Happy Micks Fishing Report

With massive tides  this weekend is a great opportunity to tangle with a few barra and salmon in the harbour arms of Darwin, Bynoe and Shoal Bay. There could even be a few snapper around, there appears be a good number of them getting around at present.

Sunday’s tide is the lowest of the two,  0.13M, which is a crazy low. The theory is that with so little water the fish will be concentrated in a smaller area, making them easier to find. Great in theory! 

With tides this  low you can really get to understand the area or systems you are fishing.  Fish attracting structures such as rock bars, mud banks, gutters, snake drains and such  will be exposed,  giving you an idea on where the fish may gather to ambush the congregating bait fish.  l have found many  spots by doing this. Fishing is not just trying to catch fish,  it is also a learning curve, so motor around carefully - you may find things that you never knew were there!

Inland water ways such as Coroborree are slowly winding down,  but on the odd days some great numbers of fish are still getting caught. It has been an awesome year in this famous waterway, not only for the spectacular wildlife, but the barra fishing has been fantastic! The fish have been bigger this year,  80cm fish have been in good numbers. The fish are fit, fat, fiesty and have been very clean looking fish, and great to eat.

With the weather starting to become more active,  its only a matter of time before the Mary River system is in flood again. We are hoping for as good a wet season as last year, so get out and do the rain dance. We need some big floods to get the fish moving around, so they can migrate into the diverse  billabongs of the upper Mary.

It is little known but there are an amazing thirty three barrages in between the Shady Camp Barrage and  Corroboree Billabong.  These are made and maintained privately to artificially retain water after the wet for pastoral purposes, but in effect they are obstacles to migrating fish. Only in a really big wet, such as the one we had last year, does the water get over them and allow the fish to move around. Probably why  the Mary fished so well this year. This environmental vandalisim at its worst - save the Murray?  What about save the Mary! , l do know that the earthen barrages below Shady Camp are to stop  salt water intrusion into the wetlands,  but the main barrage at Shady Camp has been there many years and there has been little or no intrusion above it. 

 If you want to get away this weekend the Daly River might the place to go. There are a few good fish getting caught off the crossing at night and in the early morning.  This weekends big tides  will push the water up enough at the crossing, with a good chance of a session on the barra.  The river above the crossing has been fishing well again, and is a good place to go and explore. There are always good fish to be caught there if you can find them. Well presented Plastics,  Nilsmasters, Bombers, Killalures and the new  Twitch Baits will give you every chance …..

 Both Shoal Bay and Leeders Creek  will also be worth a visit. Its the time of  year when the big girls are around the mouths of the rivers and creeks.  King Creek and Meckkits are both reknowned for turning it on during the November full moon. With many Shoal Bay holes being landlocked on these tides there are some great land based barra and salmon to be had.

We have heard whispers, but the Shoal Bay bandits have been playing their cards close to their chests. I think there is more going on there than we are hearing. Remember to take lots of water and sun screen as its a long day there when the water goes out. Live bait and  bigger lures are your best option.   

If you have a few hours to kill in the late afternoon,  the top of the high will provide the chance to drown a bait for a jewie.  We have done well this quite a few times and the results have been amazing. It just goes to show that more run really does mean more fun!  Quality sqiud and  pillies are  good cocktail to be putting in front of them

I enjoyed a day out at West Arm on Monday with Dean Blackman and good mate James “Mitch” Mitchell from

 NT Elite Cycles.

Dean has been filling our imaginations for some time with stories about some great sport on  light tackle and plastics at some of the West Arm rockbars.

The tide on Monday dropped out to a 1.6 metre mid afternoon so a late start was indicated. As well our Fish IQ Indicator told us the best fishing period would start at 3:30PM, about an hour and a half after low, and would last for a couple of hours. Interesting, we thought!Around midday we sneaked onto a shallow flat within casting distance of a small, oyster encrusted rockbar and a couple of likely looking gutters. There was a only a few feet of water around us and a pretty impressive colour change where the tide was pouring around the rocks.

Traditional baitcast gear was mutually banned as we all pulled out fairly light 3-4kg spin outfits, and proceeded to pepper the area with a mix of small Bozo’s, Gulps and other lightly scented enticements.

The rains continue to hold off, with just a few scattered storms to cool things down, and the fishing remains excellent in most places.

The inland waterways continue to produce, but are pretty much a day to day proposition now depending where the storms land.

Good jew and snapper are frequenting the harbour arms in nice sizes, and barra and salmon abound close to rockbars rock walls wharves and any other structure that has rocks in it.

This weekends neap tides will certainly favour a venture into the bluewater. The weather looks great, (see here) and the tides are ideal for an early start, fish the low and a couple of hour’s of the run, and head back in before the predicted  late storms. There are still some great goldies coming from most areas, and Sunday morning’s low is a good jewie tide, with just sufficent run to spark some interest. If its these you’re after you could do OK fishing the deep water on the edge of the shipping channel, or the drop off’s either jigging or using bait.

It’s also not a bad time to be chasing the barra and snapper around the rock bars in the harbours. (See here for more)

 There are still a few  good crabs around for those prepared to put in the time.

If you are one of the more fortunate ones, keep an eye on the tides later in the week leading up to the full moon on Thurday. These are prime big barra tides, with clear green water coming off the neaps and plenty of run off the flats and out of the mangroves to fire up the gutters and rock bars. Bynoe and Darwin Harbours will really turn it on this week, with a ton of bait around and lots of action around the change.

Following our article on the danger of losing access to recreational fishing at Manton Dam, the situation has now been clarified by Power and Water in a Press release which says in part:

“Power and Water, since May 2008, has been running a project at Manton Dam to improve our understanding of the behaviour of the reservoir and the variability of water quality in the dam.

Power and Water has been releasing water from Manton Dam to the Manton River since May 2008 and the water level in the dam has been dropping in line with our predictions. On 27 October 2008, the water level was at 35.44m AHD, or 2.74m below full supply level. ”

I spoke to Trevor Durling from Power and Water this morning and he said that “they had now completed their project, and apart from the normal minor environmental release to the Manton River, the dam will soon fill up as soon as the first big rains hit.” 

The initial water quality results from the project indicate elevated levels of iron and manganese in the water and significant stratification (layering) of the water in the dam. Power and Water are comparing these results against the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines to determine what treatment the water may require to be suitable for drinking.

Trevor did stress that Manton plays an important back up role to Darwin River Dam in the supply of fresh water to the Darwin Region. He indicated that should the need arise Manton water would need to be used, for instance, if there were problems with the Darwin River Dam, and that in such a case fishing and recreational use would have to be reconsidered.  

Which, as we pointed out a couple of weeks ago, will be a shame, both for the quality of fishing available and the future economic value of Manton Dam as a tourist destination and an impressive barramundi and saratoga impoundment for local anglers already pressuring existing fishing locations.

(read that article here)

It is expected that the water level will continue to drop with evaporation until the first major rains hit the catchment.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings! With an Australian dollar that was on parity with the USA and now is about half that, it was bound to happen sooner or later, and it’s about to happen right now.

Fishing tackle in Australia has really not risen in real terms for a decade, and in many instances things are actually cheaper now than they were in the ninties. Take Curado reels for instance. They are currently selling at about $80 cheaper than they were in 2001.

This is about to change. Tackle Giant Shimano have already announced a price rise that includes an 18% increase in many of their reels, Curados and Calcutta’s included! As well we have notice of price rises across the board ranging from up to 35% for some terminal tackle such as hooks and swivels, to 10% on diving and camping gear. In other words, anything that we import, (which is just about everything) is going up in price before Christmas.  

Naturally we are going to be holding our prices down as long as possible, but be warned, only while stocks last now means exactly that!

Well,  with the big tides this weekend we reckon any of the  habours will be the pick to fish for some barra and salmon in the gutters. The falling tides, which start  just after one o”clock Saturday, will be the best times to be out at the weekend,  and though the low is up a bit on Sunday it will still be good for a few fish.  The build up is back so take lots of water and sunscreen.  Lures of choice  will be any thing shallow  - Bombers, Twitch Baits, Spearheads, Soft Plastics and if you are so inclined live bait will be a bigger bet than the Melbourne Cup this weekend.

There are big Salmon still in the harbour and lack of rain means the jelly prawns haven’t arrived to spoil things yet. But you really need to capitalise on this situation over the next few days as this ain’t gound to last.

If you’re lookig for a quick fix our bet is on the change of the high tide for a jewie at Town Hall or one of the Harbour Wrecks. As they say no run no fun.

Mick got 6 Saratoga and a few barra off the bank with his fly rod last weekend, “somewhere down on the Daly!” He says.

Its all a bit strange for the beginning of November, with Coroborree and the Mary system fishing as well as any time since the build up started. And thats saying something - we reckon Coroborree and Hardies have had their best season for a decade. Same principals apply - small shallow lures such as Spearheads and Lucifers, Bombers and Twitch Baits fished well back with lots of rod action!

Stiffy Twitch Baits

Shoal Bay is starting to fish really well and some good barra were taken at The Rock last week end. A few crabs are also starting to show up.

The Daly is also starting to fish really well at the crossing and up above in the freshwater around the cliffs fish are taking a wide range of lures Nilsmasters, Killalures Plastics etc.

We are pleased to announce that well know Darwin angler and fishing guide Brenton Marschke has joined our staff as manager of Happy Micks Fairway Waters shop.

Brenton is Territory  born and bred, and has previously spent some years with us in retail, as well as having extensive experience fishing and guiding in the Top End.

We wish him well and know that our customers will enjoy sharing their experiences with him and in seeking his advice.

 Byone Harbour really turned it on last week for Kingsley Ferrier and his wife Fiona. They not only had a good nights fishing the camera work was none too foul either.

This was Fiona’s biggest fish to date and she was pretty stoked about.

Or maybe you could say - just plain pretty!