Jan 63 minAlex's Column 30/12/21We had our fingers crossed and old Huey delivered over Christmas with the arrival of a widespread monsoonal flow across much of the Top...
Jan 63 minAlex's Column 23/12/21What we want for Christmas is more rain. So far this build-up season, we’ve had above-average rainfall, but now we want it to come...
Dec 16, 20212 minAlex's Column 16/12/21This weekend’s spring tides are a whole lot better than those a fortnight ago, especially for Darwin Harbour arms. The low tide two...
Dec 10, 20213 minAlex Julius Column 9/12/22The tides are slowing down at a mighty pace as we approach the weekend. I hit a harbour arm last weekend with friends and at one stage we...
Dec 2, 20212 minAlex's Column 2 December 2021You can read the story on page three of today’s paper, but how clever is it for NT Major Events and SportsBet to slip another dozen...
Nov 25, 20213 minAlex's Column 25/11/21This week’s AFANT AGM was positive to say the least. Foremost was the announcement by Recreational Fisheries Minister Paul Kirby that $7...
Nov 19, 20212 minAlex's Fishing Column 18th Nov 2021 There are good things and bad things about this weekend’s spring tides. On both Saturday and Sunday, the tides are almost identical, and...
Nov 11, 20213 minAlex's Fishing Column 11/11/21Are we getting closer to a SportsBet $1 million tagged barra getting caught? Only last Sunday David, Nolan, who was fishing in Fog Bay...
Nov 5, 20212 minAlex's Column 3rd November 2021Last weekend our Darwin tides were dead neap and there was very little current. In fact, on Saturday, there was a low tide of 4.1m at...
Oct 29, 20212 minAlex's Fishing Column 27th Oct 2021The long overdue reconstruction of the Corroboree Billabong boat ramp meant competitors in the fifth round of the Top End Barra Series...
Oct 21, 20213 minAlex's Fishing Column 21/10/21Well, it was fun and games a couple of weeks ago when I took two good friends of mine to a remote lagoon on a Kakadu floodplain. Melanie...
Oct 15, 20213 minAlex's Fishing Column 14th Oct 2021For the most part, last week’s NT Billfish Classic was a success. Hosted by Darwin Game Fishing Club, there were 17 billfish tagged and...
Oct 8, 20213 minAlex's Column October 7th 2021It was all happening last weekend: the NT Billfish Classic was held, the Top End Barra Series round four took place, the Top End Billfish...
Sep 30, 20212 minAlex's Column 30th Sept 2021Million Dollar Fish Season 7 will be up and running from midnight tonight. Who could ever have predicted that this amazing competition...
Sep 24, 20213 minAlex's Column 23rd Sept 2021I’ve always maintained build-up fishing can be every bit as good as during the Runoff. This goes for both tidal waters and inland...
Sep 16, 20214 minAlex's Column 16/9/21One of my favourite barra rivers in the Top End is the Vic. The Victoria River is the longest river in the NT and its tidal reaches on a...
Sep 9, 20212 minAlex's Column 9 September 2021As expected, last week’s Secret Women’s Business Barra Challenge was a resounding success. The iconic Corroboree Billabong served up two...
Sep 3, 20213 minAlex's Column 1st September 2021The third round of the Top End Barra Series (TEBS) escaped the clutches of the recent three-day Darwin lockdown by less than two days....
Aug 27, 20212 minAlex's Column 26 August 2021How exciting is it that we’ve had some super-early build-up rainfall? In fact, the official build-up – in my books anyway – doesn’t start...
Aug 20, 20212 minAlex's Column 19th August 2021The tides this weekend are spot on for both estuary and bluewater fishing. We’re just coming off the neaps, so water clarity will be...
Aug 13, 20212 minAlex's Column 12th August 2021The tides this weekend are a bit of an each-way bet, moving towards neap tides next week but still with a few metres of movement on both...
Aug 6, 20213 minAlex's Column 5th August 2021How good is Manton Dam? It’s really our only major stocked waterway that is accessible to the general public, and at times is a great...
Jul 30, 20213 minAlex's Column 29 July 2021Although the Top End is Australia’s barramundi fishing mecca, and the vast majority of interstate anglers who visit the Top End have...
Jul 23, 20213 minAlex's Column 21st July 2021It’s been a tumultuous couple of years across Australia. For the Territory, lockdowns to other states have been all too common, and there...
Jul 15, 20213 minAlex's Fishing Column 15 July 2021There’s good news for this weekend, and it’s not before time. After several weeks of blustery weekend conditions, the forecast this week...
Jul 9, 20213 minAlex's Column 8th July 2021There’s not much respite from the easterly winds again this weekend. It’s been a hell of a dry season wind-wise. I suppose that’s to be...
Jul 1, 20213 minAlex's Column 1 July 2021Once we get through this latest bout of Covid lockdowns, plenty of anglers will be looking at heading inland for a billabong barra fish....
Jun 24, 20212 minAlex's Column 24/6/21There’s no doubt that this dry season is shaping up to be a mainly windy one. For most of last weekend, offshore you would have been...
Jun 17, 20213 minAlex's Column 18/6/21There’ve been some chilly mornings of late, which is why I’m surprised that the annual dry season bream run in Darwin Harbour has not yet...
Jun 3, 20212 minAlex's Column 4/6/21Conditions could not have been better for last week’s round three of the Top End Billfish Series. Unlike last year, when the early rounds...
May 27, 20213 minAlex's Fishing Column 27/05/21How good is the dry season? Every year I seem to forget how great it is to get up to a mildly crisp morning, with zero humidity,...
May 23, 20212 minAlex's Fishing Column 20/05/21The Daly River has certainly had its share of boat traffic this year. First there was the Girls Gone Fishing competition, then the NT...
May 11, 20213 minAlex's Fishing Column 06/5/21One thing is for certain following the running of the NT Barra Nationals over the last week: the Daly River has been the recipient of a...
May 11, 20212 minAlex's Fishing Column 29/4/21Given the cancellation of the NT Barra Classic last year due to you know what, it was great that this year’s event held last week was a...
Apr 23, 20212 minAlex's Column 22/4/21It’s certainly all happening at the moment. We’ve just had the Great Northern Girls Gone Fishin competition, the Darwin Billfish Bash,...
Apr 15, 20212 minAlex's Fishing Column 15/4/21The first real evidence of a river in revival mode occurred last week with the running of the annual Great Northern Girls Gone Fishin...
Apr 8, 20213 minAlex's Column 8/4/21The expression “every man and his dog” sure applied to the big rivers over Easter. Given the conditions, dropping water everywhere and...
Apr 1, 20213 minAlex's Column 1 April 2021Easter is always a great time of year to go fishing, as long as you appreciate that there are bound to be lots of 4WDs, lots of boats and...
Mar 18, 20213 minAlex's Column 18/3/21BREAKING NEWS: There's good news re access to the Arnhem Land side of the East Alligator River. The Northern Land Council has advised...
Mar 11, 20212 minAlex's Column 11/3/21As expected, there’s been some bumper early Runoff fishing over the last week. The Magela Crossing before the East Alligator River...
Mar 4, 20213 minAlex's Column 4/3/21On the face of it, the introduction this week of a free registration process to access fishing spots across Aboriginal sea country until...
Feb 25, 20213 minAlex's Column 25/2/21You can throw hard-bodies at the Bureau of Metreology until the barra storm over the Shady Camp Barrage, but I reckon that, in recent...
Feb 18, 20213 minAlex's Column 19/2/21I stepped out yesterday morning to a bright blue sky and a completely different weather scenario to what I’ve witnessed for at least the...
Feb 15, 20213 minAlex's Column 11/2/21I was definitely caught by surprise when I received a media release yesterday from AFANT CEO, David Ciaravolo, calling for urgent action...
Feb 5, 20213 minAlex's Column 4/2/21I was just having a chat with old mate George Voukolos from Fishing and Outdoor World, and he was espousing his usual erudite views on...
Jan 28, 20212 minAlex's Column 28/1/21It’s great that the rivers are back on the rise, in particular the Daly River which at time of writing was close to 6m above the...
Jan 22, 20213 minAlex's Column 21/1/2021There’s good news and bad news about the weather this weekend. Starting with the bad news, it should be mainly fine, with no serious...
Jan 14, 20213 minAlex's Column 14/1/21Following an early monsoonal burst across the Top End, the first runoff window of opportunity occurred over the last couple of weeks....
Jan 7, 20213 minAlex's Column 7/1/2021The black tadpole run is something that happens spasmodically in the South Alligator River. Typically, it occurs when there have been...