Alex's Column 2 October 2025
- NAFA
- Oct 3
- 3 min read
Yesterday was the first day of Million Dollar Fish Season 11.
However, I’m writing this on Tuesday this week so I can’t report or comment
on any red-tagged barra recaptures.
It won’t surprise if there has been one or two, something that has happened a
few times in past seasons.
I won’t dwell on Million Dollar Fish as the MDF magazine is published today.
By all accounts, this Build-up season is living up to its reputation of being a
great time of year for Top End fishing.
From the inland billabongs of Kakadu, the saltwater estuaries either side of
Darwin, and out on the wide blue yonder, the fishing over the last week or so
has been excellent.
The famous Yellow Water lagoon is as good a place as any to try for a lively
freshwater barra session.
Reports I’ve received have included accounts of enjoyable sight fishing.
Nearby Home Billabong is always a pleasant place to fish, and can go off at
night.
Closer to Darwin, good old Corroboree continues to improve, particularly for
larger lagoon barra.
Admittedly, the billabongs can be hard yakka through the heat of the day, but
a good option is to hit the water mid-afternoon and fish into the dark.
That should be long enough to catch a swag of fish, but you can also stay on
and fish a few hours during the cool of night.
Night fishing for barra in the lagoons can be as energetic as you wish to make
it.
You can go for the loud, aggressive approach by casting noise-making surface
lures such as poppers and fizzers.
A more casual approach is to slow troll both shallow and medium-depth
minnows within 10m of bankside structure such as lilies or timber.
If you have been catching barra in a particular area during the day, then that’s
where you should concentrate your efforts at night.
Forward-facing sonar has taken away a lot of the guesswork for chasing barra
at night.
If you scout around during the day, and locate barra congregations, chances
are they won’t bite; but go back to the same area at night and they’ll probably
ravage your lures.
Saltwater barra have also been on the chew of late.
One area that has been producing bigger fish is Shoal Bay, and the tides are
ideal this weekend, particularly on Saturday’s 3m low which is high enough to
be able to move around a bit.
An added bonus is that you’ll be able to launch and retrieve at Buffalo Creek
during daylight hours.
With a 2.4m low tide on Sunday, places like Darwin Harbour arms and Bynoe
Harbour offer the most promise.
If you’re considering Darwin Harbour, tuck yourself into one of the arms by
7.30am and begin by flicking any windless flats with shallow-running lures like
Bombers and Classic Just Unders, or soft plastic prawn imitations worked at
crawling pace.
Basically, you’re targeting barra moving out of the mangroves on the falling
tide, so look for submerged channel lines to focus your lures into.
As low tide nears, you’ll need to work mainly the deeper gutters with good
colour change.
On the incoming tide, move between gutters and the flats again.
Blue water aficionados will relish the tides this weekend.
They’re perfect for launching and retrieving at Dundee and, wind permitting,
all sorts of pelagic and reef action will be on offer.
It’s shaping up to be a cracking weekend to wet a line.
