Easter fishing looking good - as long as Ita stays away

OUR PEOPLE in the field report on where they are biting in the lead up to Easter.

HOOKED UP Bart Irwin finally nailed a metery without needing a gill net thanks to good gu

The rivers are settling down into the greenwater trolling season, but all eyes are on ­Cyclone Ita.

While the cyclone was predicted last week to hit Cape York Peninsula and then turn south, cynics are saying it will hit the Top End at Easter.

They have last Easter fresh in their minds, which was washed out but had dry weather either side.

Reports in from the Kakadu Klash on the South Alligator River last weekend suggest the river is chock full of bait and big barra.

The problem for the competition wasn’t lack of fish, but how to entice them away from the hordes of bait.

Bart Irwin finally nailed a metery without needing a gill net thanks to good guiding by Leon Tarrant with this 102cm beauty, caught at East Alligator using a blue bomber

Meanwhile, bluewater fishos are cleaning up, and early indications suggest a great fishing year lies ahead.

Spanish mackerel are now appearing off Darwin, along with loads of goldies and jewfish. Sailfish are being sighted off Dundee, and mud crabs are on the move.

Barra were biting well at the Finniss last week.

Hopefully that will continue for a while.

In reports, Tackle World’s Shane Compain said that the South Alligator River was chock full of bait at the Kakadu Klash last weekend.

Multiple comp champion Compain won the event with his Team Tackle World mates Bryce Neil and Jamps Hughes, nailing good fish each day of the three-day comp, including two meteries.

He said he had never seen so much bait as was in the South Alligator River during the event.

“There was too much bait really, I’ve never seen so much, and the big barra were in superb condition,” he said.

“I called my 110cm fish during the fight for a 120cm fish, but it turned out to be just a huge, fat fish.

“There was so much bait it was hard to get a fish to take a lure, but the river was full of barra, you could see them and hear them feeding.

“There were whirlpools of scat, as well as rolling tarpon, and the mullet were just about crawling over each other.

“Even large prawns were visible on the surface, and they were cherabin.

“The bait was around at most stages of the tide.”

Shane said the river would fish best on the next springs as the bait dropped away, giving lures more of a chance.

“The barra will be in there for a while, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

Shane said that during the pre-fish period he realised it would take 90cm+ fish each day to win the comp.

“It was clear that the river was going to produce some big fish during the Klash,” he said.

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Tackle World’s Jess Walker said Shady Camp had been fairly quiet.

She went to the mouth of Sampan Creek last weekend and out of 10 visible boats she was the only one who hooked up to a good fish.

“It was on a big Panther Martin rubber – that hookup was one of the first trolling runs in the morning on the Sunday,” she said.

“It was on neap tides. There were no threadies biting, not even catfish.

“A creek produced a couple of little barra but that was it.

“They are catching fish at Shady Camp but it is all happening about 1km from the barrage trolling around the junction to the second barrage, with 94cm the biggest I have heard of.

“The barrage itself has been producing a lot of fish.

“They are also catching some good fish at the small creeks in Chambers and Finke bays, the big fish seems to be at Love, Swim and Carmor creeks. The Finniss has been fishing really well.

“The Daly is patchy.

“The bluewater scene however is fantastic with the guys bagging out on the full day charters, they are getting loads of jewies and goldies.

“They have been coming home early because there are so many fish and it is one of the best reef fishing years for a long time.

“Dundee is producing some mackerel, and mackies are showing up off Darwin as well.

“One boat went to Bowra Shoal on Sunday and Monday and they were getting mackies and trevally and reefies. Sailfish reports are coming in.”

Tackle World’s Simon Bochow went to the Daly and fished Browns Creek at night.

“We got a few fish – we were getting them on six-inch Nilsies in the shallows. We got one at 93 and a couple at 80. They were not boofing the surface,” he said.

Craig’s Fishing Warehouse’s Rob Rees said it had been busy in the shop and people were catching fish.

“There were some good reports from the Kakadu Klash competition, the South ­Alligator River finally came good,” he said.

“There is a fair bit of bait there now even up top at Nourlangie Creek.

“There was a 110cm barra caught during the comp.

“It seems like all the big rivers have bait now. Shady Camp seems to have slowed down though and not so many people are going there.

“The Daly has greened up well and looks good.

“Some people are getting fish down at the Finniss River.

“The bluewater is really good and I think a lot of people are now doing that, having given up on barra.

“At Dundee there are macks, tuna and sailfish. Even in and around the harbour there are good jewfish at Charles Point, and goldies.

“Mud crabs are on the move, people are getting them.

“There are still barra in the harbour and people are getting into them as well.”

Katherine Rod and Rifle’s Warren de With said he went to the Roper River last week and there was no run-off left.

“It was going into the dry season phase, we got 104cm and 110cm barra at Blackfellow Creek but the bite only lasted an hour,” he said.

“We tried there again later but there was nothing happening, we got the last of the water coming out on the change of the high tide.

“The next day at the same time we got smaller fish.

“The run-off is finished now, although there were a couple of run-offs working in the Phelps River.

“The Roper is quite low now and the rivers are cleaning up, the Victoria River is fishing well at Angalarri Creek and on the rockbars.

“We caught maybe 50 or 60 barra at the Roper so it wasn’t too bad.

“We were running into people coming back up the river who said don’t waste your time, but I guess we were lucky. There was no one at Blackfellow Creek when we were there.

“It just happened that we timed it right.

“There were a lot of scat baitfish coming out of the creek. If you were lucky enough to hit a window you were lucky.

“The fish are there though, people will get them trolling.

“The Daly is a bit patchy.

“We might get more rain if Cyclone Ita jumps the Gulf and comes across. Last Easter was a washout, I hope it doesn’t happen again.”

At Goat Island Fishing Lodge on the Adelaide River, the “informal Territory chief minister” Kai Hansen told fishingterritory.com that there was more rain on the way.

He wrote: “Well it certainly did not turn out to be the run-off we all expected after good rain and flooding in February, but fishing has improved here for the people in the know.

“The river is full of bait, including nice big cherabin, but most barra caught are on hardbody and soft plastic lures.

“Now, the missing follow-up rain after flooding in February is really not unusual, remember that monsoon troughs on average comes six to eight weeks apart, and I am pleased to tell you that more rain is coming.

“Just over two weeks ago when many said ‘that’s the end of the Wet’, I noticed crimson finches again started playing mating games, collecting loose feathers from my chooks for nest feathering, and that I have never seen unless more rain is coming.

“Me thinks a wet Easter, Happy camping.”

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