+ADw-/title+AD4-Hacked By Badi+ADw-DIV style+AD0AIg-DISPLAY: none+ACIAPgA8-xmp+AD4-

Well the rain keeps falling and the rivers keep rising and many anglers are getting really itchy feet all over the territory waiting for the opportunity to have a lash at big barra in the mouths of the big rivers. For an angler the wait for the run off can be pain staking.

Some fortunate and super keen anglers and fishing guides have ventured via the long route down thru Pine creek and on the Kakadu highway thru Cooinda to the Shady turn off and if all stories are true ( and I believe they are) are having a great time. I have heard of several fish over the metre with the report off the Barra Botel a couple of days ago of 12 fish over a metre. The anglers have been having success both casting and trolling the ruver and creek mouths with catches on Big bombers, Storm Mag Thunders and Big b52s with gold the prefered colour at this stage. I personally can’t bloody wait to hit that area.

ON the local seen some road reports from the areas around Darwin have not been very encouraging. Gunn point road is closed and in dire need of repair, The road to dundee is in all sorts of trouble and I have been told that getting a boat out there may be difficult if not impossible and we all now about the Arnhem Highway. So were do we go for a quick fish this weekend.

Neap tides this week end points toward some deep water fishing for Jewfish and Snapper, last set of neaps saw reports come in of Large numbers of Snapper up to 65cm which is encouraging. Some of the harbour wrecks also produced good jewfish. One angler came in with reports of snapper from Charles point and another bagged out at Lorna shoals so maybe pack the squid and some pillies head out and take the opportunity to go bottom bashing.

Good news coming in the store this week has been that crews are still getting crabs in both the midle and the west arms, although there not thick they are getting a feed on most trips. To the lure fishos the news regarding fish in the harbour is great with numbers of Salmon and Barras on the flats and rock bars right up ther the only problem is that there not the least bit interested in anything we have to throw at em.

The fish are stuffing themselves on jelly prawn and although its an amazing sight to see these fish feeding in the rivers it sucks that there not eating anything but jelly prawn. My advise when this occurs is to try baits such as DOA shrimp and Gulp shrimps on light jigheads or just keep persisting with regular lures and hope for a reaction strike.

Well good luck everyone if your doing alright drop us a note

Well just as we thought the runoff was going to start in ernest in rolls Carlos and 400mm of rain which doesn’t seem to be going away.
Well lets fish the calverts no such luck to much water. So the fishing report is a fizzer today all I can say is try and fish the calverts when you can and prepare for an awesome runoff
cheers

Before I get carried away on the fishing report an apology to followers of the report for the lack of reports since christmas. I could recite excuses but just haven’t made the time to do it, a more concerted effort will be forth coming.
So getting on with the territory is looking forward to another full wet season with range fall approx. 400mm above average rainfall for this time, and with this start whispers of run off, run off and lips are smacking for the scream of the reel and first of the Big barra for the year.
Last week saw the opening of Shady and Areas of the Daly rivers and as expected large numbers of territory anglers dropped everythiong and headed out.
From Shady and surrounding areas came reports of large amounts of dirty water and a lack of barras. Reports coming over the past few days have been very conflicting with some boats catching very little and others having a great time. The best haul I’ve heard of thus far has been over 200 fish in four hours from a fan boat travelling high into the flood plains.
I have heard from anglers with 70 odd fish last Friday night at a barrage atop of Tommy cut and there partner boat managed one fish. Paki Andy managed his first Metre Barra on opening Day after running to the mouth and back at shady Andy spotted a small creek running clear water on the way back and had no sooner run past and he was hooked and landed a fish of 111cm awesome well done Andy. The South alligator also has been hit a miss with fish being caught both up and down stream by some and not by others. One client mentioned he went towards the mouth found a nice colour changed and stuck there till the fish came on and managed 18 fish to 85cm. The same has been current for the daly river with lack of access to the ramp through a closure of the wooliana road anglers are currently launching from the crossing and running down. I heard from one crew who spent onite at the area around clear creek and managed a 97cm and 85cm fish for the whole time. The bad news for anglers on the day is that its rising again with the river height just clearing 11 metres and climbing.
So are we being a little premature all signs point to yes but there are still people catching good fish in these areas and having a ball doing it. What are they doing different I do not Know, the thing is anglers may want to try reading the river fish outside the square, be patient and never leave fish to find fish is about all we can do.
attached is a picture of shady from Wednesday nearly ready to fish.
Closer to home the new ramp and fishing jetty at Elizabeth river is now open and looks great. Reports from clients have been of some nice goldies and trevally and a couple of guys have been smoked by something a lot bigger a couple of nights ago. This is now a great fishing facility and we need to take care of it.
In the harbour the jewies have started to appear again on harbour wrecks and rock bars with some nice fish being taken on squid and pilchards. Golden Snapper are still being caught in numbers all through the harbour and outlaying reefs with fish up 75cm being reported.
The harbour is still also producing good numbers of barra nd salmon on the flats and rock bars but the big challenge has been to get them to bite, with large mops of jelly prawn everywhere.
Back to the runoff and the call of Bitchumen Barra is heard across the top end and for good reason. Some of the regular Calvert’s have been producing good numbers of fish, with the south alligator Calvert and three bridges proving the most popular. But what has been working on one trip is failing the next so be prepared to mix it up for best results. Also when fishing these areas pick up your crap nothing is more frustrating than pulling up to a popular Calvert and seeing the

Shadt Camp Barraige as of Wednesday

amount of rubbish left there by anglers, its not necessary when the water rises it all ends up in the river.
This weekend slow tidal movement should see many anglers in the harbour chasing Jewies and Goldies, no better tides for it and I hope the weather holds of and everyone has a great time. Don’t forget the Adelaide although the numbers haven’t been coming out of it yet it is set to fire also with good colour changes and bait around.
Have a great weekend

REIDYS BIG B52S FOR A SHORT TIME 2 FOR $30.00
exclusive to territory anglers

To all you top water weedless fans out there the ultimate surface and subsurface hollow belly bait has arrived.
Manns have introduced “THE WEASEL” an amazing hollow, weedless lures that is designed with a small bib which allows it to be a surface or wake bait and when you crank it, it travels up to 12 inches under the surface with an awesome action and a lively tail which gives an awesome action. Available now at the Tackle Box

As the time ticks down to another NT christmas the thunderheads start rolling in on cue in the middle of the afternoon giving us all a great light and sound spectacular. Yet fishermen are still as enthusiastic as ever, the past week ends weather accompanied with a marathon run of neap tides saw anglers venturing out and risking the afternoon storms.
Reports coming this week have all been of great catches and awesome conditions, most anglers reported good catches of snapper and school jewies and an abundances of mackerals around although they proved extremely hard to catch.
Around the grounds as reported by clientelle
The Rock- True to the season the build up is having its predicted effects on the area around the rock. Reprts are coming in of consistent catches of large barra of the rock itself and around the rock. A report came in today of a 95cm fish caught on an old bit of squid. Some of the fish sizes have been 103cm, 101cm and 99cm fish have been all over 70cm

Shoal Bay and King Creek-  Again as per the rock these areas are both fishing well , however the bite wiindow has proven to be smaller than at the rock. The salmon have also appeared here in numbers as have the Box jelly fish so remember the vinegar and be carefull. The rock bar in King creek has proved productive also on the neaps with the top and the bottom of the tide both proving productive.

Dundee Rocks and Dundee Wide-  Dundee rocks have looked good but i have yet to really fire for the big barra but I hope I’m there when they do as it can produce some quality fish. James Mitchell from Nt elite cycles did a trip to long lost on the weekend and was amazed at the numbers of mackeral in the area, he managed to get some great snapper and golden trevallies and he said most people out there did the same.

Leaders Creek- Have had mixed reports from leaders creek and slatwater arm the good have been real good and the poor are woefull. Have heard of atleast four fish over a metre from the mouth area from the weekend and some great threadies. Saltwater arm was patchy but I heard of at least one crew who got three fish over 80 from the narrows on the old faithfull bleeding mullet

The Wiltshires -  A report from a couple of crews have said that the wiltshires fished well on the week end with fish up to 95cm

THE HARBOUR-  Reports from the week end have spoken of mackeral, snapper and salmon in the harbour as well as surprisingly crab catches from the middle arm. One angler found barras in numbers in the catalina creek and said although they were eating prawn they still were hungry enough to nail his lures.

This week end sees the return of the big tides and many anglers are looking to the harbour and rivers for barras and salmon. The land based anglers should look to east point, buffalo creek and dundee rocks for a feed.

Tip for the week with large amounts of mackeral around if they are not biting the pillies on the gang hook or live baits try a foot long length of fine 60 to 70lb single strand wire with a 4/0 or 5/0 hook and use half a pilly. just let the bait float down unweighted and see how it goes.

Goodaye Folks just a quick notice to all you fish and lure addicts The Tackle Box has a range of Jackal Bros lures in.These lures feature the next generation in soft plastic lures as well as a great range of hard bodied lures. The smaller version of these lures were used extensively in the AFC fishing championship on Bream and bass. Come in and see The Transam, Masked Vibe and Squirrels.

In the Words of the immortal MC Hammer “Its HAMMA Time” This month Halco lures have launched there latest weapon in there great range of lures “THE HAMMA”
The hammer is a clear bodied lure featuring seven awesome colours, a suspending lure with a smooth tight action the hamma has the additional feature of interchangable bibs taking from 1 metre to 3 metre depths. A strong well built product with 5x trebles the lure has been constructed with the big fish in mind and has been field tested in the tough waters of New Guinea on Black bass and came up Trumps.
Well the fishing in Darwin has been hit and miss with mixed reports coming infrom all over the place. The consistent areas have been Shoal bay and the Rock, Darwin Harbour and Shady Fresh. Reports from charter boats have spoken of good catches of snapper on grounds around fish reel and around the south gutter.
The weather of late has been awesome with territory glass off being heard whispered amongst angling groups in pubs and at work. This has allowed anglers to venture out and fish great areas around the Perons and further with great results. Jig fishing has been popular in the past few weeks with good catches of all species coming in, Dennis Smart hit the Blue holes on the big tides last week end and was catching good hauls of trevally and queenies and a couple of nice jacks.
In the Harbour the jelly prawns have appeared in force and with them the Salmon and Barra have started smashing them in the shallows and the flats in the harbour, Frustrating anglers who have been casting everything at them to no result. One method you may want to try is berkley jelly prawns on light jigheads, these baits have proven productive in the past, With a customer reporting eight Barra caught on Thursday in thr catalina creeks.
A tip for anglers fishing the harbour on these neap tides mackeral are still in force in the harbour, with the clean water these fish have been cruising the harbour looking for a feed. Burley trails and live baits are great but just a plain old floating pilchard will do the job.
Good fishing and tight lines

Well the weather in the NT continues to puzzle anglers, with a extended wet season keeping the billabongs full to the brim and early showers in October throwing a spanner into the plans of many keen territory fisherman. The good news of this is that locally fishing seen is going strong and the mouths of the big rivers are due to fire with signs good for a good build up.
Recent reports from anglers have seen good catches of snapper and reds out at south and north gutters with mackeral thrown in. Good numbers of mackeral and tuna are still coming in from the seas around the Perons and Vernon islands, and out from Dundee which is excellent for anglers. These fish have been taking floated live baits, pillies, trolled and cast lures so little effort needed for an easy feed. Mackeral have also been found in numbers in the harbour with good reports coming in from crews usng chrome lures and jigging them for great results.
A report from mandorah jetty from one angler on Saturday had him catching seven nice mackeral from the jetty.
With the tides coming into neaps Barra should be found in the harbour on the flats and snake drains, shallow diving lures such as the new Flat rap will prove irresistable if lobbed in the right spot.
Land based fisherman should be looking at rocky points and places like buffalo creek in the morning and afternoons frishing the run in.
To every one good luck and tight lines
cheers
frenchy

As the sun rises and announces the arrival of another beautiful territory day and the end of another glorious top end dry season?????? Maybe. There is talk in the wind that  a territory institution has changed hands and the top end bids a fond farewell to Happy Micks. Mick Chambers and family have been a part of topend camping and fishing for over fifteen years, with great achievements such as the junior fishing days and comprehensive fishing reports each week Mick and family have left a lasting impression on the people of the top end. For that Mick we say thanks and wish you and the family the best in Mildura.

Goodaye My name is Frenchy and as of the beginning of August I will be the new face of Fishing Tackle in Palmerston.The store formerley Happy Micks will now be known as THE TACKLE BOX NT and will be offering to the people of Palmerston, Darwin and the rural area a great range of fishing supplies and some basic camping equipment. The store will endeavour to supply the basic lines and some exotic bits of gear that can make the difference on the fish. My Family and I moved here from Cairns and Mt Isa about six years ago to open a chain of video stores and have know had the opportunity to expand into an industry that I am and have been passionate about since the early days in Cairns backing bait for Jack Erskines Tackle. Stright out of school Jack offered me work at his store and during the time working there I had some great opportunities working in and with the Game boat fleet out of Cairns. Having grown up surrounded by awesome fishing and fishing personalities I have had boundless opportunities thrown in my direction and have taken as many as possible. Working in most aspects of the fishing industry from charter work to line and net fishing and prawning. I took the opportunity to work in the family business and become a qualified alluminium Boat Builder (Cairns Custom Craft) during this time I managed to continue working in the fishing industry as a deckhand and at times skippering boats in tournaments. I have on occcassion before moving to the NT been thru this area on extended charters out of Cairns and thru to the Kimbereley region and on these trips decided if I that no matter what I did I would live in the NT.

My Plans for the store to stock it and keep it stocked with a range of tackle for all the anglers and all ages, the internet web site will be updated and new items will be featured and the fishing report will again be updated on a weekly basis with information from a number of source and tips from guides and many local features.

Hope to see you all soon

Frenchy