Alex's Column 21 August 2025
- NAFA
- Aug 22
- 3 min read
What a windy and cool dry season week this has been.
The mornings have had a chill factor to them and it’s been gusting with
emphasis since last Sunday.
Just like all this year, the weather continues to defy normal patterns.
August is normally a great month to fish and it marks the transition from the
Dry to the Build-up.
Gone are the cool mornings and the days start getting hotter and steamier.
Not so this year, although I expect Build-up-type weather to kick in soon.
In fact, it could even be this weekend as forecasts from the Bureau of
Metreology indicate very little wind at all on both Saturday and Sunday.
The winds will arrive mid-afternoon but the mornings will be brilliant and ideal
for any sort of fishing you’re contemplating.
That’s great news for competitors in Round 4 of the Top End Barra Series which
will be held on Darwin Harbour over the weekend.
In line with this unusual weather pattern continuing so late in August, pelagic
fish migration into Darwin coastal waters has also been out of the ordinary.
I was chatting with Fishing and Outdoor World’s Ronald Voukolos this week
and he told me about a spate of wahoo catches offshore from Dundee and
even as close as the Number 6 Buoy just out from Darwin Harbour.
“I think there were several wahoo caught by different charter operators just
this month,” Ronald said.
“There were also Spanish and broadbar mackerel caught right inside the
harbour, and the broadbar were much bigger than normal for our waters.
“Given this unusual activity, I was just wondering if there has been some sort
of event that has brought these pelagic fish in so close… maybe a sea current
that has come our way,” Ronald explained.
This may well be the case, and is something that has been discussed in past
years by anglers chasing billfish off Darwin and Dundee.
We’ve always had our fair share of sailfish patrolling our offshore waters, but
every so often big numbers of baby black marlin turn up.
These little blacks are referred to as micro marlin, and their random
appearance in numbers every few years has also been mooted as a possible
consequence of offshore currents coming in closer to Dundee and Darwin.
By coincidence, I was fishing up a harbour arm last Thursday and one of my
friends caught a small Spanish mackerel trolling.
The theory of an unusual current stream certainly has validity.
Ronald also reported some great reef fish catches in Darwin Harbour,
particularly by Darwin Offshore Boats fishing charters.
I was talking to the owner of Offshore Boats, Jordan Walker, who told me the
offshore pelagic and reef fishing action has been great this dry season.
“But we are also doing more barra fishing than in the past,” Jordan said.
There are four very large trailer boats in the business, and that gives the range
to travel as far as Melville Island chasing barra.
“Our boats are big and fast, and we can launch from Darwin and be at Melville
fishing for barra within an hour,” Jordan explained.
“We also tow to Leaders Creek and fish inside the Adelaide and the Wiltshires.”
Whilst on barra fishing, there are plenty of options this weekend.
There have been good numbers of barra caught on the troll up inside Saltwater
Arm.
Plus, on similar tides earlier this month, competitors in the Top End Barra
Series had a blinder in Bynoe Harbour.
Inland, the still conditions this weekend will increase water temperatures in
the lagoons, and that should also stimulate some hungry barra to bite.
