Happy Micks Fishing Report

By Douglas hewitt

The fishing around Darwin has been off and on lately, due to the weather conditions that Darwin and the N.T is suffering from. It’s been too wet or to windy to go outside the habour lately. I have had reports of some very rough weather around Darwin harbour. The swell and chop in the harbour has been pretty bad.  A lot of fisher people have opted for fishing the smaller creeks in Darwin Harbour to keep away from the wind.

Some good Goldies have been turning up in Woods Inlet on the incoming tide. They are not big fish, but they are perfect plate size and taste great.

Queenies and some real big GT’s have been actively feeding along Larrakeyah rock wall and the foreshore around the old T wharf. Casting Halco twisters and Surecatch Knights into the feeding zone alone the rocks and letting it sink before working it back to the boat are catching some fish and trolling is working too.

 There has been some good reports from the Daly River lately. The Daly was dropping rapidly but now it has slowed down. So it starting to fish better for the smaller rat barra. But some bigger models up to 90cm have been encountered down near the mouth but the fish were all lost. Squidgy 80mm Drop bears have been doing the damage on the smaller fish. The Elton John colours in NilsMaster and Halco scorpions are doing the deeds on the bigger fish. Put the time in and you should be rewarded a good days fishing. “Hopefully”.

The rain has backed off for the last couple of days and it has given some fisho’s a chance to head out and chase some fish. The queenies and G.T’s have been on the ball around the pylons and rock bars in Elizabeth River and the wharfes in at town. They have been responding well to Maribou jigs and soft plastics like the Tsunami Paddle Tails and Gulps in the good old Nuclear Chicken Colour.

It seems some good Jacks have been flushed out of the small feeders creeks from all the rain and are showing up in the harbour all over the place. The rock bars in Pioneers, Mickets and West Arm gutters are producing Jacks to 2kg with some bigger ones being caught using barra lures. Live  smaller poddy mullet are the way to go when the smaller jacks stop attacking lures. But the best live bait by far for the smaller jacks would have to be live black spot herring. These herring can be caught with small bait jigs around the pylons at Stokes hill and Fishermen’s wharf. Be sure to take a live bait pump because these Herring are not as hardy as poddy mullet and will die quickly.

Bait fishing in the harbour is slowly getting better with good catches of blue salmon and Goldies coming from the many rock bars and deep gutters around popular spots like Poineers and Elizebeth River. Fresh local squid baits and Sandmar are the go for fishing for goldies on the change of the tides. TownHall could produce some good fish with the neaper tides that are coming.

For anybody not using Sandmar for bait with or istead of Pilchards should give them a go because they are much firmer then Pilchards and the longer profile makes them easier to fillet for bait. They are also a great bait for Jew fish, fished as a fillet or used to spice up a squid bait.