You may have noticed that it’s been getting hotter and a tad more sticky over the last week or two.
It’s a fact that it doesn’t stay cold in the Top End for very long.
It’s now early September, and that means we’re now in the Build-up season.
Make no mistake about it, the Build-up is a special time of year.
It’s that wonderful time when temperatures start to rise, humidity increases, easterly trade winds abate and barra often line up for a feed.
It heralds the transition from the cooler dry season months to the approaching wet season when, in a nutshell, everything warms up and starts getting wetter.
The Build-up also marks the start of the barramundi spawning season and, in the saltwater estuaries and river mouths, the big female barramundi begin to congregate, and smaller, mature male barras gather round.
Both sexes are excited, and at times feed like there’s no tomorrow… it’s a formula for angling nirvana.
Options are endless for chasing saltwater barra during the Top End Build-up.
Mainly it’s estuary fishing, which basically takes in the following locations: river mouths, harbour inlets, coastal creeks and rocky outcrops.
The Top End is blessed with some very fishy big tidal rivers, and nearly every one of them can produce excellent barra fishing in their lower reaches during the Build-up.
Great examples are the mouths of the East Alligator and South Alligator Rivers, the bottom end of the Mary River at its tributaries Sampan and Tommycut Creeks, Adelaide River mouth and its famous Wiltshire Creeks, the entrance to the Finniss River, the lower Daly River, the more-remote Roper River mouth and the endless McArthur River seaward tributaries in the lower Gulf of Carpentaria.
If there is one thing that all these awesome tidal river locations have in common to achieve the best barra fishing during the Build-up, it is the need for good water clarity.
Without question, the best water clarity is during neap tides when there is minimal tidal movement, and that’s when you should be planning your lower tidal river assault.
Given the soft neap tides this weekend, a trip to the mouths of any of these rivers could well be worth it.
Once out from the big river mouths, secluded coastal creeks can be a Mecca for barra fishing.
Often they are the apex for a section of coast, attracting schools of mullet, and of course hungry barra in pursuit.
Common to coastal creeks is that they become too shallow to enter into and out of during the bottom half of the tide.
Therefore, they need to be hit an hour or three either side of the top of the tide.
The trick is not to leave your exit too long as you might get stranded and have to wait for hours before you can get out again.
Darwin and Bynoe Harbours are popular spots to chase barra during the Build-up, and September may well be the best month for these handy locations.
Both inlets are characterised by large “arms” that offer endless barra fishing opportunities.
As a general rule, the best fishing is during the second half of a falling tide through to the first couple of hours of a making tide.
The bigger tides with more water movement are best.
Good luck this Build-up season; hopefully, it’s a productive one.
Peter Dabron’s silver, 90cm Build-up-season barra came from the mouth of the Liverpool River.
Tony Hart’s Build-up-season barra measured 76cm.
