NT Fishing Report
With Alex Julius 24 February 2011
The road closure currently in place before Adelaide River on the Arnhem Highway is certainly frustrating plenty of anglers who would like to fish the Mary River or the South Alligator River.
But some keen anglers are getting there anyway by taking the long way via the Kakadu Highway at Pine Creek.
That really is devotion to the cause, but it has surely paid off for Shane Compain and his piscatorial cohorts.
On Monday, they launched at the South Alligator boat ramp and belted down to the mouth and along the coast to fish the mouth of Love Creek on the big spring tide.
Love Creek is closer to the Mary River mouth than to the South Alligator, and the boys smashed them there.
They caught 10 barra over a metre, then backed up with another 10 or more metreys over two days at other spots – including the Wildman River – before the long haul back to Darwin.
I rang Steve Compain at Tackleworld who is most concerned that son Shane will think that he divulged this great report to your humble columnist.
“How did you find out about it?” Steve asked me.
“Mate, you know I can’t reveal my sources,” I explained.
With the cat out of the bag, Steve was happy to tell me that Shane was calling him daily by satellite phone, and all the big fish were caught on the new Strata 180mm Tera lure, which is a Tackle World brand.
“It’s a bit like a big Bomber, and comes in eight great colours, and with a big, heavy, clunky rattle,” Steve said.
Apparently, before Cyclone Carlos, Shane had been braining barra at Shady and down the Daly on the new lure. Steve said there’ll be a 120 and a 150 available shortly.
In the unlikely case that the Arnhem Highway is open by the weekend (or like Shane you’re prepared to go the long way) it’s worth noting that the tides are in a waning phase after the big springs earlier this week.
Following those big surging tides last week and over last weekend, when the whole aquatic composition of the Mary River would have changed, this weekend’s smaller tides will mean clearer water down at the mouths of both Tommycutt and Sampan Creeks.
That’s your best bet for connecting with a whopper barra, and it’s as easy as trolling up and down the river mouth edges with the right lure.
Apart from the Strata Tera 180 already mentioned, bright, chromed colours are the shot, particularly on models like the Killalure Barrabait 8-plus, Classic 160 and that all-round favourite of so many barra fishermen, the Classic 120.
Large Bombers in chartreuse, and big bright Reidy’s B52s and Rapala X-Raps are also proven big barra catchers in these waters at this time of year.
The South Alligator itself may be worth a look, but Jabiru had 180mm of rain earlier this week, so the river will be in serious flood I’d imagine.
Prior to Carlos, reports had been varied from the South, with a couple of crews nailing up to 30 barra fishing the edges of the main channel up the top of the river. Others have found it tough going, so it was a matter of moving around to find feeding fish.
It’s always good to remember that, when the going gets tough, switch to plastic. Work them slowly back along the bottom with the run-out tide so that they hop down any drop-offs, hopefully straight into the mouth of a waiting barra.
Poppers are worth a go at this time of year too as they allow you to work any shallow areas that attract barra holding up out of the current.
By the way, the best barra popper on the market right now is the Storm Chug Bug 11cm. in Blue Mullet or Silver Mullet colours.
I know this because the guides at the Arnhemland Barramundi Nature Lodge won’t use any other popper, and they also catch mackerel trolling with them.
Please note also that, if you find yourself at the Wildman River, it is part of Kakadu National Park and is gazetted as such all the way from the mouth.
Suzanne Marsh caught this black jew off Darwin prior to the blow.
