A Morning Fishing Middle Arm.

Hi there,

Last Monday was a public holiday, and what could we do on a public holiday?
Well, we spent the morning fishing in Middle Arm.

• We fished in Middle Arm.
• We caught many fish.
• Some crabs too.
• It was an epic day.

Brett had been looking on Google Maps to try to find some new spots to explore.

There was a mud flat in Middle Arm, that he was yet to fish, and asked me if I wanted to go with him on this little exploratory trip.

Of course I said yes.

We left rather early and arrived way too early to our destination. The water was still high in the mangrove. 

Morning light in the mangrove.

No matter how beautiful this was, we had too much water under the boat to catch any fish.

To kill a bit of time we sailed along the mangroves, enjoying the scenery. I did try to blind cast a popper here and there. And one Barramundi boofed it, got connected, dived and promptly got the lure snagged on a submerged taproot. The fish swam away, the lure floated back to the surface, alone...

By then, the tide had begun to go down, and we could start to see a few Barra on the flat.

Most of them spook before we were even ready to try to catch them.

But one, swimming parallel to the boat, going in the same direction, attracted our attention.

Brett told me to have a go at it. I flicked my lure, swam it past its nose, for not even the slightest reaction. I tried a second time and the same scenario unfolded.

Brett tried then to cast a fly near him. When the fly passed in front of him, he turned toward it. Followed for a little while, very slow, then just boofed it in a flash! And Brett got his first sight casted fish on a fly for the season.

First Barramundi on the fly of the dry season.

Ok, with one Barramundi on the board, we knew that we had come to the right spot.

It was a nice little specimen, and was released to fight another day.

The water high was not yet optimal for the pursuit of Barramundi. Yet, we could spot another delicious prey walking below us...

Mud crab on the spear.

Yes Mud Crabs of good size seemed to be in good numbers on this flat.

The yell of "Mud Crab, Give me the spear!" would resonate two more times:

Mud Crab number two.

Mud Crab number three.

After putting three of them in the esky, we were reassured that none of us would be hungry on this day. Our focus switched back to the more elusive Barramundi.

Brett had got one on the boat, I had lost one, most of the ones we saw, were too nervous and panicky for us to have any real chance to tempt them with our lures...

They would sometimes follow the lure, nearly to the boat, get very very close to the lure, and turn around and disappear in a dash.

When I finally got one to take my lure in earnest, and start jumping around.

It wasn't a monster, but I got excited, and managed to get it in the boat.

My first Barramundi of the day.

This one was slightly undersized, and was put back in his element, so he could grow a bit more, until next time.

We continued to move around on this rather large flat, were we saw a large number of ray and shark.

Some small, some bigs, I tried to take some photograph of them, but my pocket camera doesn't have a polariser filter, and they didn't come out as expected.

In fact they were so many rays, that we sometimes got confused by their wings flaps thinking it was the flash of a Barra. 

We stayed a while without catching anything, starting to wonder what was going on.

When I pointed to a silvery flash in the water saying: Barra, there!

And casted a bit in front of it.

Brett said that it was a stingray, as we then saw one just in the spot I had pointed to.

But just then with a sharp jolt my line pulled me back to attention, the rod had a serious bent in it, and the water splashed all over as a nice slabe of chrome erupted out of the water.

I was on!

And to a nice Barramundi.

It started to go right, then left, trying to get away. I got it near the boat, but it then made a good run away from us again. Brett asked me if I had forgotten to put any drag on my reel. This fish truly was able to take some good run, but I assured Brett that my drag was on.

Finally it was close to the boat, I was going to be able to get it in the boat.

And the lure flew pass my head at great speed... The Barra had spit it as he was just at my feet.

Looking at the lure I saw that the hook had bent. Yes, I had some drag on my reel, maybe even a bit too much of it in fact...

Hard lesson...

On the same spot Brett came up with a fish, and a good one too.

This one was going to be for the esky:

A fish for the table.

We now had an esky with three mud crabs and one good Barra. But I was yet to contribute to any of the bounty.

It started to sink upon us, that we might have found a nice little honey hole.

I got a lot of hit, but kept loosing my fish.

Brett on the other hand was having a ball of a time:

Brett's third fish of the day.

And ...

Brett's fourth Barramundi of the day.

It is not that like me he was losing some fish. But he still managed to get a good proportion of them in the boat.

I was starting to think that I would need to do some homework on how to properly hook a fish.

At least I got one that stayed connected to the lure, and was able to bring it to the boat:

My first legal Barramundi of the trip.

This one was of legal size, and I kept it for dinner. I was happy.

I loose some more, and Brett got another one in:

Happy as a man who catch all the fish.

A lot of Barramundi were swimming around a rather small patch of mud. It was really good fishing.

Even if I kept loosing them.

Still I got a good hookup, and this one seemed of a reasonable size.

It took me a bit longer to get it in the boat:

My best Barramundi of the day.

Still no giant fish, but a nice one that I decided to keep for my mother in law.

Because she is a good woman, and sometimes staying in the good books is as easy to bring back a fresh fish.

This one was going to be the last fish of the trip, it was time to go back.

But what a trip it had been!

Thank you Brett to invite me to explore this part of the harbour that you had never fished before. It was really worthwhile. 

This had been a great day.

Yes we did miss and lost a lot of fish...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

I Haden't Fished In A Long Time.

Hi there,

Yes For multiple reasons I had been in the absolute impossibility to fish for a very long time.

Well, to be honest mostly because I went on vacation overseas...

But I am back, and more eager than ever.

•               First time in a long time.

•               We fished on the Elisabeth River.

•               We got fish and crabs.

I was still jet lag and rather tired when Brett called offered me to go fishing on the Elizabeth River.

I immediately said Yes!

He asked if I didn't need a bit of time to be sure of my answer, so I thought about it for about one or two seconds, and said Yes! again...

Yes I was sure that I wanted to go fishing. So sure in fact that on the fishing day between the excitement and the jet lag, I woke up at 2:00am and could not find sleep again. 

So I drove my car to the boat ramp a bit earlier than planned, and started to wait sitting in the car, listening to the radio. 

After a little while, slowly but surely, I could feel myself falling asleep.

There was just one thing to do, get out of the car, and take some pic of my close environment to try to keep awake. 

That is about then that Brett spotted me. He had arrived a few minutes earlier, but was parked on the opposite side of the parking, we hadn't seen each other, and were both waiting for the other one, on the same parking...

This could have easily make us lost some precious fishing time, lucky that it didn't.

Once we had caught up we quickly launched, and made our way toward some little creek and mangrove to try to find our old friends Mr and Mrs Baramundi.

Mangrove lined creek.

This was a nice and quiet place, I started to attach a lure at the end of my line.

Brett told me: "Flick your lure just over there."

This I did, making my first cast of the day where I had been told to. Reeling in the lure, I was looking at the water, the trees the sky and everything in between, thinking that the holidays had been great, but that I had missed the noble art of angling, and more so, catching a fish.

This is when I felt a little bump like a dead weight on my line and started to think, oh no, I just arrived, first cast and I am already snagged, hopefully it is only in the mud...

Well it wasn't in the mud...

Because the water erupted, my line went out of my reel instead of coming back on it and a nice little piece of piscatorial chrome started to dance over the water. Doing numerous jumps and all. I was on! On my first cast of the day!

Oh yes I got excited, I wanted to laugh and be serious, I wanted to get this fish to the boat.

And in the boat it came.

First Barramundi after the holidays.

It wasn't a monster, but it was a sweet baby. It not only made me happy, but to me it proved if needed be, that Brett who will start to be a fishing guide next month, will be a very good guide. 

The fish was one cm too short, and was quickly put back in the water.

Our spirits started to fly high, we were in for a good day.

Well it did take a bit of time after that, before anything happens. 

But eventually, Brett started to scream Muddy! Mud Crab! Give me the spear!

It went a bit like: What where is the crab? Just give me the spear! Ok.

And voilas! Brett speared the beast and got really happy to have his dinner sorted out, with a nice big full Mud Crab.

Now, if only I could catch myself a fish big enough to eat...

Well it didn't take long after that, I got on my second Barra for the day, and once again simply by sending my lure swimming where Brett told me that it should be a good ambush spot for a Barramundi.

Second Barramundi of the day.

This was was of a better size, and as such it was not his lucky day, head first in the esky it went.

We both had our dinner in the cold box, from now on it would be just fun and games.

Well lucky that because the water started to be too low, the fish had disappeared and we couldn't find any more of them to play with us.

But the command for the spear came again and this time I knew what to do.

Even if I got a bit slow, and the crab nearly eluded capture, it was in the end harpooned and Brett had now not one but tow big crab for dinner.

Life was beautiful, we had been on the water for about three hours, the change of wind and the tide made us decide to call it a day. 

Low tide on the mangrove.

We headed for the bridge and the ramp:

The bridge over Elizabeth River.

This had been a great morning, and I was able to go home and nurse my jet lag with a good nap.

Thank you Brett for inviting me on your boat.

So yes, I had outfitted my skipper and this is a pretty rude thing to do. But to be honest, I got the fish, because he pointed them to me. Without this help I could very well have come back empty handed, like I have more than a few time in the past...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,
Me.

2016 Top End Barra Series Round 3.

Hi there,

A week ago the third round of the 2016 Top End Barra Series was taking place at Bynoe Harbour, here comes the tale of it.

• It was very hard fishing.
• I fished from two different boats over the weekend.
• I didn't come back home empty handed.

For the first day, I was fishing with Jason, who had never fished on Bynoe Harbour before.

Luckily for us, Brett gave us all the good information on how to catch a fish over there.

And did we put this knowledge to good use?

No we didn't...

We arrived early and full of confidence, to see a beautiful sunrise over the harbour:

Sunrise at the boat ramp.

From Six Pack Creek, we launched.

Zooming to our first point of attack. The place was already occupied, by some really keen anglers, who had beaten us to the spot.

We stood to the side and tried to get a fish, with no success. 

We moved from one spot to the other, but could not get a fish.

We finally went all around Turtle island, but for no results, once again.

Jason fishing at Turtle Island.

From there we went to try our luck in one of the numerous creeks of the harbour.

Where we didn't get anymore chance than before.

It was great to catchup with Jason, to enjoy a calm day of fishing, even if the day was hot and humid. 

The water was real flat, like a mirror.

Living the life!

the only fish I got on the day, were three little cods.

All released to grow bigger.

With not much to call home about, we decided that it had been a hot and long day, and to cut it short.

So at around 3:00pm, we were off the water, starting to roll back toward civilisation.

And just then, the rain started falling...

At this time of the year, we should have had a nice and cool weather, it should have been the dry season...

At home in the evening I called Brett, and told him how the day went.

He said, that tomorrow was going to be a day with some fish.

So Sunday, one quarter of an hour early, I was in front of his home, texting him to ask if he was still sleeping. Yes I was keen to go back on the water for a revenge against Mr and Ms Barramundi.

Light at the ramp was even better than on the previous day.

View from the boat ramp.

Once the light started to shine, we could see that the water was still like glass.

Not a ripple in view.

Cruising in the clouds.

Being a bit early for the Barra, we decided to go and try to hook a few Queenfish behind a small island.

There we didn't really see as many Queenfish as expected. But the light show was worth the journey.

Rising sun over Bynoe Harbour.

Brett and I had nearly as much trouble to find the fish than Jason and I had on the first day.

Yet we finally found some, hiding in very skinny waters, straight against the bank, between tree roots.

The first fish to swallow a lure, had grabbed Brett's offering. And what a show it gave us!

It was all over in about one or two second, but it will stay etched in my memory for a very long time.

The small lure swimming towards the boat.

The Barramundi following it, and engulfing it very close to the boat.

Turning straight away and breaking the line nearly at the same time.

The line clacked in a very sharp way, and I thought that the rod had broken.

Thankfully it was only the line.

Never had I seen that before, it was pure raw force. It didn't even look like the fish had made any effort, yet the line had broken like if it was made of the most fragile material.

On this, Brett decided to put a stronger leader on his line.

And it did pay off, for the first Barramundi of the weekend was caught.

First Barramundi of the weekend.

With Brett on the board, it should have been my turn to catch a fish.

But he had other ideas, and while I was constantly putting my lure in the trees branch, or snagging the tree roots. Because, yes, by this stage, I was getting too excited every times that we saw a fish. Sight casting to Barramundi, can be really entertaining. So while I was busy catching trees, Brett caught his second Barramundi:

Brett's second fish.

And the fish disappeared, and the action went down.

It started to look like I had totally missed my chance.

Slowly we were on the way of the ramp.

Casting lures towards any bank where we could see the bait being harassed, by what we estimated to be Salmon. 

At one stage right on the bank we saw once again the bait being very nervous and the splashing of a Threadfin Salmon.

We sent our lures flying in the direction of the action, for no avail.

Halfhearted I flicked my lure, and thought that it had fallen in the water way to short of where the commotion was taking place. Just reeling in the lure in a slow roll, I suddenly felt my line tense, and saw the rod bending. I was on, I had the Thready! Fighting the fish and reeling in, it was only once it was near the boat that we saw it and realised that it was a Barramundi.

I was so surprised that I nearly lost my ability to reel.

But after a little while, the fish was in the net, and all the effort of the weekend forgotten.

My Barramundi of the weekend.

Just like that, along a muddy bank, without any structure or snag, I had caught a nice little Barramundi. That little fish made me very happy, and by now I can also tell you that it tasted very good.

Alas, as it is often the case when fishing the time flew quick, and it was time to go home.

Boat going for the ramp.

It was a great weekend of fishing, thank you to Jason and Brett for having invited me  on their boats.

Leaving the fishing grounds.

Yes, I do hope to fish Bynoe Harbour again in the future.

This is the kind of place that can turn magic, when the condition for great fishing all aligns.

So as it has been said in the past: I'll be back.

Now it is true that I was thinking at the beginning of the weekend that I would have caught a lot more of Barramundi... Yet fishing is sometimes like that...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

2015 Top End Barra Series Round 4.

Hi there,

Over a month ago was the 4th round of the 2015 Top End Barra Series.
But illness, the visit of a relative from overseas, and starting a new job all got in the way. And now with the round five coming next weekend, I have totally forgotten what it was like in round four.
So?

• It was in Darwin Harbour.
• I fished with my good mate Brett.
• He did catch more and better fish than I.
• I caught my first flounder on a lure.

I remember Brett picking me up a bit later than usual, simply because this time we were to fish closer from home, and because of the tide.
I love fishing on Darwin Harbour, as it is a beautiful harbour, and it has a great biodiversity.
We launched from a boat ramp that I had never seen before. Where we saw some other participants in the TEBS.

View from the boat ramp on the first morning.

From the ramp we zoomed to a few different places, and finally moved to a spot where we had some fish last year. We decided to stay on the spot until the tide was going to change, hoping that the fish would turn on. They did not really turn on, but still we got a few little hits, and I even finally got my first Barramundi of the weekend, after casting just where Brett was saying that the fish might wait in ambush:

First little Barramundi of the weekend.

This little Barramundi was too small to be give me any point, but it showed us that we were in the right spot and that we could get lucky.

So we tried a bit longer, and this is where I got my first point scorer of the weekend:

Second Barra of the weekend.

This one wasn't a monster, but it made me sure that I was not on a donut for the round, and that was more than enough to make me happy.

But with no more action there, not even a sniff, we decided to move to another spot, not too far away.

There, we arrived once again full of optimism. 

But sadly the fish were not on the same wave length than us, and decided to avoid us as best as they could.

Yet I managed to get a fish that was just the legal size, and who gave me a few more points for the round:

My second point scorer of the weekend.

As luck would have it, this was to be my last point scorer of the weekend too.

Yet there was still some fun and surprises to be had. Even if all I got in this spot was a smallish Rock Cod, and Brett I think got a few small Barramundi, that were slightly too short to give him any point.

So we called it a day, and decided to go back home, have a rest and come back the following day with a vengeance.

Going back home after the first day.

On the way home we discussed the different options for the next day, wondering how we could improve our chances.

But finally decided to do the same, and the same we did:

Start of day two.

But this time we would get some fish.

Anyway, this was the plan.

Which at first did not really work. So we stopped for a little while, to have a chat with Kieran who was fishing solo:

Kieran in his new boat.

He too found it hard to get some fish, but already had done better than us.

After that we moved to another spot where Brett had got a really good fish last year...

And he did it again!

Brett with is first Barramundi for the round.

Yes this was a good fish. It also meant that from now on, none of us was on the dreaded donut for the round. Our spirits felt suddenly much lighter.

At the same spot, I got my first flounder on a lure.

Little flounder on a lure.

Yes it was rather on the small size, but that was more than enough to make me very happy, and surprised.

First I had never caught a flounder before, and more importantly, I didn't even know that they lived in our waters. This is another proof of the great range of animals living in Darwin harbour.

But with no more fish coming our way, apart a few small Trevally, and maybe a small Catfish, but not sure about that? We decided to quietly go home and call it a day...

But... 

On the way, Brett saw some fish boofing on the sand flat, and we went after them.

This is where Brett shined, and I did not much.

Brett second Barramundi.

Brett had just changed his lure to a lighter one, as we were fishing in very shallow water.

And nearly immediately caught a fish.

It didn't took him long to get another one:

Brett last Barramundi of the weekend.

Brett was doing well, and I was taking photo of fish, instead of catching them.

I remember that the sand flat were full of sharks, some even swam very close to the boat, and another one had a go at my lure.

But then the bite stopped in the blink of an eye, and we could not see any boof anymore.

We had just arrived at the right time, and Brett made the best of it.

So this time we really went back to the ramp.

At the ramp I saw a beautiful little crab swimming:

Small crab in the shallow.

We got the boat on the trailer, and once on Terra Firma I tried to put the strap on it...

Well, I am not the best at it... To the extent that I wasn't sure if Brett found it funny or tragic, but the later wouldn't surprise me. As this is what I would have thought myself...

Trying to strap the boat.

It was so bad, that after a few attempt Brett had to do it himself...

But to me it was still a great weekend fishing, with my mind away from the rest of the world.

Thank you Brett for inviting me on your boat.

Sorry that I could not give you more detail about how the round went, but my memory is not the one of a twenty years old anymore...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.