FISHING
With Alex Julius              29 July 2010

It seems that all the fishing happening at the moment is being governed by the ongoing strong winds that we’ve been experiencing.

Yes, this is definitely one of those years when the south-easterlies just don’t give up.

Good news though is that we’re about to get a brief windless window of opportunity.

According to the Bureau of Metreology, the strong wind warning we’ve had this week is over and the high pressure system at the bottom of Australia is weakening and moving east to the Tasman Sea.

The bottom line is that tomorrow – yes tomorrow – is predicted as being the best day to head offshore for some time because there will be hardly any wind. That’s certainly a big call from the bureau, but good news if you can get a day off.

Surprisingly, the bureau is predicting Saturday as being marginal wind-wise. That’s because a new high is moving into the Great Australian Bight and, by Sunday, will be firing south-easterlies straight across the Top End.

In fact, the bureau is anticipating issuing another strong wind warning for coastal waters next week.
Please note that I am not advocating that anyone take a sickie tomorrow – I totally disapprove of that pathetic Australian tradition.

However, a day’s paid leave, an RDO or time off from your own business is certainly acceptable, and a bloody good idea given the brief window of opportunity predicted.

For those limited to fishing on weekend’s only, this next one features some great harbour barra tides. Given that the winds should be kinder on Saturday, the opportunity to fish the flats midway through the run-out is very real indeed.

Basically, choose any of Darwin Harbour’s arms and launch your boat by about 10.00am. Assuming you are up one of the arms by 11.00am, you should look for a submerged mudflat that is out of the wind and has good water clarity.

Concentrate on flats with about a metre of water over them where they meet the mangroves, and fish the edges with small shallow-diving minnows; eg Classic Just Unders, Rapala X-Raps and small Reidy’s B52s.
You might even do better using soft plastics of which the world is your oyster when it comes to choice.

Recently, I described an amazing saltwater creek session I had using small Squidgy Slick Rigs adorned with S-Factor fish attractant, so clearly that’s one softie I would advocate.

But you might also like to try one of the several brands of soft plastic prawn imitations available.

In each case, it is imperative that you work your soft plastic ultra-slowly.

Clearly, as the tide falls, you’ll need to back off the flats; but that’s when you commence targeting the gutters off the mudflat edges. Generally, right on low tide itself is fairly quiet, and stays that way until there is a bit of a run on the incoming tide.

That won’t be happening until well after 5.00pm on Saturday and after 6.00pm on Sunday, by which time – hopefully – you’ll be enjoying a coldie on the verandah prior to tossing some fresh barra fillets on the barbie.

If you’re like me, you would have been caught by surprise by the announcement from Opposition Leader Tony Abbott that, if elected, his Government would freeze the gazetting of new marine parks around the country.
Particularly on the east coast, the ad hoc creation of marine parks, based on anecdotal, biased and emotionally-based "science" has been the single, most-important issue facing recreational fishermen in the 21st century.

In his announcement, Mr Abbott said: “A Coalition government will take immediate action to ensure that future Marine Protected Areas balance environmental preservation with economic growth and strong coastal communities.
“It's very important that we don't do anything as a government that unreasonably threatens the livelihood of fishing industries and the tourism industries upon which so much of Australia depends.

“The Coalition supports a balanced approach to marine conservation and will immediately put on hold the Marine Bioregional Planning process. We will then restructure this process, in consultation with the community and industry, within the first year of government.

“The Coalition will also require future decisions on Marine Protected Areas to consider peer reviewed scientific evidence of threats to marine biodiversity and for this evidence to be made available to all stakeholders, including affected communities and industries,” Mr Abbott said.

“In establishing Marine Protected Areas, the Coalition will consult closely with those people and industries who use the marine environment, including the recreational and commercial fishing sectors, to determine Marine Protected Area management plans in accordance with relevant legislation and other regulatory frameworks,” the Opposition Leader stated.
AFANT Executive Officer, Chris Makepeace, has welcomed the announcement.

“We have been very concerned about the current process and expressed those concerns to the Federal Government,” Mr Makepeace said.

“It was the major topic at our AFANT annual meeting in March because of our concerns about the Federal Government’s proposed no-go, no-take zones in the NT.”

“If the Opposition in Government intends putting the current process on hold, that’s excellent, and we would certainly endorse this policy,” the AFANT Executive Officer said.

Tony Phillips fished with Fishing and Outdoor World’s Mario Faggion for the capture of this giant trevally off Darwin.

Jodie Simpson’s silver barra came from a session with husband Anthony and Brad Woollams last weekend near the mouth of the Adelaide River.