Hooked up
Whether you’re trolling for a big barra on the Daly, flicking a plastic into the lilies on a Kakadu billabong, or chasing c macs on the blue water, we’ve got you covered
CHASING barramundi around rocky shallows with lures is one of the great joys of fishing.
In a foot or so of water, the fish hit hard and invariably jump almost immediately.
With the Build-up on its way, this style of barra fishing can be reliably had around many coastal rocks and foreshores.
Barra feed aggressively during the Build-up because the water is getting warmer and the breeding season is approaching.
Small mullet and herring school in the harbour in the early Build-up, and you won’t find the barra far from the schools.
You can catch Build-up barra on foot or in a boat. A boat gives you more options.
Most landbased spots fish best at the top of the tide, in calm weather. Sheltered spots are generally more reliable. Early morning high tides are ideal. Barra will often sit in or near the murky water around the rocks, waiting to ambush passing bait.
You’ll also find them at the edge of rocky points with their nose into the current, waiting for mullet to come along with the tide.
Build-up barra follow schools of herring and mullet along mudflats with the tidal flow, and on a quiet day the boofs can be heard from a distance. Bait schools can be seen by ripples on the water surface.
Build-up barra love the shallows and if there is enough water to float your boat there is enough water for barra to feed.
Another place to look on an incoming tide is a sharp edge along a foreshore or mudflat where the mangrove wall begins.
As the tide rises, barra will sit along such an edge, waiting to push into the mangroves as the tide rises over the edge.
You’ll need small shallow lures or plastics for best results, or anchor and fish unweighted livebaits. Or do both - throw out a livie, and cast lures. Lures of choice include Reidys B52 minnows, the ever-reliable gold Bomber, and prawn imitations like the Ecooda.
Build-up barra from the harbour are usually between 50 and 65cm long so be sure to take your measuring mat.
Fish from the legal 55cm to 65cm are the perfect size for eating.
Occasional bigger barra will show up, but if you want big barra around Darwin then concentrate your efforts in Shoal Bay, which is the nursery area for Darwin fish.
Big female barra likely go to Shoal bay to spawn, as has been suggested by tag returns.
For landbased fishing around Darwin there are good spots near Mindil Beach, at East Point and Nightcliff. Channel Island is a proven spot if you don’t mind a bit of a walk. Rock walls can also produce fish. I have also caught barra fishing the bottoms of boat ramps at low tide at night, when all the boat traffic has long gone, keeping in mind the crocodile potential.
Travelling further afield, great Build-up barra fishing can be had on the coastal rocks around Point Stuart in Chambers Bay, near the South Alligator River mouth, Pococks Beach, and along the Dundee foreshore.
Cox Peninsula has some great Build-up spots, including Tapa Bay, and I can confirm that barra can even be found along the exposed rock ledge off Charles Point itself.
Bynoe Harbour has plenty of good spots too, easily accessible out of Crab Claw Island.
Gunn Point, Cape Hotham and Leaders Creek also have good Build-up spots.
Creeks mouths can also fire up, and the creeks at the mouth of the Adelaide River are well worth a try.
Another fish that can be caught in the shallows during the Build-up is golden snapper.
Pan size fish come in over the flats with the tide to feed and are invariably caught as they browse on rockbars in the harbour arms.
They respond best to baits caught on the spot, such as herring.
Bigger snapper are found on the coastal reefs, sometimes in very shallow water.
A bit of tidal run makes them easier to catch. One thing that is nice about the harbour in the Build-up is the variety of fish you can catch in a session.
In one spot I fished near suburban Sadgroves Creek, it was not unusual to catch in one session barra, blue and threadfin salmon, queenfish, snapper, flathead, javelin, catfish, brown sweetlip, small trevally, and even eel-tail catfish, all on a rising tide.
Such is the importance of the mangroves, there must be thousands of kilograms of fish that move in and out with the spring tide, to feed in the mangroves, and them move back into the central harbour channel when the low tides leave the mudflats and shallower channels exposed.
This is one of the great things about Darwin fishing that is often overlooked, each tidal cycle basically restocks the harbour arms, a point appreciated by those who fish southern freshwater systems or estuaries that can be locally fished out until there is a flood or seasonal change that brings more fish in.
The early Build-up is also a great time to fish the billabongs, although by all accounts these have fished well through most of this dry season for mostly small barra.
The late Build-up, from the end of the October, sees more thunderstorms and greater heat which can lead to inconsistency in the fishing, especially in the freshwater.
I’ve found the best fishing in the harbour is from September to early October.
I’ve always preferred fairly large tides, coming off neaps, but the fish can be caught on any tide by changing your fishing techniques.
For example, on neap tides, you can target the mangrove trunks and roots, approaching quietly and making careful casts with finesse tackle.
The horizontal trunk of a fallen mangrove tree will likely have a barra under it, so note any fallen trees in your GPS as fishable spots.
Night fishing can be very good in the Buildup and is certainly a lot cooler.
Quietly trolling the flats with an electric motor, with the city lights on show, is a pleasant experience and usually produces a feed.
Meanwhile, in the bluewater the great run of sailfish continues in Fog Bay, along with more small black marlin.
There’s also been a good spread of cobia in reports from Dundee’s wide grounds.