crab Claw Island.

"Most are around 15kg, with the Crab Claw jetty wreck being the number one spot,'' he said.

"There are big golden snaper on rockbars around Indian Island on an incoming tide, with areas sheltered from the wind seeming to be best.

"Threadfin salmon have been taken from the gutters on the last two hours of outgoing tide and first to hours of incoming.

"The Dundee jewfish reef has been working well with 34 jewfish, the biggest 20kg, caught in one overnight session - most were released.

"Off Larrakeyah, the rock walls have been producing queenfish and barracuda, casting Rapala Skitter Pops on the incoming tides.

"There have been jewfish caught jigging Storm 3-inch Swim Shads down deep off the end of Larrakeyah rocks.

"Emery Point has had tuna schools.

"East Point has produced spanish mackerel off the rocks on chrome lures.

"Big squid have been taken off the rocks two with 2-inch squid jigs.

"Lee Point and Angler Reef are producing mackerel almost every day.

"On Wednesday a 135cm, 19kg mackerel was taken - the angler said he has been getting the mackerel on the change of the low tide."

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