It’s the dry season. The tidal rivers have shut down due to low water temps and the blue water is subject to the relentless south easterlies that blow hard enough to wash mud crabs up the beach. The billabongs are one of the only options left and luckily we have plenty to choose from. Hitting the ‘bongs is a seasonal…
Tag: Top end fishing
Cleaning up on the NT bluewater scene
It’s been a long time between post for me, partly due to the dry season ‘cold snap’ where the barra shut down when the water gets below a chilly 26 degrees, and a hectic work schedule. Last weekend made up for my lack of fishing action though. I don’t know if it was the mega full moon, big tides or the remoteness of…
Runoff report – floods and failure
It happens every year. It rains and I can’t help myself. The rivers are still rising, the clouds are angry and the roads are submerged. Most fishos stay at home to avoid the tempest. I just pack a bigger tarp, upsize my bilge pump and accept the inevitable drenching. This year has been no different. I’m up to my third runoff…
NT Adventures part two: One perfect day.
Hamish has given a good account of the trials and tribulations experienced during the four-day epic adventure on the Daly. Once we’d made it to safety, which was an effort in itself, we had a difficult decision to make. Where to fish next? Despite not discussing it explicitly at the time, we knew that if we didn’t find any fish,…
An encounter with sawfish
As this one slid over my head I couldn’t help but think there is something especially intriguing about Sawfish. What is the go with the saw? Do they need it in case they encounter an underwater forest or was it a simply a hiccup in evolution that resulted in them having to carry around this cumbersome appendage? When you look…
Video – Daly River Runoff Metery
Video – Daly River Runoff Metery A runoff reunion is on the cards for the authors of this here blog. Last trip was an ideal adventure and the stories that came out of it are here. The fish turned it on, we had a good crew and the landscape produced an impressive backdrop for an extended time on the water.…
Popping my metery cherry
Today we’ve got a guest article from Danny ‘Deepdiver’ Saunders on how he managed to snare a trophy barra in the hardest fished patch of water near Darwin. Top effort mate! Fishing in Darwin, or indeed anywhere can be an expensive hobby. If we worked out a per kilo rate of the fillets we fishos keep, factoring boats, tackle, booze and the rest of…
Swamp sessions
Living in the Kimberley for a short stint took me to some damn scenic fishing spots. I wasn’t expecting to add another one to the list when good mates Snav and Omar suggested we hit ‘the swamp’. Jumping in the back of Snav’s troopy I found a spot wedged between eskys and live bait tanks. We settled in for what…
Trip Report: Bare Sand Island – An explosion of awesome
It was our second trip to Bare Sand but the first since it was closed to the public. A bomb removal project was underway and access to the island was restricted to men with guns (or maybe just metal detectors), turtle researchers and us. It was through the turtle research angle that my determined housemate managed to extract a permit…
Blood, Boabs and Barra – A great day in the Kimberley
I could see my heartbeat reflected in each squirt of arterial blood that was gushing from my leg. At the time I pondered the fact that today wasn’t really supposed to be a fishing trip – more a cultural excursion – and then my thoughts went to the problem at hand. I had a treble buried through my shorts and…
Mother Teresa and the spirit of fishing
I’m in the mood to ponder a side of fishing that doesn’t really rate a mention in a lot of media. This philosophical rant will look at what makes fishing so special. A lot of you will recall when you first picked up a rod and landed that first fish. Chances are it was tiny (and very unlucky) but at…
Traffic Jam at Sail City
I figured it’s time for a trip report. Much of my time of late has been focused on Barra but last weekend I took advantage of a promising weather forecast and hit the big blue to a far off mark called ‘Sail City’. This trip nearly didn’t happen because my usual fishing buddies were unavailable and I wasn’t keen on…