I doubt anyone would be surprised to learn that our rainfall figures this Build-up are well above average and, according to the Bureau of Metreology, there is a chance the first monsoon will arrive in the next couple of weeks.
Already the rain has had an impact on road access: old mate Andy Ralph reported on Tuesday that Cahill’s Crossing on the East Alligator was 3m under water.
The rain doesn’t seem to have slowed the quality of fishing around Darwin.
Fishing and Outdoors’ Ronald Voukolos told me the Howard River, for example, has been fishing extremely well for barra upstream around King Creek and in the low tide holes up the Howard River and Tree Point.
Saturday’s low tide is a pearler for the Howard River, and not too bad for the Shoal Bay Rock either.
However, you’ll have to make your way back to Buffalo Creek ramp in the dark.
Speaking of Buffalo Creek, mates and I launched there at sparrows on the neap tide Saturday before last.
It was a 3.3m low an hour or so later, and the intention was to sneak out the mouth on the early slow-rising tide.
It must be close on 30 years since I launched at Buffalo Creek but I still didn’t expect to find the water out from the ramp to be so silted.
We launched and motored no more than 20m before the bottom of the boat touched sand, and there was no exit point evident.
I also was caught by surprise when I backed the boat off the trailer and into a rock some 3m out…damn, one damaged aluminium prop!
We calculated it would be hours before the tide was high enough to get over the sand so we pulled the boat back out again and headed to the Adelaide River where we caught a few barra the day before.
The Adelaide River mouth has become increasingly popular during the build-up in recent years; it has always been popular in the Runoff.
You fish it best during neap tides because the springs discolour the water far too much for barra fishing.
You get to the Adelaide River mouth via the Gunn Point Road and launching in Saltwater Arm, itself always worth trying for both barra and pan-sized golden snapper.
There were a lot more parked rigs on our second day, which caused us to speculate.
Our best barra went 67cm, a good keeper; however, as luck would have it, we hooked and lost two much bigger fish, one which would have topped 100cm.
We knew that at least two big fish were caught because we ran into mate Kurt Watts who told me about a 102cm his fishing partner on the day, Kalan Matthews,
had caught earlier.
Later that day, 15-year-old Yianni Glynatsis, fishing in another boat alongside Kurt, and Kalan, landed a whopper 116cm barra spotted on Active Live Target.
We were running away from storms by then.
This Sunday’s neapish tide would also be a good one to try the Adelaide mouth and its big, long Wiltshire Creeks.
Not far away from the Adelaide is Leaders Creek; it is also accessed off the Gunn Point Road where there is an excellent boat launching and security service.
Neap tides are also better at Leaders, but I’ve had some good sessions just flicking lures to the snags on spring low tides.
Darwin Harbour has been hit and miss with all the rain.
There’s been no commercial netting in the harbour and its arms for a long time now and, even though it is predominately a small-barra fishery, the size of fish available to anglers has increased considerably.
Mainly you fish the arms for barra by casting to the flats and at tidal run-offs or gutters, and catch barely legal fish.
Trolling just never seemed to produce with any consistency, but that all changed.
At this time of year, as long as you can find clear water streaming past a mangrove flat with a bit of a channel, you’re a great chance of trolling up some beaut barra.
Best tides are definitely during and just after the neaps when water clarity is good – this Sunday should be fine – and you want to be fishing well into the rising tide, maximising your efforts as the water level approaches the edge of the mangroves.
I am receiving more reports than ever of barra in the high 70s, through the 80s and even the odd one measuring more than 90cm – all fish caught trolling the arms of Darwin Harbour.
These are invariably fish on the move and they are best targeted with lures that dive to more than a metre – not much more – when trolled a fair way back.
Bombers are ideal, as are Classic 120s in the shallow version, but even smaller lures like Little Lucifer shallow are doing the job, as are soft prawn imitations.
If you’re adept at jig trolling, you’ll increase your chances tenfold.
Of course, casting lures on the flats and at colour-change gutters is the usual effective technique in Darwin Harbour’s arms.
I wouldn’t be surprised if those little gutters on the eastern side of Middle Arm fired up this weekend.
Kalan Matthews bagged his 102cm barra fishing with Kurt Watts in the Adelaide River.
