Some close encounters of the awesome kind

With last weekend’s tides looking good I had to get out for a fish, and received a surprise call from good mate Terry Dunphy from Shimano Australia.

Stewie Martin with a local Barra taken on a Shimano outfit and Gold 8’ Barrabait lure.

With last weekend’s tides looking good I had to get out for a fish, and received a surprise call from good mate Terry Dunphy from Shimano Australia.

We launched at lunchtime, “gentlemen’s hours” and headed across to a well-known local creek. Sunday afternoon, a flat sea, and not another boat in sight!

Deploying the Minn Kota we spot-locked and cast 8-foot Barra Baits along the steep ledge, twitching them through the submerged timber.

I got absolutely belted in a knee trembling hit that reverberated all the way up through the braid and into the rod.

Barra, and a good one at that! She came up in a classic head-shaking jump before powering off towards a big snag pile, and I redlined the little Shimano outfit hard to keep her out of the sticks. After some fun and games around the boat Terry lip-gripped 96 centimetres of saltwater barra and cradled her gently aboard.

I posed for a quick shot before releasing her back into the snag pile she came from. Moments later Terry got a metre-long jewie on a soft plastic vibe, a PB for him on a cast lure!

With a 10-minute drive home we couldn’t help but comment on how good the fishing can be so close to Darwin and how lucky we are. Tight lines and catch ya on the water.