2014 Top End Barra Series Round 2.

Hi there,

Not long ago, the second round of the 2014 Top End Barra Series took place, on the upper side of the Adelaide River.
A river reputed for its hard fishing, so much in fact that many of the competitors in the TEBS, had never fished it. As many of the fisher folks of Darwin and surrounding, who prefer other rivers or regional estuaries, who offer much more reliable Barramundi fishing.
But that is where it was, and that is where we went.
With the advantage, of being relatively close to Darwin, we had a late start, and Brett who had invited me on his boat, thanks again, picked me up at around 6:20am, much later than the usual.
Also, we had some "inside intelligence" coming from my friend Jason, who had very kindly sent us the marks to his best spot on the river, when to fish them and with which lures. Thanks Jason.

We arrived at the boat ramp, to find the parking full of trailer, obviously, some people had taken the matter more seriously than us and were already on the water.
So we launched without any delay and started to make our way up, trying to find our first fish, here and there. Without much success I must confess.
Still, the weather was looking good and we were still full of hope. When a dragon fly came to rest on the tip of my fishing rod, I of course interpreted that as a good omen.

The fisherman's good omen.

Yet, we couldn't raise a scale, and the nice weather was starting to get rather hot.

To compensate we decided that a pizza would do us all the good we needed, and started to warm a delicious Moroccan pizza on the BBQ:

Moroccan pizza warming up.

We went under the shade of a tree, to eat it, and Seano with Kieran stopped to have a chat with us.

Mates under the sun, watching us eating in the shade.

We did ask them if they wanted us to warm or cook anything for them, as the BBQ was still hot.

But they already had had enough of fishing this hard river, and were on their way to another creek somewhere. Having decided to forfeit this round. It was not even midday yet, and some of the participant in the competition had by then decided to call it quite. Yes it is a hard river to fish, which has broken more than one angler.

The pizza had hit the spot nicely, and left a little taste of "I want more" in our stomachs, so the garlic bread went straight were the pizza had been. Slowly warming up, as we restarted our way up the river, in search of good fishing.

Just past Goat Island, we found a few other boats, and started a nice raft-up.

It was around midday and not the best time to fish, so every body was happy to have a bit of a laugh, a few drinks and some of the garlic bread that we shared with other boats.

Glenn, one of the organiser of the Top End Barra Series (or TEBS as it is now known by many) even joined the raft-up for a little while. At that time I did prefer to be me than him, as a few people asked him why on hearth they had chosen to do a round, in this place, at this time of the year…

But it was more a friendly banter with a strong camaraderie undertone than anything else, as most were still having a very good time. This is what makes this competition so pleasant, the social aspect of it. Which is often more important that the competitive side of it.

Toward the end of the midday raft-up a boat went toward the front of it, and gave a nice refreshment to the occupant of the first few boats:

Shower on the river.

From there, we headed back down to Marrakai Creek.

On which we saw Paul and his mate trolling, obviously, once again we were not the only one to have an idea as to where to find a fish or two. And yes we finally found a fish! Or should I say, Brett got a fish. It wasn't a big one, it was in fact a rather small one, we could even have called it a rat. But it was the first Barramundi of the weekend and it lifted our spirit.

First Barramundi of the weekend.

This little fish in a very beautiful location was just was we needed to regain a bit of confidence.

The Marrakai.

But no matters how beautiful the place was, one little rat of a fish, is not enough, and we wanted more.

Brett then made the decision to go back up in a little creek in which he had found success in the past.

At the mouth of the creek, we once again found some Top End Barra Series competitors, casting their lures in hope of a fish.

We passed them, and went up the creek, to find a little junction with an even smaller creek.

We positioned the boat a few meters upward this nice little intersection, and this is when the fun started to kick in.

Just there one more time, Brett gave me a great demonstration of technique.

in about two hours, he caught over eleven fish. I say eleven, because that is the number that I photographed, but he had many other that I did not photograph.

Barramundi on a Reidy's B52.

As you can see, we were very happy with the Barra starting to come overboard.

Another Barramundi on the B52.

The fish were no monster, but they were numerous, and we started to hop that we would find a few point scorer among them.

Brett with another Barramundi caught on the B52.

I was catching nothing, and Brett was getting them all, on a Reidy's B52.

It was for me, about time that I start to do something about it. So I finally put a B52 at the end of my line, and … Yes A Barramundi boofed my lure, as it was just resting on the surface. It mad me jump, but it didn't stay connected. 

Brett caught a few more..

Then just at the boat, another Barra hit my lure, we saw it, and I lost it…

What was going on. Brett was starting to have a few friendly teasing words in regards to my absolute inability to catch a fish. While still giving me some advice on what I was doing right, and wrong in my retrieve for this type of fishing, in this season.

I tried to listen, and to put in application the method he described to me.

And I was finally hooked on a Barramundi!

My first Barramundi of the weekend.

Now I was happy, we both had point scorer Barramundi, no doughnut on this boat!

Brett caught a few more, and me not. 

Brett with yet another Barramundi.

The tide was falling fast, and we would have to think about getting out of there before we would get stuck. My B52 kept scraping the bottom of the creek, so I put the same soft plastic that got me my first metery in the previous round of the 2014 Top End Barra Series. Brett said, I bet that you will make two cast with that and get a fish on the second one.

Well, the first cast came back empty handed. And about half way through the second one, my line went tense and a nice feisty little Barra erupted out of the water: I was on! On the second cast, like Brett had predicted.

my second Barramundi of the weekend.

All these fish, despite being rather smallish, were fighting well above their weight and length.

It was surprising how they could pull line in comparison of their size.

We did lost a lot of them.

But it was starting to get late, and we really didn't want to get stuck in the creek for the night.

So we headed back at the mouth, where our friendly competitors were still there casting.

It didn't took us too long to anchor the boat not very far from the mouth, and to start getting ready for dinner. While the dinner was cooking, we kept ourselves busy, casting fizzer in the dark.

Now, this is something that I wanted since a long time: a Barramundi, on a fizzer at night.

And it happened!

First Barramundi on a fizzer at night.

Once again, not a giant, but still good enough to get a few points.

More importantly, I had just caught my first Barramundi at night on a fizzer.

This year in only two rounds, the TEBS has already spoilt me: my first metery (at 102 cm) in the first round. And now my first night time Barra on a fizzer. Yes I am very happy and lucky this year.

The nice aroma coming from the BBQ, let us know that dinner was cooked: Roast Pork!

I don't know for you, but for me, roast pork on the boat after a day of fishing… That is living in luxury mode.

Pork roast on the BBQ, on the boat.

The nice hot roast, with cold beverage, and an electric storm in the distance, was a perfect end to a great day. Filled by fun, friendship and a few Barramundi.

Electric storm on the Adelaide river, at night.

This was a great show, and sleep was easy to find after that.

For the following day we had a great plan…

We would wake up early, and go back where we had done so well in the evening, and restart to catch plenty of fish. This was going to be a glorious fishing day!

Well, we did get up early.

Fishing the Adelaide river in the morning.

But that about it for the glorious fish capture…

We didn't catch a single fish on the second day.

I did miss two of them. One being a rather big one, that went for my fizzer, but didn't hook.

Brett kept telling me to be more patient when using a fizzer. To wait for the line to strip from the reel before doing anything. But I will need a lot of practice for that. Because as soon that I see a fish boofing my lure, I hook as hard as I can. Which usually as the simply disastrous effect of ripping my fizzer out of the fish mouth before it is even remotely hooked…

Yes, I need to work on my self-control.

After a few hours, of sweating and not a single hit on any of our lures, we decided to call it a day, and to head back home.

The Adelaide River.

The Adelaide River upheld her reputation of being a very difficult river to fish.

It has broken the spirit of more than one fisherman, but for my point of view, I still had a great weekend. We had caught a few fish, and many laugh, I was happy.

Thanks again to Brett for inviting me on his boat for the weekend.

How did I scored?

Well I came on at the eleventh position, out of nearly one hundred people fishing.

This won me a $50 voucher to be used at the Roma Bar. As it is a place that my dear lady likes, I think that one day, her, the little one and I could go there one afternoon, and have some fruit juice. So very happy with that.

And Brett?

Well he won the mystery size and got a $100 DUO lures pack.

So we both scored good.

The only problem now?

Well it will be a few months before the next round of the Top End Barra Series, way too long.

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

2014 Top End Barra Series Round 1.

Hi there,

Yes the Top End Barra Series restarted, and this year for me, it began with a bang!
This is not only the story of the first round of the 2014 Top End Barra Series, this is also the story of how I caught my first ever Barramundi over a meter in length.

The first round took place at Shady Camp, a place well known for its big Barramundi and big crocodile. I hadn't been there since last year opening round of the Series and I was hopping to do better this year.
I was teamed with my friend Brett, a very good fisherman and skipper.
A few days before we left for the competition, he told me that I might beat my personal best Barramundi in this coming round. I was dreaming of it, but was also trying to keep my hope low, just in case it didn't turn out as expected.
Well it did turn out rather good, but lets start at the beginning.

Brett, picked me up at 5:30 am and we drove to Shady Camp, telling fishing tales, and full of expectation.
At around 8:00 am we launched and  helped a guy to jump start his boat. His battery was flat and he was drifting in the current. First rescue mission of the weekend. Then we quickly made our way to the mouth of Sampan and started to troll, with all the other boats. Of which we counted 46, and didn't saw many fishes being caught.
So at about 10:00 am, we decided to start cooking some chicken wings on the BBQ and to start heading towards Swim Creek, in the hope of more success. We went there, with a boat full of Brett mates following us and exchanging friendly banters.

On the way to Swim Creek.

I wasn't used to have a BBQ on the floor of a boat that I am standing on, and at first it is a bit of a strange thing to look at.

But when you start to taste at the goodies coming from it, there is nothing unnatural in the flames on the floor of the boat:

BBQ on the floor.

Time for a snack.

As we arrived at Swim Creek, the creek was full of boats on both side, and there was no way that we could get in. We had waited too long to get there, and we would have to settle at the mouth, and to try to cast into it.

Standing there, casting a hard body lure in the creek mouth and looking at all the boats inside of it, casting lure in each other direction. I started to wonder how any Barramundi could ever try to pass this barrage of fishing lures and stand any chance to get to the top of the creek. I also was looking at the submerged trees and all the timber along there… 

I decided to change my lure to a weedless soft plastic, that I would be able to cast straight, deep in the timber, where I though that baits might be hiding. Looking in my bag, the biggest weedless lure that I had, was a four inches flick bait… Not exactly the big lure for big fish that I was expecting to find. But that was the biggest one, so I tied one on, and started to cast it strait in the flooded branches, hoping for a medium to good size fish. All it took was maybe a dozen casts when I saw a fish roll near my line,  which immediately went tense and started to fly from my little reel.

I shouted that I was on, as I was rather surprised by the violence of the hit, and the speed at which my reel was loosing line. Brett was quick thinking and pulled the anchor and started to follow the fish a bit. Lucky for me, she went for the left and then straight for the sea side, instead of trying to bury me in submerged logs. But I thought that I was going to be spooled and said (maybe screamed) it to Brett, who took a look at my reel and said: Relax you still have plenty of line in there, all the while he was following the fish. Then I started to believe that she had snagged me, as I could not reel her in anymore. In fact, she was just a strong fish, and the drag on my reel could have been a bit tighter. 

So with the boat nearly above her, she finally came to the surface and Brett said that it could be a 99cm fish! I started to get even more excited, thinking that it would beat my best of 91cm so far. But she didn't like the look of us both screaming and looking at her like that, and went around the boat, then back towards us and around again, to finally come back to our side. We saw her a few more time, and I started to think that she was the heaviest Barra I had ever hooked and really wanted her in the net. And in the net, Brett scooped her.

In the boat we saw that she was properly hooked on the left side of her mouth, and we quickly put her on the brag mat. She was first declared to be 101 cm, and my joy just exploded.

I had finally cracked the meter mark.

This was definitively my biggest Barramundi to date.

It is only later on while looking at the photo that I realised that she was 102 cm (40.15748 inches).

And here she is:

102 cm of salt water Barramundi.

To me, this was 102 cm of pure angling pleasure, a dream finally come true.

I didn't get a photo of myself holding her, that would have been nice, but the pleasure of having her is even better.

She was revived and released, to continue to grow, to breed and produce many little Barramundi for the future.

Some people have said that after the capture and release of this very nice Barramundi, they saw me shout and dance on the boat. Well to be honest, I would love to say that this is pure exaggeration and that I kept my cool and was just happily smiling around… But that might not really be the truth, I was really excited, and started to walk on air for the rest of the day, if not the week.

We did try a bit longer at the same spot, for not a single hit. So we decided to move back in Sampan Creek, to tie the boat under the shade of a few mangrove trees, and start to cook some marinated ribs, calling for a raft up on the radio.

BBQed ribs on the boat.

The ribs were delicious, and two or three boats joined us for a bit of light banter.

I was just thinking about the nice fish I had just caught, and don't remember much of what was said.

But I do remember that across the creek last year Top End Barra Series winner was looking to be in trouble, with his boat slowly sinking in the crocodile infested waters of the muddy creek.

Brett knew what the trouble was, and we scouted towards then and yes it was a bilge pump problem, which was quickly fixed.

The boat with the bilge pump problem being fixed.

Once the rescue mission was accomplished we went back under our trees, and continued chatting with other members of the TEBS.

By the end of the afternoon, we went for some more trolling at the mouth of Sampan.

Looking at the storms rolling all around us.

Storm over the mouth of Sampan Creek.

We didn't got much success I should say, as all we got for our effort was a small Blue Salmon.

Small Blue Salmon on Reidy's Big B52's.

So we decided to call it a day, and to organise a mini raft up, which at one stage was made of 5 boats tied together. Ready to eat and laugh the night away.

This time it was lamb shanks on the BBQ, very nice! We even warmed some mini pizza for Seano and Aaron at the same time:

Yummy food cooking on the boat.

This might be the first time that I did put some weight on a fishing trip.

Food was first class, no doubts about that.

In the middle of the night at around 2:00am, as everyone was deep asleep, a boat passed us full throttle, with absolute disregards for safety and all. The wake of the boat pulled the anchors of the raft up and luckily I realised that we were drifting. In fact I did ask Brett if we were drifting or not, to which he replied that I was right. A few quick shoot and every body was fully awake and trying to find our bearings in the black night. We split up the raft up and went to a quieter spot on the river, with a few boat coming with us. We anchored and went back to sleep, but I kept waking up and checking if we were drifting again. Which we didn't, but between the lighting and the air suddenly becoming real cold, I thought that we were going to be on the receiving end of a good storm. But once again it turned all around and avoided us as best as it could. We stayed dry all night long.

In the morning, we spotted a boat high and dry on the bank, that had anchored too close to the rivage. Its occupant would have had to wait for high tide to float again.

High and dry in the morning light.

We decided to start the day trolling the mouth of Sampan again, in the hope of snaring a big Barramundi. I did got a fish, it was a 64cm Barra:

First Barramundi of the Sunday.

It was no monster, yet I was very happy, as it would give me a few points on the scoreboard.

With nothing much happening we decided to go back in direction of the ramp, to fish a few spot on the way, and maybe the barrage. And mostly to have an early retrieve before the ramp become overcrowded. We tried a few spot that had worked well for Brett in the past, but with no luck. We could hear and see the Barramundi boofing around us, but could not entice a strike on our lures. What ever lure we would try on. 

We saw a lot of crocodile, as it is expected in Sampan creek.

Salt water crocodile in the mud of Sampan creek.

Not getting any fish and with the temperature rising up, we decided to head to the barrage for a last chance at getting any fishes.

At about one kilometre from the barrage, Brett turned the boat around and said to me: "Look at this creek mouth all the birds in there. If there is birds, there is bait, and if there is bait, there is Barramundi".

And he was dead right.

He quickly got his first fish of the weekend, and that was good to see.

Brett's first Barramundi of the weekend.

And from there on, having shaken the monkey of his back, Brett blitzed from zero to six fish in less that two hours.

The bait was very small, but we could see them swimming on the surface and being harassed by the Barramundi.

Using the smallest lures that we had, it become real good fun to see Brett catching them one after the other.

Another Barramundi for Brett.

And another one.

And again.

All on the same little lure.

The lure was a green four inches soft plastic from Reidy's and was definitively the outstanding lure of the weekend.

Brett then asked me why I hadn't caught anything while he was just reeling them in. Just as he finished asking it, I said I am on!

And in came my third and last Barramundi of the weekend.

My last Barramundi of the weekend.

At 70cm (27.55 inches) in was a good size fish, without being a back breaker. I was very happy to land it.

Then Brett got another Barra in the boat, and we decided that it was enough and to go home.

Brett had the five fish for a full bag, and I had a 102cm one that was my new personal best, and made me more that happy.

At the barrage we got the boat on the trailer and left before it become a big traffic jam.

People fishing the Shady Camp barrage.

On the way back we found three Jackaroo who had problems with there truck, and we gave them a lift. That was the third rescue mission of the weekend.

So where do I stand in the comp after this great fish caught in the first round?

Well, I ended up in fifth place, to me this is pretty good, out of just over one hundred anglers.

I won a new head lamp and an esky for my effort. Very happy with that.

Brett was also in the top half of the competitor.

Just a few stats collated by the organiser of the Top End Barra Series about the round one:

Out of 105 competitor, 82 caught at least one Barramundi.

These 105 competitor caught a total of 276 Barramundi over the weekend.

Of these 276 Barramundi, only 2 went over the magic meter mark.

So yes, to me it was a great weekend on all front, thanks again Brett for inviting me on your boat for the weekend.

A new personal best, and my first ever Barramundi over a meter long. Great food and great camaraderie on the water. What else can one want?

Well I can tell you, now I wish for another Barramundi over a meter long…

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

My First Bad Rash Lures

Hi there,

Here comes my first Bad Rash Lures.
A lure made by Daniel, with some beer lids, recycling at its finest if you asked me.

First a few photos, then a text sent to me by Daniel.

In the packaging.

Yes, they do come in a nice little plastic bag, with a picture of a Mangrove Jack fished on a Bad Rash Lures. And I got lucky, the one on the pic is made with the same lids that the one I got.

Out of the bag.

Yes, made with the lids of the very well known XXXX Gold, a beer made in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, since a very long time. In fact it is the most popular beer in nearly all of Queensland.

Bad Rash Lures.

And now the text sent to me by Daniel, which explain how Bad Rash Lures came to be:

        "The idea of using beer lids to catch fish is nothing new, the concept has been around for quite some time. I have been making lures for as long as I can remember. I first started making lead slug type lures out of barrel sinker to cast at schools of Mackerel and Tuna in Moreton Bay about 25 years ago. Next came some timber lures for catching anything from Bass and bream through to Mangrove Jacks and Barra some of which I still use today. I had quite a spell from making lures and the bug came back about 3 years ago. 

I started to produce some lures that were quick and easy to make and started producing beer lid poppers. They consist of a beer lid glued to a tapered cork, wire and a hook and do not take too long to make, and are quite effective. I have not used them consistently but have caught some noteworthy fish on them including Trevally, Barra and Mangrove Jack. 

The idea of beer lid lures was always in the back of my mind but I never bothered until October this year. Why I started making beer lid lures now I do not have a clue, I think I just wanted to prove to my mate Pete that I could out fish him with all of his fancy gear.

I first started making them just as single lid lure by punching two hole at either end of the lid adding two size 4 split rings and then a size 4, 3X strong VMC treble and a few rocks for weight.
The first time I used them I managed to hook six and land two Saratoga from a small creek standing on the bank.
Next came a solo trip to a local billabong where I managed to catch 21 fish in just over 3 hours. The bulk of them were Saratoga, a total of 17 for the morning, a personal best. These were all caught on a Coopers Pale Ale jointed beer lid lure. Two beer lids were joined via a split ring with a second treble attached in the middle.
I then had a good trip up to Sandy Creek to test them out on some saltwater species. The most noteworthy fish was a Queenfish around the 9kg mark that I had hooked on a jointed Coopers Pale Ale. The fish was caught casting and retrieving the lure across that surface at speed and was hooked for a good ten minutes when we went for a tail grab and it swam off with the rear part of the lure. 
To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. What I found had happened and it happen again on a good Trevally was that the split ring was working its way along the crimped edge of the beer lid until it completely undid. Design fault.

I thought about how I could get rid of the split rings altogether and make the lures stronger from a wear perspective. The holes are only punched in the edges of the beer lids.
I still had some 80lb Mason Downunder stainless steel wire that I was using to make the beer lid poppers. I started to make the current lures that I have now and found that they are performing well so far.

To date I have caught a total of 149 fish on the beer lid lure with the following species and numbers being my most recent tally:

Saratoga - 54
Archerfish - 4
Barra - 9
Tarpon - 24
Fork tail Catfish - 10
Brassy Trevally - 10
Big Eye Trevally - 1
Golden Trevally - 1
Queenfish - 14
Blue Bone - 4
Cod - 2
Bar Tailed Grunter - 1
Spaniards - 2
Mangrove Jack - 1
Sooty Grunter -
8 Spangled Perch - 1
Long Tom - 1
Bass - 2"

And that is it for Daniel text.
Impressive no?
Now, do you want to know about another impressive thing?
Well let me tell you how I got this lure…

Last December, the local newspaper, ran a story about a few of the lures that I have in my small collection.
Daniel saw the article, and just happened to be in town on the day it was published.
He called the paper and asked for my contact, saying that he would have a new lure for me.
A few phone call later, and he dropped by my place and gave me this very lure, saying Happy Christmas !

I call that pure Territory goodness!

Thank you Daniel, I will not swim it, but I will take care of it, be sure of that.
I know that some of my readers will say that a lure is made for fishing and that I should use it…

But hey, it could be worse.
Have a good day,
Me.

Wallaby Rescue.

Hi there,

Yes today I am going to tell you the story of an Agile Wallaby rescue, in a blog that is usually mostly about fishing.
But bear with me, it has to do with fishing…

It started with a wrongly timed trip on the Adelaide River, near Darwin. A river known for its very large concentration of big salt water crocodiles, Crocodylus porosus.
Jim and I had gone fishing, hopping that the river would have started to drop, but drop it didn't.
In fact we should have been able to see it straight at the boat ramp. I had never seen the water so high on it, while going fishing:

Boat ramp on the Adelaide River.

We couldn't find any calm and clear water anywhere, except in a few little creek flowing in the Adelaide.

The causeway on Goat Island, was under water.

Jim estimated the water  to be flowing at around 15 km per hour. (9.3205679 miles per hour).

So we first started to slowly make our way back, still trying to flick our lures wherever we hopped to find a Barramundi.

When we saw the approaching storm, we decided that a quick run to the ramp was in order.

Storm coming on the river.

Jim went on full throttle, and the mix of rain and wind, made us feel rather cold, to say the least or to stay polite. I bowed my head, trying to protect myself with my hat while Jim was trying to see the floating logs, so no crash would happen.

When suddenly, he stopped and turned the boat around.

Raising my head I asked what was the matter? Jim pointed to a floating, moving thing in the water and said:"there is a possum or something swimming in there".

I looked, and saw the little head bobbing in the water. As soon as it realised that we had turned for him, he started to swam in earnest, in direction of the boat.

I first thought that I should take a photo of it swimming in the fast flowing waters. But remembering that we were basically where they do the jumping crocodiles show, I scooped it quickly in the net. Before it become someone's snack.

Jim pulled out a nice little joey from the fishing net:

Jim and the dripping wet Agile Wallaby.

This was a very nice little guy. Yet in Jim's arms, it soon went a bit feral, started to make funny noises, tried to scratch and bite.

Wallaby onboard.

Quick thinking was needed, I was laughing, so Jim did it, and he emptied a small cooler bag, and presented it to this little guy, who without too much persuasion dived in it head first.

Wallaby in the cooler bag.

It instantly calmed down, so much in fact that we started to worry that he might have suddenly died.

But when trying to pull him out, he showed in no uncertain ways that he was still very much alive.

So we decided to leave him in there until we would be back at the car.

What's in your bag?

And this photograph, is with no doubt the best advertising for Jack Daniel's, Territory style…

At the car Jim put him in a dry beach towel, where it fell asleep, exhausted little thing.

Cute as a button, a sleeping joey.

From there we took it to an animals refuge who in turn would hand it to the local prison. There as part of a program, the inmates will take care of it and put him back in good shape. After what it should be release in the wild.

As a bonus, here is a photo of yours truly, to show you that I was really there:

Holding a wallaby joey.

Thank you Jim for inviting me on this trip.

This is how an otherwise uneventful fishing trip, turned into one that is definitely a memorable one.

Even if once again, I came back home fish less…

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Darwin Dart.

Hi there,

The Darwin Dart is a lure close to the heart of many Territorians. Yet it was made in Narooma, NSW. So, why so much love in the North?

To start you have the name: Darwin Dart, clever marketing …

And then came its fish catching ability.

A quality due to the passion for fishing from its maker: Mick Elliot.

Mr. Elliot started to make his own lure as a teenager in Queensland. After his family had moved to NSW. With the help of his father and brother, Mick started to produce his lures for the commercial market, in 1983. First carved by hand from White Beech wood, the success and demand for the Darwin Dart quickly become too much for the trio. They had to use a copy lathe to respond to the popularity of their product. The ever-growing success of the timber lure prompted the Elliot family to finally decide to change the whole process and start to make plastic molded lures. The metal bib was replaced by a plastic one, and become integral part of the lure. A rattle was added in the belly of the lure. The success continued.

The Darwin Dart. 

The production has stopped a few years ago. The word on the street is that the molds have all been destroyed when the production ceased.

Portait of a Darwin Dart.

This was a popular lure for Barramundi, Mangrove Jack and other Top End scaly critters. 

An old timer, once even told me that he loved to troll them at speed for Mackerels. Saying that the lures would then flip over and come skipping on the surface, this was how he caught some of his best Macks. Until one bigger than usual, who swam in the sunset with it, took away his last Darwin Dart.

Memories.

This timber Darwin Dart, might not be in perfect condition, but I will sure take care of it, and it won't swim no more.

Yes they are missed in many fishing tackle boxes.

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

First Barramundi In 2014.

Hi there,

I finally got my first Barramundi for the year 2014.
Not a big one, but a fish is a fish, as they say. And to be honest, I was still very happy with that, as I had nearly forgotten what it feels like.

Jim had offered to take me on his boat, to some of his secret spots, I was hopping to finally break the drought and catch a Barra.

We launched at around 10:00 in the morning, a big change from all the trips that require a 4:00am start.
And just after the launch, we sailed along the mangrove, toward our destination.

Along the mangrove in the morning light.

But once arrived there, we didn't catch a single fish. We did saw a few Barramundi and sight casted in their direction, but without success. At one stage Jim got a good hit, but the hit didn't transform in a hooked fish. Yet navigating in a tight creek, with mangrove on bot side, was really pleasant, something that I had missed.
I realised very quickly, due to the amount of times my lure ended in the trees above the banks. Instead of the water where the fish are supposed to live, that I had become a bit rusty, this was clear.

So we decided to try our luck, at another spot. On our way there, we trolled our lures, in the hope to snag a stray Barra. I had a Gold Bomber on, and was just thinking that I had never done any good with them. When I got a smallish hit on the line, and started to get excited. I reeled in  the line, sure that I finally had a baby Barramundi and the end of it. Alas no, it wasn't a Barramundi, it was a Pufferfish.
And worse of all, it hadn't try to have a go at my lure, no, the poor little thing had been hooked, near its back side…
I can't find the picture anymore, or I would have shown it to you, honest.

Then we tried to cast at some snag along the bank of another creek, and Jim landed a Cod, but it was no monster:

First cod of the day.

This cod was taken on a Reidy's B52's, in a colour that I had never seen, not even on the Reidy's catalogue. But obviously, that was a good colour, as in no time, Jim got a second little Cod.

Two in a row.

Seeing that I decided to change my lure for a smaller one, in white.

And in no time, I too was on the Cod board, with an even smaller model:

My baby Cod.

All these little Cod were returned alive to the water, as they definitively needed to grow a bit more before anything else.

Oh, and this photo is also the why I should not try to bear the beard…

The water clarity was pretty good, and we saw a very little snake swim in the water, Jim put his lure near it to give you an idea of size:

Snake (Hydrelaps darwiniensis) and fishing lure.

My friend the snake specialist, B. Schembri, has since told me that this little guy is a black-ringed mangrove sea snake (Hydrelaps darwiniensis) and that they get to about 50 cm long. 

(19.685039 inches).

With such stellar results, we decided to make our way back, and maybe stop at a last creek on the way, depending of the tide.

On our arrival to the last creek, the water looked good, clear, with some snag and some colour change in places.

In my second or third cast, I got a hit and missed it before seeing it, but to me, that felt like a Barramundi, no doubts about it. I said to Jim: I got a hit! Just there, close to the boat, just in this spot!

So Jim, cast roughly in the same direction, and got nailed by a feisty little Barra! I asked if he needed the net, he said that no, this was just a rat and he would deal with it by himself. 

Well, he didn't really had the time to, as just at the boat, the Barramundi spat the lure and swam away without asking any question.

Ha!

Anyway, we were now in the right spot, for sure we were going to catch some nice Barramundi.

Hope is a beautiful thing, isn't it?

Well Jim got another hit, from what he believed was a better fish. We then went as far as we could in the creek, keeping in mind that with the tide going down, we should be carful not to get stuck.

We saw Mullets and bait, but no Barramundi.

On getting out of there, we tried again where we got the three hits before. Jim casting at the front of the boat, and me at the back. When I finally got a hit that stay connected.

I quickly realised that this fish would not beat any records, but I was still surprised by its energy.

Jim got the net ready, and my little fish made another small run, he really didn't like the look of the net. Or maybe my attempt at growing a beard…

But in the end, in the net it went, and I finally had my first Barramundi for 2014.

First Barramundi of the year.

Not a fish of gigantic proportions, but still enough to make me smile. But being an undersize model, I gently dropped it back in the water, for him to grow big and fat, and hopefully we will met again in the future.

This had been a very pleasant half a day trip, and got me my first fish of the year.

Thanks Jim for inviting me on your boat.

And yes, once again I didn't bring back any fish home, and my little one said to me in a sad voice: "Daddy, you never bring any fish home any more, for me to eat…"

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

New Hooks from P E Tackle.

Hi There,

Just a quick post, to say thank you to P E Tackle, for sending me a few very deadly fishing hooks.
They had a small giveaway on their FaceBook page, and I did enter the very simple competition.
Basically, you had to be in the first ten to send them your address to win…
No rocket science there, and I was able to make it.

To be honest I had never heard of them before.
They are a new online fishing tackle  company, based in Australia.
It is good to see a new entrant in the game, who try to have only very high quality gear. A nice change from all the people selling cheap import.

So what does these hooks look like?
Here they are:

Thank you for the present.

Yes, I said thanks for the present, because they arrived in my mail box on the 24 of December.

How good a timing is that?

My favourite ones are the chartreuse ones.

Here is another photo of just one lot:

PE Tackle hooks.

I can't wait to test them, I was even thinking to try to put one or two behind a jig to see what would happen…

So yes, I know, no fishing post in a long time…

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.