With the temperatures and humidity rising sharply over the last few weeks in the NT, so has the fishing around Darwin. There are plenty of nice photos doing the rounds on social media sites like Facebook, showing off some great barramundi in the 90 cm range, with a few over the meter mark.
In addition, with the Government releasing 75 tagged barra that are worth $10,000 each to anyone lucky enough pick one up, and one worth a cool million bucks, there’s an added incentive to get out there after them. So far there have been four tagged barra caught in about as many weeks, all worth ten grand each. Two of those came from Darwin Harbour, one from the Daly River and the latest from Corroboree Billabong. A great Facebook page to visit for lots of recent photos and capture stories from around Darwin is “ABC Tales from the Tinny”
I’ve been fishing with Russell Kenny over the last few weeks and we have been having some great sessions fishing Darwin Harbour and Shoal Bay. Our last four trips have yielded six barra over 90 cm and plenty of others in the 55 to 80 cm range. We have been mainly fishing the last of the run-out tide and a couple of hours of the incoming, which equates to around six hours on the water.
Other species as well such as threadfin, golden snapper, blue salmon and various species of cod have also been part of our captures. Plenty of boats have been fishing The Rock in Shoal Bay, which has a reputation for producing big barra and jews, and some nice fish have been coming from there recently for those who have put in the time. King Creek is another spot in Shoal Bay that is a known producer of quality barra and jew, and by the number of boats we have seen working it there must be some fish coming from there as well. Darwin Harbour is also firing up well for barra on the bigger tides, with Middle Arm and East Arm being our usual haunts. If you feel the need to burn extra fuel and waste a bit of time travelling a bit further afield, Corroboree Billabong, Sampan Creek and the Daly River are also producing quality barra and threadfin.
Being able to jump in your car and then be on the water within 20 minutes from home, with Darwin City in view and a very real chance of a meter plus barra or one wearing a $10,000 red tag, you hardly seem to notice all the heat and humidity associated with this time of the year. Well, sort of, but I can’t wait to get out there again!
