Hooked up
Whether you’re trolling for a big barra on the Daly, flicking a plastic into the lilies on a Kakadu billabong, or c chasing macs on the blue water, we’ve got you covered
The monsoon has been slow to develop, but wet season rain is falling on Top End floodplains. Last week the Daly hit 8m, the East Alligator’s Magela Creek was over 1m, and the Mary River’s Bridge Lagoon was up to the top of the boat ramp.
It won’t take much of a monsoon to pull the run-off trigger.
Interestingly, fishos that headed wide of Dundee during calm spells have been reporting sailfish.
Nonetheless, January is traditionally a waiting game for most fishos.
Until the run-off kicks in properly, fishing around river mouths and the coast will be the way to go.
Manton Dam will be worth a look once it spills, and there will be opportunities in Darwin and Bynoe Harbours when the weather and tides are right.
Fishing and Outdoor World’s Matt West said barra fishos were heading to river mouths until the run-off set in.
“The mouth of the South Alligator River will be popular, and the coastal creeks,” he said.
“I am not hearing many reports yet, it is still early.
“The Daly is up, people went there last weekend and struggled for numbers as the river was rising.
“The rivers will be dirty and running hard when they rise.
“The wind has been blowing fairly hard which has slowed people down.
“It was better Christmas, with a few sailfish hooked up then.
“The focus is on rain now and waiting for the rivers.
“Shady Camp has fished OK at the barrage and they had some good rainfall out there, the bridge lagoon was nearly at the top of the ramp and that will flow down to the barrage. “Cooinda has been getting good rain. “And they are getting good coastal rain almost everywhere.
“The East Alligator’s Cahills Crossing has been up and down a bit this wet season.
“The harbour and Shoal Bay are producing only the odd fish.”
Top End Tackle World’s Simon Bochow said there was rain about despite the lack of monsoon.
“The floodplains and rivers are starting to fill up,” he said.
“A low sat near Darwin last week and dumped a fair bit, and there have been big storms rolling across the Top End.
“Almost every night there have been storms with a lot of rain in them.
“All the rivers are rising, the Daly was over 8m and rising, the water is coming down fast.
“Shady Camp hasn’t started to flow properly but water is coming down from upstream.
“I haven’t heard much from the South and East Alligator.
“The Finniss freshwater section was pumping hard last week so the lower Finniss should be starting to see a flush.
“The bluewater has been fishing very well, it was a bit lumpy when the low pressure system was around, but conditions did go back to quite good out there.
“I have not heard much from Manton Dam, people have been going there but haven’t been reporting much, once the water goes over the wall it should start to fire up.
“There were still sailfish off Dundee during the recent calm spells, which is a good sign.”
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