Sunday Territorian 5 May 2019
Sunday Territorian; NewspaperNT
2019-05-05
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/753864
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/785206
SUNDAY MAY 5 2019 FRONTIER 43 V1 - NTNE01Z01MA have you got a catch to brag about? email it to frontier@news. com.au Aaron Azza Craufurd caught this coral trout offshore Dundee. It isnt the biggest catch ever but an awesome colour illustration before they change out of the water Picture: SUPPLIED Hiro and Bart Irwin are both on leave 13-year-old Hudson Heinrich was fishing at Buffalo Creek with his family when he caught his first barra. He'd only been fishing a handful of times and was pretty proud of the 57cm fish Picture: SUPPLIED A S expected, fishing was slow at the NT Barramundi Classic on the Daly River. Slow in the Territory however is not the same as slow elsewhere, and some good fish were caught. But the lack of rainfall has had an effect. On the Victoria River this weekend is KGFCs Big Horse Creek Barra Classic. This is a big competition and it will be interesting to see how the mighty Vic shapes up. A surprise last week was to see the monsoon reforming north of Australia. Dont get the run-off gear out just yet. Weather Bureau (BOM) forecasts showed typical dry season easterly winds blowing over the Top End this week, but did not discount the chance of a late cyclone. BOM said in its Tropical Note of April 30: A monsoon trough is expected to develop across the Indonesian archipelago and Arafura Sea this week ... this is late in the season for this to happen ... with an active monsoon trough developing there is also an increased risk of tropical low or cyclone development in Australian waters, though current weather models do not indicate tropical cyclone formation in the Australian region in the coming week. Dont think a late cyclone cant happen, as they have formed in July. The World Meteorological Organization defines the cyclone season as between November 1 and April 30. But as of 2018, there had been 91 cyclones outside the official season. These off-season cyclones usually happen in the Coral Sea, with the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia most often affected. Weather data shows the vast majority of cyclones occur from November to April, with very few in May. Off the NT, March brings the most cyclones, with a steep drop in numbers in April. Which begs the question: What would you call a July cyclone? Early or late? Meanwhile, dry season fishing is in full swing, with plenty of full mud crabs about, and tuna schools showing up in the harbour. I havent heard reports of big spaniards off Lee Point yet, but May is usually when they show up. If you want to chase tuna schools try around the ever-reliable Six Mile grounds, through to Mandorah, as well as the area between East Point and Larrakeyah, and off Lee Point. In reports, Craigs Fishing Warehouses Mal Strong said the Barramundi Classic fished as predicted. Some of the lads who were getting them at the Daly before the competition said the river had gone quiet and they started going to Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River, and did well, he said. Other good places have been White Lady and Lookback Creek, also on the East Alligator. Threadfin salmon have been in big numbers at Shady Camp, with the fish thick for 5km up Sampan Creek. You get the occasional 80cm to 90cm barra among the threadies. A mate came from Shady Camp and reported 60-barra days at Tommycut Creek, they were fishing the Dead Forest area and the biggest fish they got was 98cm. Shoal Bay has been fishing well, with barra and jewies on the big tides. There are longtail tuna out from the Fenton Patches, and Mandorah jetty has had tuna and big queenfish. There are sailfish about, as shown by the Carton Comp resuilts, but the event copped some rough weather and numbers were slightly down. On the landbased scene there have been barra caught off Cullen Bay rock wall, East Point and Shady Camp barrage on the big tides. The Six Mile grounds have had mainly trevally and some mackerel. There are plenty of mud crabs around. The Catalina creeks, Elizabeth River, Middle Arm and Shoal Bay have all produced, some boys have been having 30-crab sessions. There have been barra on the flats in the harbour around the Catalina creeks. Fishing and Outdoor Worlds Ronald Voukolos said the Daly River had been tough. It might be best to fish the bigger tides when the barra come up with the water, he said. Despite the low water level I have not heard of anyone hitting anything with their propeller. There has been threadfin chaos at Shady Camp, there are quite a few barra being caught but there are so many threadfin in the lower part of the river that it is hard to get past them. One crew got a sonar screenshot and counted over a 1000 threadfin. They are big threadies too. Threadies dont release so well, so maybe the rule for keeping only one big fish should be reviewed. You might have to catch 20 big fish to get a bag limit of small fish under the current rules. The rules were made for good reason, but with the surge in threadfin numbers perhaps it is time for a rethink. There were some barra reports from the Wilshire Creeks on the lower Adelaide River. The South Alligator River was a bit quiet but should improve on bigger tides. The Carton Comp was fairly tough with only 11 fish caught, and thats with all the local billfish guns fishing. There were birds and bait seen but the water clarity wasnt too good and this seems to have slowed the billfish down. Jewfish are still biting their heads off, Cape Hotham and Ruby Island have been good. Darwin Harbour should be good this weekend, it has been fairly consistent for barra and jewfish. Bynoe Harbour will be worth a look too. Lee Point should start producing big mackerel soon. Tackle World Coolalingas Charlotte Klose said the South Alligator River had been fishing well at the mouth, around Brooke Creek. There have been 80cm and 90cm fish caught, someone told me they found clean water down there, she said. It is still pumping some fresh at the top. There have been a few fish caught on the Daly River, mostly by the local guides. I have not heard much from the Finniss. Charters have been good off Charles Point, we bagged out on goldies and jewies on a half day charter. I have not heard of any mackerel in numbers off Darwin yet but they are getting them off Dundee. A few people have been hitting Corroboree Billabong and getting mostly tarpon, it is still flowing a little out there. There were some barra caught off the Shady Camp barrage. Shady Camp is producing loads of threadfin salmon, some people cant get past them to find a barra. Ive not heard many harbour barra reports. There are mud crabs are about, it looks like theyll be good this year. On the www.fishingterritory.com forums Craig Latimore took out Round 2 of the annual FFF Seadogs brag mat competition with a 95cm threadfin, closely followed by Trent Milgate with a 90cm barramundi. It is great to see that the lack of run-off hasnt stopped fishos finding barramundi. Theres still plenty of time to enter this competition as it is judged on the best six monthly rounds for the year. To have a go, grab a FFF sticker at Craigs Fishing Warehouse and stick it on your boat, and then post your best monthly fish as per the rules. There are great prizes this year from In and Outboard Marine, Lowrance, Tonic, Shimano, GME and Classic Lures. matt Flynn Fishing Hooked up Whether youre trolling for a big barra on the Daly, flicking a plastic into the lilies on a Kakadu billabong, or chasing macs on the blue water, weve got you covered