FISHING
NEWS FROM NORTH AUSTRALIA
With Alex Julius - 19 May 2005
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It seems plenty of anglers took advantage of the calmer weather last weekend and earlier this week by heading out onto the bluewater for both pelagics and bottom fish.
At the Vernon Islands, the GTs were thrashing the water to a foam as they chased garfish and long tom across the current swirls in the vicinity of Smith Reef.
A great Territory sportfishing favourite, the queenfish or skinny fish, has been turning up in numbers around Larrakeyah and the deep-water port in the harbour.
I hear there have been plenty of 6 kg-plus specimens landed.
On the barra scene, that Leeder’s Creek guru, Chris Errity, has been at it again.
Only on Monday this week, Chris put his dad Tony onto an 118 cm Leeder’s Creek barra that weighed 19 kg before release.
Shoal Bay has also been producing both barra and jew, and the muddies have been prolific.
Spanish mackerel were on the bite at the usual haunts out wide – Lorna Shoal, Bass Reef, Loee Patches and Point Blaze – but there were also a surprising number of macks better than 10 kg caught not that far from Lee
Many times over the years, I’ve pointed to Bass Reef as the best Spanish mackerel fishing spot within day range of Darwin.
When you look at the composition of the seabed in the vicinity of Bass Reef, it becomes clear why the area is so attractive to Spanish mackerel.
There are steep pinnacles and sheer ledges all over the place.
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Trolling with big diving minnows is loads of fun when the fish are on, but the one sure-fire recipe for exciting mackerel action is to anchor on a nice sharp contour, get a berley trail going and drift baits out the back.
There are two ways to get a berley trail going: the hard way and the easy way.
The hard way is to chop up whatever bits of fish you have taken out for the berley – pilchard beats everything else hands down – then scrunch it with your hands in a bucket of seawater.
The berley soup is then poured overboard a bit at a time with the object of keeping a constant trail out the back.
The easy way is to fit a berley bucket to the transom of your boat.
This is basically a cylindrical container with holes drilled into it, and it comes with a chopper which is usually a section of aluminum or stainless steel pipe with a t-bar handle welded to the top and flat piece of metal welded, thin edge down, to the bottom.
When the boat is at rest, the bottom few centimetres should be submerged.
Throw your pilchards into the bucket and then pound them every couple of minutes with the chopper.
As the water pours in and out of the holes, the berley escapes, providing a constant trail for a mackerel to follow to the boat.
The fishing rig is a triple gang of 6/0 hooks and a wire leader of at least 30 kg breaking strain.
Gang a whole pilchard with the top hook going through the eyes and drift it out the back of the boat in the berley trail.
It’s better if the bait is suspended a few metres below the surface, so a bit of lead is sometimes necessary if the current is strong.
Sometimes garfish swim up the berley trail.
These make great live bait and you can catch them with ultra-light line and a small long-shank hook.
Drop a line to the bottom while you’re mackerel fishing – you might score some nice reef fish, but what you’re after is a Spanish flag, or stripey, which is the undisputed number one live bait for mackerel.
Last weekend’s Freshwater Fly Fishing Open at Corroboree Billabong was the success you’d expect at this magnificent inland waterway.
Eligible species include barramundi, saratoga and tarpon.
A total of 980 fish were caught by the 48 competitors in pair teams over the day-and-a half event: 570 tarpon, 343 saratoga, 31 barramundi and 36 fish other species.
All fish were measured and released.
More than 60 sponsors supported the Freshwater Flyfishing Open.
Darwin Flyrodders President, Ross Marriner, said: “It is fantastic to see the many local companies continuing to support this unique fishing event”.
Team Pure Fishing made up of Steve Compain and Chris Rainbird were Champion Team with 5143 points and Team Spirit with Ron Van Den Broek and Dave Gardiner were Runner-up Team with 4920 points.
Well known local fly fisher, Dorothee Williams, was Champion Angler with 3212 points - the first female angler to win the event..
Ron Van Den Broek with 2781 points was Runner-up Champion Angler.
Fishing is the them of the flim “A Man’s Goota Do” which screens this Friday night at 9.20 pm at the Deckchair Cinema, Kitchener Drive Wharf Precinct.
The Northern Territory News is giving away two double passes to the film to the first two people at NT News front desk today.
Alex Julius Fishing Media
PO Box 571, Howard Springs NT Australia 0835
International phone: (618) 89832167
International fax: (618) 89831914
Fax (from within Australia): (08) 89831914
E-mail: AJFM@hotspot.com.au