Happy Micks Fishing Report

Brian with a 64cm Trout

by Brian Lund

Well what can I say this weather has us all confused rain at the end of May what’s it all coming to. The recent balmy weather has done wonders for the fishing with numerous reports of Barra being taken in the big rivers on lures and live baits. One customer (Eric) came in this morning after fishing the Daly River over the weekend and reported that they cleaned up on Barra to 97cm from various spots throughout the river. The bigger ones came from an area upstream from the Wooliana boat ramp. Eric said that the Cherabin numbers were down on their last visit last year but the Barra were better. The bigger Barra were taken on Reidy’s Golbourn Jacks and Reidy’s Tiapans in the 008 and M2 colours.

Another customer came in this morning looking for another River2Sea Bully Wa 65 frog as he explained that over the weekend during a water skiing trip to Manton Dam that they decided to flick a few lure on dusk near the boat ramp and managed to get a couple of nice impoundment Barra and hooked an absolute horse that managed to straighten the Gamakatsu hooks while trying to get into the timber. He explained that his brother has been doing a fair bit of fishing there and has reported that the “fish on the sounder are massive and that there is no chance that they will fit in the 105 litre esky”. The Barra in Manton Dam are stocked impoundment Barra and similar to their cousins in QLD are possibly more suited to the catch and release fishing techniques.

Reports from Shady Camp from the weekend are patchy butthere is still some good reports of solid Barra being taken at the mouths of both Tommy Cut and Sampan. The Barra taken at the barage have been solid fish with catches in the 70s and 80s being reported. The freshwater side of Shady has been fishing well near the first rock bar.

Reports from Corroboree are still hit and miss with few Barra being reported. The Tarpon and Saratoga numbers are still up there, the water level is dropping and in a few weeks I would dare say the billabongs are going to fire up and the catches willbe great. The amount of smaller Barra being caught at the moment are an indication as to how healthy the billabongs are.

I was speaking to a couple of blokes who fished the South Aligator last week and the reports from them indicated that the trip was worth the fuel bill with some solid Goldies being taken from outside the mouth and some good Barra being taken flicking lures around structure with their biggest a 98cm barra being caught and released at the Rookery.

Brad with a Mack Tuna from Dundee

On the bluewater scene the reports are of Sailfish, Tuna and Mackeral being taken everywhere. A mate of mine Brad went for a fish off Dundee last Thursday and ended up with some great reef fish including a 10lb Coral Trout, some great Tricky Snapper to 50cm, heaps of good Stripies and some really solid Longtail Tuna bein taken. I took Brad and another mate Nick off Dundee on Friday and can not boast the same success story in terms of reefies but we did manage to get some great Longtail Tuna and smaller Mack Tuna. While we were out there the number of Sailfish spotted was nothing short of unbelievable even though we had no intention of targeting Sails on the trip.

The Tuna schools in the harbour have been in good numbers although they are flighty and easilly spooked. Reports of Tuna as far in as Channel Island are coming in from most anglers that have been fishing the harbour. A friend Eugene came in this morning and reported that he got a number of good Threadies from West Arm over the weekend and sighted a number of good Barra but could not encourage the Barra to take a hook.

With the coming spring tides this weekend the crabbing should be great and the lunchtime low tides will mean that, weather permitting, the low tide holes in Shoal Bay could be a pick of the spots for a good Barra  and a feed of Muddies. Alternatively with the full moon on Friday a night fish at Manton Dam should result in some serious impoundment action.

What ever you target or where ever you go good luck and tight lines.

by Brian Lund

The reports have been flowing into the shop that the Sail Fish are going crazy from the Vernons to the Perons and beyond. Some customers have reported catches of 6 in one day using both lures and skip baits.

Closer to home there have been numerous reports of schools of Sardines in the harbour accompanied with Tuna and Spanish Mackeral. One customer reported that he went to one of his favourite wrecks in the harbour last weekend and managed to get a few fish including a 30lb Spaniard off the bottom on pilchard and squid. There have been some very good reports of Mackeral from Lee Point and the Bottlewasher reef. The numbers of mackeral being caught at the moment is very promising for a good Mackie season.

6 Mile grounds have been producing good Goldies, small Jewies and assorted reef fish including nice Blue Bone.

by Brian Lund

Ever had one of those days you just wish that you stayed in bed or even gone to work rather than going fishing?? Most of you reading this would probably answer that question the same way that I would 99.99% of the time – a resounding NO.

Well I can honestly say that this happened to me last Friday (I actually would have been at work, mowing the lawn or even visiting the dentist – maybe not that drastic). Originally I was heading to Dundee with my old mates Joynsie and Jarboy chasing another sail or two after getting the action on the last lot of neaps. The wind gods soon put paid to that trip so during the week another trip was arranged, research completed and fishing companion found. The trip started well enough the boat packed early on Thursday Night, the eskies full of bait, ice and beer, the boat fuelled and the oil checked, crab pots labelled and loaded, the car refuelled, oil and water checked and the barra and jewie gear loaded. You beaut an early night!!

Early to bed early to rise, well not that early, have a cuppa with my wife, get her off to work get the kids up for school, one last check over the boat grab lunch and the last of the bait and I am off to meet up with the new anonymous fishing companion for a day of muddies, barra and jewies at Saltwater Arm.

That is where the day started going pear shaped. Arriving at the agreed location I waited for over an hour for the person to arrive, sitting in the car park of a pub for an hour at that time of morning you do get some unusual looks by both staff and passer bys. After waiting and contemplating what will happen next I thought ring Doug at the shop in case my new partner got lost, no sign of him at the shop, no contact no show at the pub. Righto I have missed the tide that I wanted and needed with the rock bar it was time to decide 6 acres that need to be mowed and reticulation repaired or meet up with Joynsie and Jarboy on Corroboree for Joynsie last NT fish prior to moving interstate and starting a new life. Well, what can I say the lawn still hasn’t been mowed.

After a quick trip home and an equally as quick repack of the boat, barra gear, ice and beer; great all set to go. Race out to Corroboree for a 6 hour fish get some barra, get home early and get in the good books with my wife by taking her to dinner for her birthday/mother’s day. After launching and speaking to another fisho leaving the Billabong hearing that they had caught 20+ barra with 2 keepers I thought that at least there would be some action for the day. Well trolling the snags, the lilly pads, the grass banks, flicking the snags, the Lilly pads and the grass banks for the majority of the main billabong with no success it was time to head all the way to the end of the main billabong always guaranteed a fish there even if they are rats. Well rats that is all I managed, and only 2 of them neither of them would have even made 30cm. These were followed closely by a less than 20cm Tarpon. Well this was very disappointing time to head back to the Rock Hole or Palm Billabong. On the way I could not resist dropping an older Reidy’s Aqua Rat in the pink and yellow in the water for a troll. Next thing all fury was unleashed and I thought that the day was looking better. After multiple water breaks and some good runs towards the Lillies I was soon to be disappointed again in the barra department as I netted and released a very healthy 76cm Saratoga. That was the highlighet of the day. After a bit more boating it was time to head home and get more fishing brownie points with the wife or so I hoped.

The trip to the ramp was uneventful, recovery of the boat was uneventful, the trip from Corroboree Billabong to the tavern was where I started wishing I was at home mowing the 6 acres as I managed to blow the engine in my Nissan Patrol about 6km from the Billabong. After managing to limp it the remainder of the way to the intersection of the access road and the Arnhem Highway I sat there and reminisced on what had happened what had gone wrong and where I would be if I was mowing the lawn. Sitting on the side of the road have a coldie sitting in the boat I must have looked a sight waiting for the AANT tow truck. To all those fishos that stopped and offered assistance and to the locals that offered storage areas for my boat and car I would like to offer my sincerest thanks.

So as I started, I really think that at times there are trips that might just manage to go to the area of enjoyment just below mowing lawns, staying in bed or cleaning the house. To make things even worse I was speaking to a couple of blokes at the Humpty Doo Hotel who went to Saltwater Arm and the Narrows bagged out on crabs, big Jewies and bagged 4 barra to 80cm on Saturday. Another boat was there on Sunday and managed to get 18 Muddies and 2 Barra. What a way to have salt rubbed into the very deep wounds. Atleast they haven’t provide me photos yet so I don’t have to look at them as constant reminders as to what could have been.

On the fishing scene the reports from both Hardies and Corroboree is the same; both billabong while open and clean have very little barra action in them at present – too many smaller Tarpon. Given time these will no doubt fire and start producing some very fine fish this year. Good reports are still coming in from Shady Camp with some large fish and some good numbers still being reported. Jewies can be found on the jewie reefes when the weather permits. I have had a couple of good reports from both the East and South Alligators with some very good catches occurring at the mouth of the South for both Barra and assorted reef fish.

The reports from the Adelaide River have been very mixed with some of the locals slaying them and others missing out not even getting a scale. Cherabin numbers appear to have dropped off in recent weeks.

The harbours have all been reporting well with regular reports of good catches of Jewies, Snapper, Pikey Bream, Muddies and the odd Tuna school turning up around Mandorah, 6 Mile and further in the Darwin Harbour being a regular occurrence. The Muddies are big, full and plentiful in most of the Harbour Rivers with catches in the high teens a common thing.

Bynoe Harbour has been producing some nice Jewies and Goldies with my eldest son again managing to get himself a Jewie around the 110cm mark and a couple of nice bigger than pan sized Goldies during the middle of last week.

Shoal Bay has been one of the picks for Barra this last week with good catches coming from live bait fished around the snags. On customer reported yesterday that they managed to get to get some nice 80cm Barra in the low tide holes using Berkley Gulps when all else failed to produce. The crab population in the Little Howard and Hope Inlet has been nothing short of great. Getting to Shoal Bay Buffalo Creek has also been reporting well for both Barra and Muddies as has Mecket Creek.

Offshore the reports have been very patchy as the wind gods have made it near on impossible for the smaller boats to get out. The fishos lucky enough to get out offshore have been doing real well with big catches being reported in the vicinity of the Peron Islands and Point Jenny. Catches of Red Emperors and Coral Trout have been the highlights for those getting out past the Perons while around the Perons big Goldies and big Trickies have been the norm mixed with some large Jewies. The Barra scene has been doing well between the Perons and the mouth of the Daly River. Reports from the Finniss Rivers have been disappointing at the moment with the best results coming from the freshwater Finniss River.

My mate Joynsie recently went for a trip off Darwin battling the seas and the winds for a last gasp attempt at a NT Sailfish. He was in the store this morning reliving the experiences that occurred for him but I am sworn to secrecy as to where he was at the time needless to say that it was local and for further advice, tips, techniques, and tackle for the chance to head out for your go at one of these magnificent sea creatures come and see us at the store. We are here Mon to Sat 8am – 6pm and Sun 8am – 3pm.