NT Fishing Report

With Alex Julius            13 October 2011

The increasing temperatures, humidity and spasmodic heavy falls we’ve experienced of late are indicative of the build-up that we all love so much at this time of year.

Sure, it’s hot and sweaty, and one could be forgiven for thinking about cooler, drier climes further south.

But if it’s barra you’re hunting, then this is one of those great times of year to load up.

Proof of the cake are the billabongs in Kakadu, especially Four Mile Hole and Yellow Water where plenty of legal-sized fish have been climbing out of the lilies and bankside timber to grab soft plastics, and there’s been a sprinkling of fish in the mid-80s as well.

Surprisingly, saratoga have been biting just as strongly, and they’re always a lot of fun.

Night time fishing is a terrific way to go at this time of year, and not only because it’s cooler. Bigger lagoon barra come out of hiding and go looking for food at night. A good tip is to try at night where you’ve caught a barra or two during daylight.

Sure, you won’t be able to do razor-edge trolls along the lilies, or fire tight casts in under the pandanus, but you won’t need to.

Feeding barra will be away from the edges, using the cover of darkness as enough stealth to sneak up on rainbow fish, archerfish, and other tasty titbits.

It’s really as simple as drifting down the middle of a lagoon and casting randomly all over the place.
Mind you, if you hear barra boofing, you’d be a mug not to cast in the direction of the noise.

Surface poppers and fizzers are definitely first choice for fishing Kakadu billabongs – or any freshwater lagoon – at night.

They’re good for various reasons, including because you always know where your lure is as it plops and whooshes across the surface.

But the main reason they can be deadly is that the barra also know where the lure is, even from afar, and it’s like a dinner bell to old Lates calcarifer.

Work surface lures ultra-slowly at night – that way, a barra has more chance of locating it and more time to get to it.

I like to plop a surface lure twice and then let it sit for at least five seconds before giving the rod a single twitch and thus make the lure plop and stop.

Keep doing that, varying the time between twitches, and sooner than later any surface-feeding barra in the area will simply have to hit it your lure.

Sometimes, however, the barra are feeding down a couple of metres, and that’s when a slow retrieve with a swimming minnow will often do the job.

It’s also the time when you can sit back, take it easy and troll down the billabong.
Lures best suited for this purpose include the Classic 120 shallow, ordinary Barra Baits and lures like the Reidy’s B52 and Classic F18.

Of course, you could always tie on a Killalure 2Deadly which offers both a popper and a shallow swimmer in the one lure.

Saltwater estuary barra fishing is probably an even better option when the build-up really gets going.
One of the best local spots to chase a barra at this time of year is the Howard River.

The Howard has been fishing exceptionally well over the last fortnight, and not just on the low tide, which is generally accepted as the premium time of day to target barra.

Some very big fish are moving up the system on the last half of the incoming tide, and feeding voraciously right at the top.

The Howard River is an intriguing waterway. Basically, it has three arms: the main Howard on the Darwin side, the Little Howard which is a tributary of the Howard proper, and Tree Point inlet which is further to the north.

The entire system runs into Shoal Bay which is also home to three smaller creeks on the Darwin side: King Creek, Micket Creek and Buffalo Creek.

A good tactic on the weekend is to fish across the early high tide up one of the arms, or King Creek which has been going off.

Use your depth sounder to find the deeper sections, and work the banks casting deep divers and snagless Squidgies.

Keep fishing until mid-morning and then get out before the tide gets too low.
If you can use a throw-net, take one and catch some live mullet baits which are guaranteed to catch you a barra or three.

Mind you, if you are happy to spend some time in a hole through low tide, you should still be able to motor out just before dark, and be an all-conquering barra fisherman to boot.

Check this out for a GIANT giant trevally, aka GT. Estimated at more than 40kg, it was caught by John Butchies whilst fishing with Arnhemland Barramundi Nature Lodge guide, Jason Bettles.

Adams Gowans’ 90cm silver barra came from an estuary east of Darwin.