Happy Micks Fishing Report

Here’s another long weekend, so again, where do we go and what are the options?

There are some areas that are really firing up, and its going to be a great weekend in the blue water if the wind stays away. You must admit the dry season has given us only a few cooler mornings so far, and the water temperature has not dropped all that much. The cooler weather shouldn’t be too far away though.

Big Mac’s all around at Lee Point and surrounding areas, the Bottlewasher, and Rick Mills have been producing some good action with big mackerel, jewfish and tuna giving fishos a run for their money. There’s been some big shark sightings around Lee Point so you would think with that much berley put in the water the action would be thick and fast! Perhaps that’s why there’s been a few really large mackerel getting some serious air free jumping over twenty feet out of the water. Great to see! East Point has also been producing descent Mackerel and some tuna school are working this area. Darwin Harbour is going great guns again from Bream to Snapper, Barramundi and Blue Salmon all providing action and interest. and good reports of jewfish being caught on the many wrecks that are in the harbour.

Many of the estauries have been giving up some good crabs. I was talking to an old crabber and he says that next month is the best time of the whole year for mud crabs. So happy day if he is right, with most of the fifty litre crab cookers that are walking out the door providing folk with there fair share of this tasty crustacean. The Elizabeth has produced some monster crabs, as well as Shoal Bay and some parts of the mouth of the Adelaide River..

Still in Shoal Bay and Adelaide river mouth, jewfish have been landed around the Rock and the Narrows, and some barra have been taken on live bait in Shoal Bay. The jewfish have been taking local squid and fresh fillet of mullet – great fun going ballistic in shallow water. There are good numbers of blue salmon over the huge mud flats, that have been getting into mullet and smaller gar fish, taking live bait intended for barra as well as threadfin salmon. Land based fisher people have been getting into them from East Point. One costumer got done over big time and ended up getting spooled. He said ”it never slowed up at all, once he gave the rod a couple of big hits to set the hook, it just locked on to the horizon and kept on motoring.”

Around Larrakeyah and Stokes Hill Wharf tuna and Queenfish have been popping up withincasting distance, with the odd jewfish getting landed on the Stokes Hill Wharf. Live bait if you can get it, but Halco chromes or maribou jigs are the best to use off the wharf. Channel Island foreshore has a wide range of fish being caught from bluebone to barra and travelly. Town Hall has seen the odd jewfish on the change of tide, Middle Arm has been good on the many rock bars for a Bream and Snapper, and the Elizabeth is also producing some stonker bream. One customer got stuck a session of them on the upper reaches of the river .

If you want to get further afield the on this Queens Birthday long weekend the Mighty Daly River has been outstanding. Its still producing some awesome fishing, with plenty of nice size fish around the 60cm to 70cm but also a lot of big fish are moving onto the river with these making tides. Many tourist that visit this river came into the shop to restock lures and tackle and told me that they had the best week, catching fish in the 80 and 90cm range, and also two over the metre mark one going a massive 117cm. (Not bad for a first timer. These fish were released by the way) He also added that deep diving lures were just as good as live bait and they were preffering lures because there was no need to going through the trouble to get live bait.   We’ve also heard of another half dozen well over the metre trolling, and rumours of a 122cm on fly! Good times down there at the moment and it keeps getting backed up by some excited fisherman trying to hold back on how well its going, but not disclosing where on the river. From what I’m hearing they’ve not been travelling as far as up Elizabeth. It seems that bigger and building tides have been the most productive on the Daly, so this weekend should be a stonker!

I’m hearing the mouth of the South has been good also, with the mouth of Brook Creek producing some great barra and salmon. Golden Snapper and Jewfish are plentiful around the islands. Another good place and always tangle with barra this time of the year is Yellow Waters. It has heaps to offer and they have been getting a few down there. Good place to get away and very pretty place this time of year. Shady Camp is another place where you would be assured of a barra. There’s a lot of smaller barra coming from the fresh water side of Shady Camp and as the tide changes at the mouth they are getting into some nice fish. Weather permitting the jewfish out the front of Sampan will be worth a trip.

Hardies has been good, with fish around the 65 plus and a few 80cm fish starting to show up. With the full moon this weekend Hardies and Coroborree may be well worth a shot at night. The night time fishing is where you pick up your bigger fish and with the days producing few barra maybe the night time option might be a better choice. Remember to make sure your boat has ample lighting when fishing at night; its not a very good place to be in the water at night with all those snapping logs if you have an accident with a fellow boaty!

So with good tides this up and coming weekend it seems the only thing that will determine where people will go will be the wind factor. If it holds, Dundee will be another great spot. With sailfish and many reef fish on hand around the Perons, Point Blaze and wide off Dundee itself. Do remember to watch the weather, and if you are in a smaller boat, Darwin habour with its many arms and estauries has plenty to offer, and with the bigger bream showing up, and mud crabs around it will be a good family outing. Have a great long weekend, stay safe on the water, sun smart tight lines..

There are reports that the bigger barra are starting to show up around the rock bars above Reichardts,  with some  metre fish that were not around while the comp was on a couple of weeks ago now starting to show up..

We were up the top of the Mary River Bridge lagoon during the week. So many places - so little time!

Be warned;  if your pot is gone you’ll know why!

Trolling deep running lures and casting soft plastics at creeks and snags just as the tide changes will be most productive. On the slack water before it starts  running hard will be the  best  chance of hooking a bigger barra.

On either the the low or the high,  try to get down deep where they are, especially when the water becomes slack,  you may find that bigger fish will venture out from the snags to ambush mullet or tarpon. This is a good thing to do when the tide is at its change; casting the feeder creeks will be your  main focus, or sinking big plastics down and bouncing them around the bottom of feeder creeks,  back into the main system is also another effective way to get the large fish.

What we have been hearing is that  most of the feeders are still running,  and good numbers of fish are coming from them. The lures you should take on the trip are Barrabait 8+ and 20  and Big B52’s Triho  Minnows, or Classics in 10+ and +1. Any of your plastics in white, pink or red heads are the have been the weapons of choice.  Guns and Roses, browns and yellows, purple and blue and yellow,  in the range of depth from 10 feet  to deeper 20 feet.

Play it safe and be nice to each other on the river over Easter,  so if the creek is packed move on and find another spot,  or try something different. You never know,  you might find another secret spot, or a new tecnique like Mick did a couple of weeks ago. So watch out for the logs and rock bars.  l think you can drive across the low level on the low tide so check if you want to stay on the Mango Farm side instead.

An aerial view of Shady Camp a few days ago. (Photo courtesy of Dean Blackman)

Shady Camp really came alive last week. The barrages were fishing well, and there were cricket scores coming fromn the fresh water side. Out  front, jewfish or barra and salmon were on the chew, hitting  big green shallow running lures. Green Bombers, Triho Min or  or big B52’s, have been doing the job. One boat landing three fish over the metre mark over two days. The  water was good and calm,  making it easy, large numbers of mullet were around and the whole system from the top to the bottom is going well. The S bends are starting to fish well on the change,  and really any back eddy  is worth a few casts. There are still a few feeder creeks coming in on the Shady Camp side worth  fishing. There are plenty of barra around the 60cm to75cm mark being caught, but the water level is much lower then a couple of weeks ago so keep an eye on the tide.

 

 

 

 

 

Tim O’Donnell fishing a Shady Camp barrage recently. But wait … whats that under yonder tree???

Just can't be too careful, can we? Look closely now!

With the tide peaking around lunchtime, l’d be taking green lures or anything with a bit of flash or silver in it. You’ll need a ton of a ton of plastics Reidys, Squidgys, Gulps or Atomics are all you will need. Just like the real world, Redhead always prodide a lot of excitement, with  pink and the  more natural colours providing variety.

The word is Coroborree  may be open this long weekend. It is resplendent this ealy in the season, and flush with bait, Mick said he had never seen so much bait so early in the season, which augers well for the future fishing of this magnificent spot.

I took this amazing photo of bait out in the Coroborree area last week.

 

 

 

 The Adelaide River still has run off coming from it, with a mate catching a few good barra up to 94 cm  on the rock bar just before Goat Island on the change of tide. We’re hearing that there is still water flowing out of feeder creeks along the river,  with tell tail signs of bait fish in them. Beatrice  had quite a few boats in it.  Jason was in during the week, and said things must be going alright there. Once again live bait is certainly getting more re-action in this system,  and getting double the catches then using lures or soft plastics. l reckon this maybe the last couple of weeks that the run off will be effective, and the barra will be feeding hard,  so this is another area that will be worth your attention over the Easter peooi. Big tides will push the water up the feeder creeks, and it may not look like there is any colour coming from them,  but you will find that half way through the runnout  there might be a slight colour change happening. Give each feeder a good half hour at a time as the tide falls. Its bringing bait and nutrients out from the floodplains, and the fish will be gathering at the mouths hungry to get their share.

 Lures of choice are Classics, Barrabaits, Bombers, B52 and plastics. Again,  cast eddies and feeder creeks on the out going tide with a nice slow retrieve being the key to good fish.

The South Alligator has been producing a goodly  number of barra only a week after the Kakuda Klash. Thats how the fishing game goes! Still a bit of water coming from the flood plains, and the top of Nourlangi  at the forks will be a good as place as any for a good session.

As the tide moves in fish will follow mullet schools upstream,  bashing them as they go. The mouth of Nourlangi Creek has been fishing on the change of the tide,  with fish at 112cm  landed there only three days after the comp!

The mouth has good numbers of goldies and jewfish out the front. Brooks and the Rookery will be good on these bigger tides,  stirring up the bigger barra,  chasing mullet as the tide pours in to them. It can get very frustrating! The mullet are getting the living you know what beat out of them,  and yet you can’t buy a hit. But l reckon that’s all a part of why we go fishing,  to see this happening can be just about the best sight ever.

East Alligator will be another great spot.  l’ve heard the main rock bar down from the landing has been producing barra on the top of the tide,  and half way on the run out tide with high 90cm fish and bigger ones getting lost in to snags.  Upstream around the escarpment  would also worth a trip;  the huge sand bar is showing so you maybe able to get over it,  but the fishing will be great above it,  Have not heard anything from Yellow Waters;  still a lot of water out there so maybe in another couple of weeks ..

Much closer to home,  the harbour has been going great guns,  with good barra and goldies being caught in numbers and sizes. Last week hearing of a 98cm just 2cm under the magic  metre mark over in Woods Inlet and other fish around the 60cm mark also in great numbers. A 103cm was caught somewhere in Middle Arm, and but they are there  for sure, and the harbour system is so healthy at bthe moment its only going to get better and better.

 Gold bombers, Tiger Lillys, Junior B52’s, Twitch baits  and plastics are the lures you will need,  and live bait has been always a good option. Shoal B at Spot Six and that general area is worth a hit. The crabs have been plentiful, and in good numbers.

The harbour arms are also showing good numbers of crabs. The best time is as the tide moves back in,  or on the top of the tide as the water pushes  back out. Remember big tides this weekend so make sure you can get to your nets and that there is water around the pot all the time.

ith such big tides and the low ranging around the midday it should be nice and sunny so target the gutters as the tide falls and rock bars or any back eddy. If you are going to wet a bait on the change Town Hall or shallower reefs may be good before the tide becomes too much run. As  they say,  no run no fun! P

Plenty of options for the harbour and Shoal Bay area.  Leaders Creek  will be another spot worth going out for a crab or wetting a line out the front in the hole of the river. Trolling the  incoming tide along the  bank may get you a nice barra or threadie, or even a trophy jewfish!

There have been some big mackerel floating around the likely spots of Lee Point, so they  should also be hanging around the Vernons. There are  reports of the  odd tuna schools as well, mackerel and jewfish have been haunting the Bottle Washer and some big sharks have been getting on in the act. Six Mile Bouy and Charles Point, weather permitting,  are  worth  a go on the change, with  squid and pilchard are the go and even having a jig for them could hurt.

We are so fortunate here in the vast choice of destinations available to use, all magnificent, wild and productive. We haven’t mentioned Bynoe Harbour yet, a favourite long weekend playground, although the tides may be a bit too big. The road to Fog Bay will be heavily trafficked, and Sail City, Dundee wide and the blue water may beckon for the first time this season for some people. 

So there’s a few ideas where you may go and wet a line over the long weekend. Play it safe on the water,  be kind to your fellow fisho’s, and be sure to  tell people where you going if you are going further a field, and the  time you are due back etc

Be sun smart, and we hope you have a good safe break. Don’t drink and drive on the water or  the road as the word is the police will be out in force. WE want to see you safe and sound next week not as a headline in the paper!

Jeromie"s secret spot!

With nice clear days and little wind over the last week, for most keen fisho’s its a hard decision where to go. A lot of folks have been heading out wide and with mixed results,  but they have been getting and seeing some bill fish so that’s great news. 

On the bottom bouncing scene l have heard of more big snapper and jewfish coming from no further out then 6 Mile Buoy,  and even inside the harbour itself,  with some getting their bag limits within a short session. During the last neaps sharks played havoc with bait fisherman,  moving in on good snapper bites and shutting them down. The trick is, once they move in, you move out! Go find another spot, as they will take a toll on your fish and tackle pretty quickly. Pull anchor and scout another likely spot. 

The Town Hall hole seemed to be one place that they got both goldies and jewfish and on many other  wrecks around the harbour. Bigger tides this weekend will  give you a smaller window so fish on either low or high tide on the changes,  before you need a house brick or two to keep you in the zone..

Apparently there was a line up of boats400 metres long  at Shady Camp. Anyone would think that the fish are jumping into the boat,  as many  as 60 to 70 boats lined up waiting to get their feet wet.  Since you have to go a long way into the water to get the boat off the trailer, it’s not a real nice feeling standing in knee deep plus water  with a lot of  healthy hungry crocs haning around.

There are numbers of smaller fish along the coastal run offs with odd bigger barra getting caught. Its the law of averages: with that many boats down at the mouth and that many lures getting dragged through the strike zone the bigger fish must be having a hard time picking which lure to crunch. The mouth of Sampan had a nice run of metre plus salmon and a lot of barra around the 65 to 75cm mark,  with some boats landing some real stonker threadies. Great to see good numbers getting around the mouth – just imagine if the government brought back those licences,  what kind of holy mecca  would this area become for barra and salmon –  it would be simply awesome!

The normal lures,  Killalures and Classics and also Reidys B52’s have been the weapon of choice. There are also plenty of jewfish out on the reef  from Shady Camp mouth,  so that whole system is looking good. We should still get another monsoon, so it’s going be a great run off  well into April, easter and beyond. And another great year for the billabongs – how good is this place?

 A bit closer to home the Adelaide river below the bridge,  with a week of little rain has,  dropped a bit and good colour change is coming from many run-offs into the main river system. Some good fish coming from Beatrice and a few “no name” creeks,  and well formed drains along the river producing nice tea colour water, bait coming from them late in the tide. One crew fishing a moonlight session heard some big boofs like gun shots going off,  as they braved the millions of mozzies,  but had a good sessions on  quality saltwater barra. It seems there have been good results right above Goat Island. The Daly river is a sleeping Gaint waiting for the water to drop,  when  l will think it will be ”GAME ON.”  Its still over 11 metres and has been for the last four weeks,  but it is starting to drop now, and this weekend should be right on the money, except that the Wooliana Road is still closed and omly access is from the crossing. Be patient – it will happen!  A couple of boats fishing around the mouth have been getting cricket scores,  but thats a big trip,  so remember safety in remote areas at this time of year is paramount.

The South is still up, and they have been getting a few fish up top,  and around the run off’s. Down at the mouth its been really good  for soaking baits for big goldies and jewfish,  with  some good  vibes coming from people who  went for a look down that area!  For the barra  it may take bigger tides to kick start the barra bite – all up the river the creeks are primed,  so if we get a bit more rstorm rain all well and good. 

 Big tides this weekend: the harbour is one place worth a shot for the barra. Like l said last week they have been taking bigger lures and  plastics are still working but the Bombers and the B52 have been the undoing of a few quality barra; even  getting good size goldies on the many rock bars. West Arm and the Little West Arm have been the quet acheivers,  with some nice barra and a few salmon coming from them. There have been a few crabs around, but mostly the crabs have been out along the sides of the creek mouths,  not up in them. Not great numbers,  but the lucky few have been getting a nice feed. Elizabeth River and Middle Arm have been the pick for them.

Town Hall will be a chance for a jewfish or a goldie on the change of tide and for the land based fisherman l think Buffalo Creek would be as good as any for a barra or a salmon. Even a few culverts out along the Stuart and Arnhem highways, but  make sure you don’t leave rubbish laying around.  Further out,  the Adelaide river might be good as well. If the water drops down on the bigger tides you should be able to find some great colour change and some good fish moving in on the incoming tides, so be sun smart and safe and  hook into this great fishing while it’s there.

The highlight this week must surely be the action out at the South Alligator. The guides and a few other lucky souls really hit pay dirt at Nourlangie and  Reichardts rockbar with some huge fish being trolled at the turn of the tides, and one monstrous 136cm being landed on a soft plastc cast to a snag at the mouth of Nouralangie.

The Daly is also fishing well, but not with the same amount of big fish – they seem to be absent without leave this year. There have been a lot of fish taken on live cherubim but the best report come from team who fished No Fish on the full moon with Drop Bear Squidgies. They caught about forty fish during the night, with the big ones coming on twice, once on the change and again at about three in the morning. They never landed anything over a metre, said the fish were just too fit, but everyone I have talked to has mentioned the size and number of big crocs actively stalking boats and bank fishermen alike.

We’ve been saying it for years but there is a tradgedy waiting to happen on the Daly and sorry to say it will only be the fault and carelessness of fishermen. Clear Creek has run out of grunt, with very dirty water coming out, but there are still fish on the troll at the rockbars for those with the patience to troll slowly and deep enough!

At the East Magella is still firing spasmodically, whereas the Adelaide finally seems to have gone into dry season mode, with the bigger fish moving right up the top into the green water.

Corroborree is starting to slow as the cold weather pushes in  but there are still some good fish being caught and its a great day out. The fresh water at Shady turned it on last week for the Doevendans who landed about thirty fish with a few big ones thrown in.

Darwin Harbour is full of good sized bream, and some good jewies have come off the wrecks and out of Town Hall. Charles Point is still producing  good fish, with one of our customers landing four jewies there during the week. Some guys are specialising in land based big barra under the full moon at the Howard Rock bar. We always used to do well on the full tide with fizzers and poppers but they  seem to doing just as well in the holes at low tides.

There have been reports of some good Spanish Mackerel off Dundee at Sail City and Roche Reef off Bynoe. Roche often seems to produce good fish early in the season and it can be readily accessed from Bynoe by travelling between Indian Island and the mainland, and then on out if the wind looks OK but not far to bolt for shelter if it comes up during the day. Simms Reef is always a midday low option for jewies if it chops up outside.

This weekends tides are pretty good for an offshore trip, and with a low coming through the bight we could expect a break from the sou easters for a few days. The Vernons beckon, there are always some big macks on the western side of the islands and the Gunn Point road  has been graded. Leaders Creek is producing lots of big, full crabs. Plenty of bream, salmon and the occaisional barra. Cape Hotham is fishing well. Yesterday there were heaps of GT’s up to 2olb ansd some good Cobia.