NT Fishing Report
with Alex Julius 30 September 2010
The combination of neap tides, early October and increasing humidity are a time-proven and consistent formula for catching barra at one specific location which is readily accessible to Darwin anglers: the mouth of the Adelaide River.
I’m told the Gunn Point Road currently is a nightmare for anglers towing boats, but it may well be worth the effort this weekend to make the trip to the Saltwater Arm boat ramp.
Just a fortnight ago on neap tides with minimal movement, you couldn’t miss at the mouth of the Adelaide, and in particular at one spot.
Heading into the mouth – after one very small creek – within the first few kilometres, there are three major creeks on the left-hand side. The first is called Wiltshire Creek, or Number One.
Wiltshire is capable of producing exciting barra action.
However, if the next creek up – Number Two – fishes like it did a fortnight ago, then look out. Apparently, there were four boats trolling the creek on the Friday, and they caught mobs of barra.
On the Saturday, about 10 boats trolled up and down the edges of this very-long creek, and cleaned up. By Sunday, word was well and truly out, and more than 20 boats experienced non-stop action.
Chris Errity was there for a quick shot, and boated seven 60-75cm barra in just a couple of hours. The biggest event of the day was when a big boat, trolling up the centre with rods in holders, hooked a 121cm barra which – I’m told – jumped a couple of times out the back before the anglers knew they’d hooked up. However, they must have been doing something right because they landed that fish and nearly 20 more to boot.
Chris reckons all you had to do was troll lures that run about 2m deep. You didn’t have to look for structure, ledges or any of the usual barra-holding habitat, because the barra were everywhere in Number Two.
If there are barra in the Adelaide River mouth on these sorts of tides, then there should also be a few in nearby Saltwater Arm, especially around low tide down at the mouth.
Not far away, and also accessed from the Gunn Point Road, Leaders Creek is bound to produce a quality silver barra or two around high tide down the bottom end.
Still on the barra scene, there’s definitely fun to be had inland early in October.
Phil Newton from Fishing and Outdoor World reckons Hardies Lagoon is still producing – not in huge numbers or for big fish but enough to keep you happy at such a beautiful location.
Craig Grosvenor from Got One reports that Four Mile Hole is still yielding cricket-score numbers, but most fish are rats.
Apparently, Corroboree is picking up, so that could be good fun this weekend.
Starting tomorrow, for many anglers fishing will be all about chasing the mighty billfish off our divine tropical waters.
Yes, tomorrow, Darwin Game Fishing Club’s three-day XXXX Gold Billfish Classic gets under way with lines in at 7.00am. There will be a briefing tonight at 6.00pm at the Darwin Ski Club.
All fish are tagged, photographed and released in this tournament, and it is not just restricted to marlin and sailfish; there is also a category for non-billfish species.
I must say I’m impressed with the level of organisation that goes into this tournament, and also that the catch information will be put to good use. For example, all mackerel are to be tagged with NT Fisheries Gene Tags so more can be learnt about this important commercial and recreational Top End gamefish.
According to the club’s website information on the Billfish Classic, “Teams are also encouraged to complete an information sheet to assist in developing the understanding of the billfish patterns around Darwin.
“The information will not be released during the tournament.
“Waypoints will be added to a future waypoint database for all competitors. It will be a tick box format with the following information: longitude/latitude; species (raised/struck/tagged); date/time; water temperature; water clarity; method caught (skip bait/swim/lure); bait schools etc.”
It looks like the weather might hold out over the next three days, so it’s fair to anticipate some exciting captures.
Dave Oldham fished up inside Shoal Bay and scored this ripper 102cm barra.
Dave Friebel’s 72cm cobia was a great capture during the recent Darwin Flyrodders Saltwater Fly Fishing Challenge.