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ARNHEMLAND BARRAMUNDI NATURE LODGE

Okay, so enough of the preamble…where do we go, you might ask.

In the interests of being a little more specific, and hopefully improving the chances of anyone who follows my clues, I’ll elaborate on just three tried-and-proven spots.

To begin with, Leeders Creek on either Saturday or Sunday morning – fishing a couple of hours up to the top of the tide and then an hour or so after the turn to run out – could well be a motza .

You can launch quickly and safely – and with assistance from the people running the boat ramp security service there – and then simply head out of the little side creek and down Leeders itself.

About 2 km from the mouth, you’ll find a large creek mouth on the right.

Begin trolling the righthand side a couple of hundred metres down from there, stopping to turn back when you can no longer see the aforementioned creek mouth.

Concentrate on 3-5 metres depth, and you could do worse than use a Qantas-coloured Classic 120 in 10-plus or 15-plus, or a 12-plus Killalure River Rat.

The beauty of this spot is that you don’t need to set a strong drag on your baitcaster because there’s hardly any broken timber to impede your chances of landing a quality fish.

Don’t be surprised to encounter barra in the 90 cm to a metre range, and black jew even bigger.

Next spot is good old Shoal Bay , and for a change not the famed Rock at the entrance to Tree Point.

Both Saturday and Sunday are good for clear water and access across the flats, once again launching from a serviced spot, Shoal Bay Boat Hire, or running down the bay from Buffalo Creek.

Make this an early start – first light at the latest – and head up either Tree Point or the main Howard itself, and begin trolling the outside banks on the last of the high tide and the second half of the falling tide.

Lures to use include Killalure Barra Baits 8-plus in natural colours, and shallower lures like the good old Bomber in the Tiger Lily colour.

To ensure you don’t get caught on the low tide, you’ll need to be on your way home around lunchtime on Saturday and by mid-afternoon on Sunday

Travelling further west, this weekednd is when you might sneak around Charles Point and point your bow at the creek deep inside Tapa Bay .

Early is good here too so that you can troll the righthand bank for the first 200-300 metres inside the creek mouth across the high tide.

Use Classic 120 3-plus lures in both natural and bright colours, depending on water clarity, and put them a long way back, adjusting until you reckon they are just above the bottom.

There’s a bunch of rocks across the mouth, but I doubt they’ll be exposed even on the low tide.

If you can detect them, pulverise them with assorted shallow-running minnows, preferably in green colours, or the ever-true bleeding-mullet pattern.