The Northern Territory news Thu 13 May 2010
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2010-05-13
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
application/pdf
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/221223
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/696707
Big barra on the chew Nationals simply awash with seriously large specimens NICE WORK: Tony Hare and Brad Woollams with Team Light Horses 96cm barra that took a big green Bomber trolled down the guts at high speed during the Barra Nationals BIG SUCCESS: The Got One Teams Craig Grosvenors experiment with trolled big Renosky soft plastics paid off with this terrific 103cm barra. ITMAY not have been the fishiest Barra Nationals in the 15-year history of this great Top End tournament, but Id be surprised if there has ever been asmany big barra caught over the course of five days. It started right from the first daywhenBryceNeal bagged a fish of a lifetime that measured 117cm and earned his Top End Tackle teama whopping 757 points. Therewere several other barra over 90cm caught on the first day, but Gaye Silva in Team Lowrance absolutely brained it with two in the 90s and another one just a tad under. By the end of the second day the Top End Tackle teamwas on to something, catching more big barra. Our own Light Horse teamof TonyHare, BradWoollams and myself found a good fish on that second day. Based on an article by Leeann Payne in the last NAFA magazine, we tied on big Bombers and trolled down the middle of the river at about 7km/hmuch faster than normal barra-trolling speed. We did this against the big incoming tide with our lures a longway back, and I actually hadmy rod in the rod holder as if trolling formackerel when suddenly it doubled over with a crashing strike. Im on! I yelled as I wrenched the rod out of the holder, while simultaneously a missile of a barra launched skywards at the end ofmy line. It was in openwater, but you never know on the Daly if theres a snag down below, even in themiddle of the river. I always prefer to get close and even over the top of a good barra so that the line points downwards and not across, therebyminimising the chance of the fish swimming around a hidden snag. We tried to do that, but this barra had other ideas, jumping, thrashing and repeatedly ripping out the thin line provided for the tournament. It was a thick, heavy fish, beautifully netted by Brad, and measured 96 cm. Well, do you reckonwe thought we had thewinning technique then? Come day three, with a smaller tide as the neaps closed in, we headed for our spot on the incoming, and came across the Top End Tackle boys frantically battling a terrific barra. Sadly, it cut the line on a bank-side snag, and the yells of despair and frustration from their boat said it all. How big? I asked. Easy 110, one of them replied. It seemed theyd also read theNAFA article, as they immediately began trolling down the guts at faster-thannormal pace and obviously with big shallow divers that we later learnt were also Bombers, green ones in fact. We too began trolling that area, but blowme down if they didnt hook another whopper within 30 seconds! They landed that one, which measured 101 cm. Other boats were noticing the activity by thenwith an armada of 61 boats in the Nationals, its pretty hard to get a spot on your own. One boat called Scoop trolled through and hooked a metre-plus barra straight away. Then the Top End Tackle team caught twomore in the high 90s, tallying three amazing fish in less than half an hour. You can imagine howwe felt. We knewwewere doing everything right but our lures just were not going past fish. Finally Brad hooked a beauty which gave him no chance and wiped him out on the snags. Later he hooked another one that jumped and revealed itself at longer than ametre, but luck was not with us as his fish found a snag too. That afternoon, this time on the outgoing tide, Top End Tackle caught another metre barra. Basically, after three days, the tournament was over. At nearly 3000 points, Shane Compain, Terry Ryan and BryceNeal had an unassailable lead, and eventually won Champion Teamby about 900 points, while Terry just pipped his teammate Bryce for the Champion Angler trophy. Runner-up Champion Local Teamwere Peter Politis, Bert Woodward and Eddie Carroll in TeamPolar Bears. TeamHumminbirds Bob Littler, RoderickWalmsley and Tony SmithwonRunner-up Champion Visiting Team. The ClassicWarlocks of John Millyard, Justin Jones and Trevor RobbwonRunner-up ChampionMixed Team. I hadnt fished a XXXXGold Barra Nationals in a few years and I was incredibly impressed with how far its developed. For entertainment at night, they had James Blundell and Vince Sorrenti. The amenities and food at the Banyan Farm venuewere sensational and the organisation by the PalmerstonGame Fishing Club was schmick. 26 Northern Territory News, Thursday, May 13, 2010 www.ntnews.com.au P U B : N T N E W S D A T E : 1 3 -M A Y -2 0 1 0 P A G E : 2 6 C O L O R : C M Y K with Alex Julius Truck City, Berrimah Ph (08)89472224 Gear up at GOT ONE The Ultimate in Service and Local Advice ... GUARANTEED! Garmin Etrex HANDHELD 149 GPS * While Stocks Last Great Mates Icebox 50ltr 149$ SHIMANO CURADO 200E Series 269$ SAVE $80 Led Lenser H7 Head Lamp 79!!$ SAVE$$$$ RED HOT DEALS e r4 6 0 4 0 4 \ 1 0 $ CRAB TRAPS HEAVY DUTY 5 FOR 60$ BLING BLING CLASSICS IN STOCK Baileys marathon effort rewarded TEN-year-old Bailey Helbig, of Larrakeyah, caught thismonster jewfish while night fishing at the Tiwi Islands. Dad Scott was very impressedwith the 114cm catch. It was an absolutemarathon effort, he said. Bailey is this weeks Catch of the Daywinner. For his efforts, he wins Barramundi O.D. with Alex Julius a triple DVD set (pictured)with almost five hours of action-packed footage. The DVD set is up for grabs eachweek until further notice. To enter, just send us your best fishing photo. Eachweek, well pick an entry and announce the winner here. Put your contact and picture details on the back of an envelope and send it to: Catch of the Day, GPOBox 1401, Darwin, 0801, or email with the subject: Catch of the Day to ntnmail@ntnews.com.au Include your postal address and details of what you caught, where andwhen. If youwould like your photos returned, please enclose a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. For competition details, please see Public Notices.