NT Fishing Report

with Alex Julius              25 June 2010

As interesting as the tides are this weekend, the current prevailing strong winds will need to abate considerably to increase the fishing potential both offshore and, to a lesser extent, inland.

From looking at the forecasts for the weekend, the winds will certainly be weaker, but almost certainly not enough to facilitate a comfort day out on the blue. The tides are moving into good springs this weekend, and what I like is that the daytime lows are not super low.

That means that there won’t be streaming currents offshore, and water clarity should be fine for pelagic fishing.

Thankfully, given the reports of late, you won’t need to go further than Lee Point to experience some terrific pelagic fishing. Lee Point will afford some protection from the strong south-easterlies, and can be accessed either from Nightcliff Boat Ramp or Buffalo Creek.

According to Fishing and Outdoor World’s, Phil Newton, last weekend it was going off with quality Spanish mackerel. However, the most remarkable catch would have to be Ben Wadley’s 130cm cobia. Ben caught the big fish trolling a Stiffy Mack Mauler at Lee Point.

For my money, the cobia, aka black kingfish, is one of the stars of the bluewater world. You can catch from Port Stephens NSW to right up the eastern tropical seaboard, right across the top and down the WA coast as far Carnarvon.

Off Darwin, some years they’re all over the place. Once hooked, a cobia will fight like mad, and actually seems to get angrier the closer it comes to the boat, shaking its head furiously. That’s when most big cobia are lost – right at the boat.

To my knowledge, it grows to about 50kg, and I’ve personally seen cobia close to that size swimming in a pack of three at Port Essington on the Cobourg Peninsula.

I also remember once publishing a photo of a cobia about 30kg that was caught off the Fisherman’s Wharf in Sadgrove’s Crrek. I’d say the highest local concentration of cobia is down towards the Peron Islands.
Even bottom fishing, you’re likely to encounter one or three down that way. Cobia don’t have big sharp teeth like other mackerel, so can be caught without a wire trace.

Always check out any manta rays you come by on the water because cobia just love to swim with these rays.
The theory is that the cobia snaffle up the easy pickings that appear when manta rays shuffle along the bottom, kicking up sediment as they too feed. Cobia particularly like the little crabs that come off the bottom.
Take note too that cobia are simply delicious to eat. They are an excellent table fish that responds to even the most-simple culinary approach.

According to Got One’s Craig Grosvenor, the jewfish are back in a big way.

“And big they are,” reckons Craig. “20kg models have been dragged aboard from Bass Reef, Charles Point and South Gutter.

“In the mix came goldies to 4.5kg and coral trout more than good enough for the table. “Close by, our own harbour is now beginning to fire on these big jew too,” Craig reported.

“The Container Wreck just off Stokes Hill has claimed a few back, busting 150lb handlines like cotton. The old saying you snooze, you lose should be marked on a sign post at these locations to give the not-so-familiar tourists a chance,” Craig joked.

I hear it’s been tough inland with the cooler weather and cooler waters.

However, those shallower lagoons up the South Alligator River system are fishing okay. Places like Alligator and Bucket Billabongs are definitely worth a visit, if only for the scenery. I can tell you that the Corroboree is definitely quite at the moment, but that could chnge once those winds abate.


If you want a story from left field, then how about this one from Jarrod Day in Melbourne?

Jarrod emailed me about a bloke by the name of  Luke Scicluna who caught a barramundi at Docklands in the middle of Melbourne CBD.

According to Luke: “I headed off with my mate, Anthony, for a spot of fishing on Sunday afternoon.

“We were armed with prawns in search of bream amongst the moored boats.

“The technique was to drop the prawns rigged on jig heads between the boats and the dock, free spooling to the bottom where the fish would hit it on the way down.

“Though we caught some good bream with this technique, we also managed a few bream and mullet on soft plastics.

“To our amazement we spotted a large fish under the jetty and when we realised what it was we couldn’t believe it,” Luke explained.

“A quick cast with a prawn landing on its nose and we were on – the fish was landed and we were right…it was a BARRAMUNDI.

“Yep, a barramundi in Melbourne’s CBD: you’d never dream of it.”

If you’re after an explanation, then the most plausible I can come up with is that someone released it from a fish tank. How it survived in the cold water is another question all together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben Wadley with his solid 130cm cobia caught last weekend at Lee Point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian Mappas visited Darwin and went fishing with Peter Zeroni for pelagic species, but came up trumps with a wind-decided saltwater barra instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although definitely not soon to be the barra capital of Australia, Melbourne’s Docklands produced this very real barramundi for Luke Scicluna.