FISHING
NEWS FROM NORTH AUSTRALIA
With Alex Julius - 8 March 2007
One thing is for certain: it will be a while before you’ll have to worry again about that deadly, boat-stranding mudbar that spans half the width of the South Alligator River immediately above the bridge on the eastern side.
Judging by some of the photos that have been doing the email rounds, you’re more likely to run aground in the tree tops lining the South Alligator.
So good old Huey came through with what could reasonably be described as a King hit to the Top End.
Everyone is counting back the years to when they can recall a deluge and resultant flood of the magnitude that took place last week.
Although I stand to be corrected, I can’t ever remember the South Alligator flowing over the bridge on the Arnhem Highway, so that takes care of 29 years.
Although the north-eastern section of Kakadu took a rainfall pummeling, it’s good that all the big rivers in reasonable proximity to Darwin took a bucketing.
Following are some of the seven-day figures from the Bureau of Metreology’s website: Dundee Beach 542mm, Mango Farm 459mm, Point, Stuart 440mm, Adelaide River 442mm and Mcminns Lagoon 492mm. Some of Darwin’s suburbs recorded more than 600mm.
Visit our incredible fishing destination:
ARNHEMLAND BARRAMUNDI NATURE LODGE
Roger Sinclair got out before the rains closed in and hooked some nice threadfin salmon.
Arafura Bluewater Charters deckie Tynan Bartolo with a quality double-header of red emperor and crimson sea perch. |
This was no surprise to Craig of Got One. Only last Friday we were testing poppers and minnows in the carpark of the Truck City complex,” he reported. With the big tournaments ahead in April and May on the Daly River, the timing is perfect for the river to reach 11 metres at the crossing.
Some competitors are concerned about the impact of the big flooding at the South Alligator on the annual Aurora Kakadu Klash which kicks off Thursday next week. I reckon the dramatic turnaround is a blessing – the river was practically devoid of fish immediately before this latest monsoon. The major flooding could really get things happening, and that’s especially so if there is no more rain over the next week. One thing for sure is that there’ll be no shortage of feeder-creek-mouth colour changes from the top of the river to the very bottom.
In fact, this could well be the year of colour changes right across the Top End, which should really spread out the angling traffic. The single exception could well be Shady Camp and the Mary River tributaries downstream. What a monumental, ecological blunder that has been! Once the unequivocal champion of barra rivers, a fortune in time, machinery and Government resources has gone into the Mary River over the last 16 years.
Ostensibly a major project to stop saltwater intrusion on to the Mary floodplains, it stopped everything. It stopped freshwater run-off. It stopped the natural interaction between the fresh and the salt during the wet season and the run-off. It stopped barramundi and other aquatic life from migrating up and down through the system as part of the natural lifecycle order.
And it stopped a lot of fish permanently by trapping them behind artificial barrage mud walls as floods receded and killed them en masse later in the year when the waters dried up. About the only thing it didn’t stop was the growth of juicy cattle pastures where once, in many places, there were floodplains. When we get a great wet season like the one we’re experiencing, it’s hard for me not to get on my soap box over this incredible stuff-up by the land management people back in the late ‘80s and through the ‘90s.
The legacy continues as each dry season broken barrages are repaired, more fish die and cattle numbers increase. Back to the present, at least the mouths of Sampan and Tommycutt Creeks in the Mary should fish well as the waters recede. Both pour into Chamberlain Bay and each year attract some very big barra. The word down south should already be out, so we can expect a bumper barra fishing tourist season this year. That’s a very good thing, if only because it adds clout to the value and importance of our massive recreational fishing industry.
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The Department of Planning and Infrastructure reminds motorists that it is illegal to drive on a “Closed Road”.
Apart from the serious safety aspect, vehicles can cause further damage to the roads.
Drivers can face legal action if caught breaking the Road Closure Law.
Motorists are strongly advised to check current road conditions atwww.roadreport.nt.gov.au or call 1 800 246 199.
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