With a low pressure system potentially forming over the Arafura Sea early next week, the eyes of about 120 anglers competing in the Aurora Kakadu Klash later next week are well and truly focused on the weather charts.
The Klash commences next Thursday and there’s considerable uncertainty as to what impact the forming low might have.
According to the Bureau of Metreology, it will depend on if and where the low might form.
Currently, there’s a trough hugging the north coast and it needs to move offshore to form a low pressure system.
If it develops, it could also form a cyclone and the expectation is that it would move slowly westward.
The South Alligator River might get some serious rain, but probably not.
It could be a hard slog during the three-day Klash which is the NT’s first tournament in the Grand Slam of three big events, the other two being the NT Barra Classic and the Club Marine Insurance Barra Nationals.
I heard of a few nice barra getting caught in the South Alligator, but no one is saying where exactly.
The Aurora Kakadu Klash has a neat scoring system that encourages team effort: only one fish counts each day, and it doesn’t matter who in the team catches it.
The winning team is the one with the greatest total length of the three fish caught over three days of competition.
It’s do or die too because, if a team fails to catch a barra on any of the three days, it basically has no chance of winning.
The Klash also has high conservation values because all barra are measured, photographed on the brag mat and released.
More importantly, all hooks must have their barbs squeezed in to facilitate a speedy and less-damaging release of barra.
Getting back to the Daly, old mate Stewie Brisbane of Daly River Resort Barra Tours told me some quality barra have been caught on the iconic river.
In fact, three really big fish were caught early in the week: 122cm, 115cm and 110cm.
I know the two biggest were caught with Mousey’s Barra and Sportfishing.
Stewie’s clients caught a bunch of barra in the 80s and 90s.
“There are lots of big mullet in the river which is why the barra are there too,” Stewie said.
“I saw them actually slurping barra on the surface without actually boofing.
“I’d never seen that before,” the affable guide said.
Fishing and Outdoor World’s Aaron Sammut confirmed the Daly was producing big barra.
“I heard of metreys being caught on vibes,” Aaron told me.
The run of big barra augurs well for the Top End Barra Series second round which will be held on the Daly this weekend.
A 122cm barra would be great catch in the TEBS round.
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Don’t forget the AFANT AGM will be held at 7.00pm tonight at the Darwin Trailer Boat Club, with registrations open from 6.00pm.
The new Fisheries Minister, Paul Kirby, will be addressing the meeting and providing an update on the $50 million allocated to the recreational fishery.
There’ll also be presentations from Fisheries staff on the reef closure areas, the NT-wide recreational fishing survey and the FAD trial.
AFANT Executive Director, David Ciaravolo, will update the meeting on the land claims detriment review and bring people up to speed on the Blue Mud Bay situation.
You don’t have to be a member to attend the AFANT AGM, and it’s only $10 to join anyway.
There’ll be some nice prizes given away in a lucky draw on the night, and you can enjoy a great feed at the Darwin Trailer Boat Club.
Bob Grieve joined the metre club with this 101cm coastal creek barra.
Shane Gardiner went barra fishing and caught a metre jewfish.
Jim Walter’s silver barra was caught in pure salt water.