Two Reidy's Prototypes

Hi there,

I am showing you today, two soft plastic prototypes, from the reputed fishing lures company Reidy's.
Reidy's is an Australian fishing lures manufacturer, based in Darwin, Northern Territory. Their lures are very popular with Barramundi fishermen in the Top End of Australia, but are also gaining momentum on a national and international level.
All thanks to the dynamism of Colin, the director of Reidy's; and his team.

Well Colin was kind enough to visit me last evening, and gave me these two prototypes.
Yes they are prototypes, and might well go through a few modifications before being put on sale, yet they already look pretty good to me.
Do you want to see them?
Here they are:

Two Reidy's soft plastic prototypes.

On the first look, they look rather similar to the traditional rubbers from Reidy's, yet look at them a bit closer...

The first obvious thing is the size of the paddle at the end of the tail: it is enormous!

As such it should provide a deadly action, even in the slowest retrieve possible, or just on the drop.

Talking about the drop, the weight is lighter on these new lures. So they should have a slower dive speed, but still have good action on the dive, because of the previously mentioned big paddle finishing their tail.

Now the eyelet to put a stinger hook, under the chin of the lure, seems to be a bit larger than before too.

Here come two more photos:

Prototype in the Karens Pearl colour.

Prototype in a colour unknown to me.

Yes, the second one look a bit like the Yellow Belly colour, but with a see through belly...

I don't know much more about them, except that they have already been tested in Mackay, Queensland, where they proved very effective on big Barramundi.

Now, I can't wait to go and test them, and hopefully catch a nice Barra with them.

In how long will they hit the shelves of your favourite tackle shop?

No idea about that, honest.

Which is a pity, because I would love to get a full bag of them for the incoming season.

And I am afraid that they will not be fully ready and available before the run off...

Oh and please, be indulgent with the quality of the photos.

I was so excited about these lures, and wanted to do a post so urgently, that I just did the pictures with my phone instead of getting a proper camera...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

A Fat Little Barramundi.

Hi there,

I went fishing with Sarge, in the pursuit of some salt water Barramundi; and...

• We didn't get many fish.
• My biggest one was rather short.
• But it was fat, and that is a good sign for the year to come.

So Sarge and I had decided to go in the direction of Salt Water Arm, with the high ambition of catching ourselves a good feed of fresh Barramundi.

Oh how life can be deceptive some time.

We launched rather late in the morning, thinking that the low tide would be at around midday.

And that by then the fish would be on the chew.

That was a great plan; but it didn't turn out as we had expected.

The fish didn't want to play, or maybe were just too clever for us.

In fact Sarge got the first fish of the day, flicking his lure, and reeling it back, when he got a solid hit, but didn't stay connected. Yet before he got his lure back he got another hit!

but a very small one this time, and yes, it stayed hooked on.

The name of this fish started by Barra too, but it had the wrong ending...

It was a small fish, with big teeth:

The baby Barracuda.

It was a very cute little Barracuda, just a baby really.

And in the water it went back.

After that, it was a long time, of flicking lures, trolling lures and hoping that a fish would find one of our lures attractive... But no, we were like the pariah of the fishing world. The fish avoided our lures, with determination and constance; it started to become a tad frustrating.

So we moved toward a bank that we had not fished yet.

With the idea of changing tactic and to start flicking weedless soft plastic right in the snag.

Two things happened: I got the confirmation that weedless lures still get snagged; I lost a few.

And, we finally got hit by some fish!

In fact only on my third or fourth cast, I hooked and landed my first little Barramundi of the day!

Barramundi on weedless soft plastic.

It was only a very small Barramundi, but after all this flicking for nothing, it sure made me happy!

It was way too small to keep, and was promptly returned to his element: some brownish salt water.

With a renewed enthusiast, I flicked again, hoping for his big brother, or maybe even his big sister...

When not long after that, I was hooked to a fish again!

Got it in the boat, but it was about the same size. Rather than asking Sarge to take a photo of me holding it, I tried a selfie. So Sarge would not loose any precious fishing time. Especially now that we seemed to have found the right spot.

But I am not too good at selfie with a little live fish in my hand, and the pic doesn't really deserves to be shown... 

Then I lost my lure to a snag.

So I sat at the back of the boat to put a new leader on my line, and attach a new lure at the end of it.

Being focused on the task at hand, I forgot about Sarge casting his lure away to any snag that we passed. I forgot till I heard him say something a bit like: "Yes! Oh No! Expletive, expletive, expletive"...

He had just hooked and then lost a Barramundi that was a good 70cm...

He said that he saw it coming, and lazily boof his lure near the surface, turn around, and fight for a few second before spitting the lure.

That would definitively have been the fish of the day, but it was not to be.

So we continued to move along the same little bank, when I made a cast just between two submerged trees. But it was not a good cast. In fact I wanted to cast just next to one of the tree, and had cast spot on in the middle of the two trees... I silently cursed myself, but still tried to give a bit of action to the lure, as I was winding it back. When it was hit with a bang! A sudden hit, a big tail slapped the surface and dived down. I was thinking Barramundi, because I had seen the tail, but it was going down, giving head shake. Could it be a cod or a catfish?

It was definitively a bigger fish than the ones I had before.

Then it came to the surface, head and shoulder out of the water shaking it's big mouth: it was a Barramundi! And I called it for a good fish, he was strong and fast.

Sarge scooped it in the net, and I was impressed by how fat it was. Before realising that it wasn't that long after all.

My best Barramundi of the day.

It measured a rather small 59cm (23.228346 inches), but was fat and had some good shoulder. Which might explain why he had fought above it's size. This was my first, (and was going to be the only) of legal size for the day, so in the esky it went.

I was happy, it was no giant; but I had a feed for my little family.

I am no Barramundi expert, still I do hope that a short but fat Barramundi is a sign of a good year in front of us. Last year the Barramundi were not that fat early in the season.

Or at least, not the ones I caught.

Not long after that, we had to call it a day.

And a great day it had been, thank you Sarge for inviting me on your boat.

Yes, I know, one lonely fish to bring back home might not look like much to some of you...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

A Billabong In The Middle Of Nowhere.

Hi there,

Seano gave me a phone call early in the morning and asked me if I wanted to go fishing in a billabong in the middle of nowhere...
I said yes!

• It was in the middle of nowhere.
• We did get some fish.
• We got all of our fish on weedless soft plastic lures.
• it was a great day.

Want to read the full story?

Here it is then:

On a face book group Seano said that he was thinking of going fishing if he could find a deckie.

I said: "Pick Me!"

He called me and it went a bit like this:

Are you ready, can I come to pick you up now?

No! I haven't had a shower yet!

Ok, then, I will be at your place to pick you up in half an hour, we are going billabong fishing.

Quick quick, a shower, getting the tackle bag ready with gear for billabong fishing.

The phone rang again: "Hey Mate, I am in from of your place"

I walk out, with my fishing gear, and a plate with two toast and scramble eggs on it.

And off we go for a new fishing adventure. 

Eating my breakfast on the way.

In the bush, in the middle of nowhere we drove.

Don't ask me where exactly. I would honestly not be able to answer, I was too busy looking at the landscape. Half dreaming about all the fish we were going to catch, to be able to notice any direction that were were taking.

Driving through the bush to go fishing.

We finally arrived at about midday to our chosen location and launched the boat.

Boat ramp?

What boat ramp?

Launch site.

The billabong was beautiful, and not another boat in sight:

A billabong just for us.

It was the middle of the day, and experience would have dictated the use of diver lures, not surface lures...

But once again, being who I am, I decided to just have a few cast with the cool looking surface lure that Brett gave me a few week ago. You know, just to see how it swims and all...

Second cast with it, a little Barramundi boofed my surface lure, I jumped in surprise, but the fish didn't connect.

Now that was a promising sign if ever there had been any.

We were going to catch some fish! Was the thing that we started to think...

Well yes we did, maybe not cricket score of them, but enough to have a great day on the water.

Any way, after a few more cast of the surface lure, I decided to fish in earnest, and to put a weedless soft plastic, to cast at the snags.

We got a few hits, saw a few fish, and...

I was on! 

After an average cast toward some Pandanus roots, I can suddenly feel and see my line tense, I strike and it begins.

The fish quickly came to the surface, jumped and I can see that it is a Saratoga, a beautiful fish that I really like to fish for.

It start to do all the things that Saratoga are known for. It move in a snake like fashion, it jump and try to bury me in the snags. Luckily for me this one is not too big and I get it to the boat.

First fish of the day.

After a quick snap, it was released, healthy and strong.

As you can see by the size of the lure compared to the fish, they were hungry in this billabong.

Just wait a bit for the weather to warm up a bit, and it might turn crazy in there.

We then both got a few miss, dropsy all around.

Then Seano cast between some submerged branches and got a hit, but failed to connect.

So I sent my lure in roughly the same spot, and I am on!

Once again, the fish hit the lure on the drop.

Simple technic really: cast your soft plastic, let it drop to the bottom. Give it a few flick rewind a bit of line, let it drop to the bottom, and repeat. It is on the drop, while the line is slightly slack, that I see it suddenly going straight and changing direction. I quickly raise my rod tip, start to smile, and be happy.

As we were working some rather short distance cast, the tussle is not too long, but still very exciting, and I find myself with another Saratoga in my hands.

Second Saratoga for the day.

This was a better fish than the first one, and it made me very happy.

Which is good, as it was going to be my last one for the day!

I was just starting to feel bad, that I was on Seano's boat and catching more fish than him...

I should not have worried, because from now on he was going to shine, and get all the fish.

The first fish that Seano got, was a Sooty Grunter.

I had read and heard a lot about the Sooty Grunter, but was yet to see one in the flesh.

Sometimes it the simple things in life,  for me, finally seeing one made the day even better.

The Sooty Grunter.

This one was as fat as a footy, and it went back in the drink, to get even fatter.

And hopefully we will meet again one day.

It then became Barra Time!

Seano got two of them in a row, little ones some of you might say, but a fish is a fish, especially when it is a Barramundi.

First little Barramundi of the day.

Last Barramundi for the day.

I think that by then Seano was a bit tired of me alway wanting to take pictures of fish that he would consider not worthy. But hey, it was a Barra!

After Barra time, it didn't become Hammer Time, but it went full circle, and we, or I should say, Seano, got back in the Saratoga. While I got back at taking pictures.

Seano's first Saratoga for the day.

And it didn't take long after that for the last Saratoga, and last fish, of the day to come onboard.

Last fish of the day: Saratoga!

We were happy anglers, we had spend a few hours catching fish on an isolated billabong, far from the crowds that you sometimes find on the popular billabongs. The shadows were starting to grow longer, and we decided that it was time to go home.

End of the day on the billabong.

We did run ingot some trouble to get out of the billabong.

The trailer got stuck against a step in the mud. We had to actually skull drag the boat on the bank and then put the trailer under it.

One of the hand rail from the boat got ripped off the gunwale while the boat was dragged out of the water, but luckily, no one was injured, which is the most important.

Driving throughout the bush, we made a quick stop, so I could make a photograph of the sunset:

Australia, you are beautiful!

Sunset over the Australian bush.

To recap, it was a great day, discovering some new fishing location. Seeing a new specie of fish that I had never seen yet. Good company, good laugh, good fishing, what else could make a great Sunday?

Thank you for the invitation Seano.

Oh yes, I did get totally out fished once again...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

2013 Top End Barra Series Round 5.

Hi there,

Not long ago the fifth round of the 2013 Top End Barra Series took place on the very picturesque Corroboree Billabong, not very far from Darwin.

Nomad was not sure if his boat would be fixed in time for the round, so I was very lucky to be offered a spot on Peter's boat.
It was still dark when Muntzy picked me up, and on the road to the billabong we went, To catch up with Peter and Dingo at the boat ramp, picking up Dean on the way.

Last year round at Corroboree, had been an absolute fishing failure for me.
With just a minuscule Catfish caught in two days of very heavy fishing. I had not hooked a single Barramundi, and had been hit by countless Saratoga, but could not stay connected to a single one of them. For a full year, I had been waiting, to take my revenge... And more than anything else, I wanted to catch a few Saratoga, and if possible a good one.
Well, yes, for me during this round, it was going to be the year of the Saratoga.

Arrived at the ramp, before we launched the boats, in the morning light, Dingo gave me the Tonic Sunglasses that I had won for a photograph that I had made in the previous round.
The sunglasses, were going to prove themselves to be very helpful during the weekend.
They are great,  simply the best fishing sunglasses I ever had.

We went straight to the Rock Hole, to do a bit of trolling first thing.

The Rock Hole in the morning.

I love the place, it is beautiful, with always a lot of wildlife to look at.

Other competitors were doing the same thing:

Trolling along the Pandanus.

Trolling a hard body lure along the pandanus, is a great way to get into some good Barramundi.

The technic worked fort the boat in the above photograph, as it caught the biggest Barramundi of the weekend.

It even worked for us, but not on the Barramundi front...

Peter and the first fish of the weekend for our boat.

In no time Peter got a hit and we got excited... He reeled in a little Catfish, yes, there is a lot of them in the waters of the billabong. But a fish is a fish, and we, or at least I was very happy, as I believed that this was proof that we were onto a fishy patch.

Well it would be a bit of time before the next fish.

Between the first one and the second one, we were lucky enough to spot a rather large buffalo, having a bit of a bath at the water edge.

Water Buffalo having a chill out time.

And not long after, Peter got a Tarpon:

Peter's first Tarpon.

This was Peter first ever Tarpon, and it is alway very satisfying to catch a new specie.

The mood was on the happy side of things.

Then, one more time, it was going to be a few hours before we get some fish on boards again.

To the extant, that we had a mini raft up with three or four other boats, chatting away, talking fishing and general fisher people's banter. All the while most of us were flicking lures towards the bank. Many of my friends, got hit by fishes, but none of them boated a fish on this occasion. I was the only one, to not get a single hit, this seemed very wrong to me. Most of them had already earlier in the day, caught either a Saratoga, a Barramundi or any other fishes that live in these landlocked waters.

But not me, I was yet to get a single hit, and was starting to question my choice of lure.

After spending so long thinking of a technic that would help me to have a better hookup rate than last year, I decided to stick to it a bit longer. 

That may have been my wisest move of the weekend.

As the raft up disintegrated itself, with everyone going in opposite directions, to get on with the business of catching some fish. Just our boat and Nomad's boat, which had been fixed just in time to enter the round, were still tied together, and as we drifted to the other side of the billabong. Peter, Nomad and I exchanging jokes about anything and everything, with me being the only one still casting my fishing lure around.

This is when I got my first Barramundi of the weekend, while I was targeting the mighty Saratoga:

My first Barramundi of the weekend.

They both said that it was rude of me, to catch a fish while we were having a deep and meaningful conversation... Of course I did not share their point of view...

The fish was 61cm (24.015748 inches), not really a giant, but it was one of the mystery sizes of the event. So it won me a prize!

Seeing that I had caught a fish, both Nomad and Peter started to fish too, and Nomad got a Saratoga!

This was a nice fish, and made us think that it was time to take things a bit more seriously, so we untied the boats and fished in earnest.

I got another hit, I hooked up and I then reeled in a new personal best for me. But it was not a Barramundi or a Saratoga. No, it was the biggest Archerfish I had ever caught.

A rather nice Archerfish.

I don't know if it was pure greed, or territorial or familial protection that pushed this fish to hit my lure, but seeing the size of the lure, compared to the size of the fish, I was in admiration for it's determination.

After three fishes had been caught in the same area, we though that we were on the right spot at the right time, and decided to work it a bit longer. This resulted in a fish that made me very happy, my first Saratoga of the weekend.

My first Saratoga of the weekend.

Yes it was a Barramundi competition, but I really wanted a Saratoga. And in fact, there was also prizes for the best Saratoga of the round. Secretly, I hoped to get one of the top three Saratoga of the event.

The first one was a good one, but I thought that I needed better for that.

So I persevered, and got a second one! Albeit a bit smaller.

A smaller Saratoga.

This one was smaller, but started to make me think that I might be able to catch another one, that would hopefully be better. Still casting in the lilies, I got a hit, it connected and it pulled stronger. Was this the big Saratoga that I was pinning for? It jumped out of the water, and I could see that it wasn't, yet it was exciting nonetheless: it was a Barra!

A little Corroboree Billabong Barramundi.

At only 48cm (18.897638 inches), it was 2cm short to be a point scorer... I felt a bit like sitting on it, to see if that would make it longer, but instead, released it to grow a bit more for the next time.

This was fun fishing, getting the fish out of the lilies, on a soft plastic lure. I am more of a hard bodies lures type of guy. But flicking a lure among the lilies and Pandanus roots, I felt a lot more comfortable with a weedless soft plastic lure.

By then it was late in the afternoon, nearly evening and we decided to catch up with other people participating in the round, to see where the night raft up would be. With the time that it took us to find them, and to join the ones who had already started to raft up, it was night time.

Food was eaten, tales were told, and the party started.

All I will say, is that some loud music was played, and some multi-coloured  disco lights were seen. 

it must have been past midnight by the time I fell asleep. And the music was still going strong, lucky, there is not too many neighbours on the water...

It was a good raft-up, with enough boats to keep it alive.

Some coming and leaving as the night progressed.

But soon enough, it was morning, and the call for action sent some very tired fisherman, in search of their prey.

The morning on the billabong is always a sight to admire.

View from the boats before the rising sun.

DUO pocopoco  and sunrise over Corroboree Billabong.

With its matinal warmth, the sun finally came up, before grilling us for the rest of the day.

Quickly, I rigged my line, with the same lure that had worked on the previous day, a weedless Gulp soft plastic.

Weedless Gulp soft plastic.

Not only I usually prefer to fish with hard bodies than soft plastics, but to top it up, the Gulp really stinks. From all the soft plastic that I have ever used, they are certainly the ones with the worst smell. Yet  one of the main reason I wanted to used them, is that they are biodegradable. Having read about the destructive power of the Saratoga bony mouths, I thought that if they were to destroy my lures these ones would left less, if none pollution in the billabong water.

As a bonus, they proved to be very effective, for me on this occasion.

On the Sunday morning, we started to troll, on the edge of the water lilies. I could not resist and stepped   on the cast deck at the front of the boat, and began to flick again, straight in the lilies and other snags. 

While I had a rod trolling a hard body at the back of the boat.

As my trolling lure from the Saturday had not produced any results, I changed and put a little lure that had been offered to me by Peter Z.

And it worked I got a fish! it is just that, it was another Catfish...

Catfish on the Tilsan.

This was going to be the only fish I caught on a hard body and on the troll for the full weekend. All my other fish had been caught on a soft plastic, casting towards the Pandanus roots or in the lilies.

It was definitively exciting fishing.

And yes the Saratoga were on again:

I love fishing for Saratoga.

Double portrait.

We saw a few very large crocodiles during the weekend, and tried to alway be on the lookout for them.

One of them swam past not very far from the boat, but by the time I got my camera ready it was well past us.

Corroboree Billabong crocodile.

Then I got one of these little fish that I really like.

A Mouth Almighty, this is a rather small fish, but with great character.

It is a mouth brooder, the male keep the eggs in it mouth to protect them.

When Barramundi are very young and small, it is one of their worst nightmare, but as soon as the Barramundi become bigger, the roles changes, and Mr Barra then feast on the poor little Mouth Almighty.

And here is mine:

Mouth Almighty or Glossamia aprion.

Despite their small size, they are considered a very good table fish. But I let him go, he was a nice little fella.

Peter, had decided that he didn't want to fish anymore, and was very happy to just steer the boat around, driving me to the best spot, so I could fish, enjoy the moment, and hopefully get to upgrade my fish from Saturday to a better one. This was very kind of him, and I asked him a few time if he wanted us to go back to Darwin. To which he alway replied that no, he was having a great time too, just sailing the billabong. It is true that it is a very beautiful place.

Then I got another Saratoga:

Little Saratoga.

And I finally caught a better Saratoga, which I was hoping would get me in the top three biggest Saratoga of the weekend:

My biggest Saratoga so far.

This was my personal best Saratoga, at 72cm (28.346457 inches).

I know that they can grow much bigger, but this one was in fact going to be big enough to be the biggest of the round! It won me a prize too, this was two prizes for the round. It was a long time that I had won a prize for catching a fish, so two in the same weekend made me more than happy.

And also the fact that I finally had a revenge on the Saratoga that had proven so elusive to me last year.

I was indeed, very happy.

As a little extra, I then managed to catch a little Sleepy Cod:

Sleepy Cod from the Billabong.

This is another excellent eating fish, but I let it go too.

It made me happy that between Peter and I we had caught such a mixed bag of fishes. It shows that the system is very healthy, with a wide variety of fish living in it.

But by then, it was nearly mid afternoon, so we decided to catch up with other participants, for a little chat, and see what they had caught. We saw Moz, who had caught all his fish of the weekend, with his home made fishing lures. This was a great effort, and demonstrated the quality of his work.

We then left them fishing and headed for the ramp, then the road towards home.

On the road again.

This in my books, will stay as a great weekend. 

Thank you Peter, for the invitation to fish from your boat, I had a ball!

Even if, yes I know, I have done the rude thing of out fishing my skipper...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

2012 Top End Barra Series Round 1.

Hi there,

Last weekend was the first round of the 2012 Top End Barra Series, and it was taking place on the great Daly River.
As for last year, each round will last for two days, a full weekend.
But I was not able to fish the complete weekend, as my little one got real sick and had to be taken to the hospital in the week prior to the event. So I wanted to spend the Saturday with her, to make sure that all was well.
Satisfied with her condition, I fished on the Sunday, and this is how it went...

It was no gentlemen hour start, my pick up time was 3:45 am, not an hour to leave your beloved alone in a warm  and comfy bed...
But someone had to go fishing, and the hope and anticipation were high when Arrabmundi arrived with the car and boat in tow, and we were quickly on our way.
I have been fishing on the Daly River only 3 or 4 times before, and this is a place that I really like.
It is a large and strong river, full of fishes and other animals.
Where the fishing during the run off can be magical.

We arrived with the rising sun, to find a river totally flooded, with water at a height that I was yet to see on the banks of this famous river. Never I had seen so many water on the Woolianna boat ramp.

Water nearly to the top of the ramp.

And the river is known to flood a lot more, it is even a rather dry year for it so far...

So we decided to zoom on the water, destination the fishing ground.

The Daly River.

We caught up with some of the competitors, some of them had spent the night in their boat, in the hope to catch more fish... It didn't work for some, and they looked tired and ready to call it a day. But the rumor on the water was that a crew had a great session and got forty fish from one single spot during the night.

We didn't know what to believe, the ones that told us that the water was too cold and that no fish were to be caught, or the ones that bragged numerous and large fishes...

Some of the fishermen that we talked to, had a very tired face, and looked like they had been partying all night on the river...

So we started to look for our own honey spot, and found a nice little drain, with a bit of a colour change in the water coming out from it.

Arrabmundi said that any drain could be worth a few investigative casts, and we started to cast in this very small channel. 

It was still morning, and between the early rise and the drive to the river, I have to confess that I was half asleep, half daydreaming and casting the best I could in there...

When just a few metres from the boat my line suddenly tensed for a fraction of a second and a nice Barramundi Jumped clear of the water, without any lure in its mouth, and disappeared in the cafe latte coloured water...

This happened so fast and without warning that it really gave me a jolt, and I was suddenly well awake, on full alert. Arrabmundi got a good laugh, and me too, in retrospect.

In the very same spot, we nearly got our revenge, when just a few cast latter, it is Arrabmundi who scared a fish by dropping a lure on its back, and this fish too leaped out of the water.

But this was to be our most exciting action for the morning, which was going to be nice and warm...

The heat was starting to making itself felt, when a welcome small shower of rain came to refresh us.

After what we had our lunch and started again to look for some elusive fishes...

We went as far as the river side of Palmerston Island, it was a beautiful place, but none of us had been that far on the river before, and we decided to make our way back up. Towards some fishing ground that we would recognise. 

We zigzagged up the river, going from one side to the other, each time that we spotted a little creek to explore.

It was all very nice, but the fishes didn't really want to play...

Arrabmundi finally got a 62 cm Barramundi in the boat, we had avoided the big fat doughnut!

We hoped that with the turn of the tide, maybe they would be back on the chew.

In the mouth of a little creek, my lure got snagged to a line under water, we pulled it and a brand new soft plastic from a very famous brand was still attached to it.

Now, I do not know if you are like me, but to me,  often a found lure is a lucky lure...

So I put it on one of my rods, and every time that I was to use a soft plastic, I would use it.

We finally arrived to the place where we saw Bandit, Lincoln and Rossco in the morning, by now they were gone. So we decided to try this spot. 

As in the morning  When we saw them they were all fishing with soft plastic I decided that this would be the go in this location.

Another boat was there and they said that they didn't got anything and left...

Big mistake...

Not long after they left, I finally got connected to my first Barramundi of the day!

Not a huge one, but it was giving a fair fight for its size. Staying down and not jumping, he came to the surface, head first, just to have a look at us, must have found us pretty ugly and dived straight back down.

But this fish was very close to the boat and I started to feel the excitement of victory running through me...

Do not count your chicken before they are hatched they said...

They were right!

This fish which by all mean wasn't a monster fish, quite simply bent the hook of this lure that I had found...

This was not a lucky lure after all, as the fish just swam away before being netted...

And to think that this was a lure designed for Barramundi fishing...

Dejected, I put an old faithful Reidy's rubber on, a 5 inch in the Green Tigger colour, and it worked!

I finally landed my first fish of the day, it must have been around 3:30pm, and we had been fishing since around 7:00 am...

On the board!

It wasn't a big fish, but it put me on the board and we now had a fish each to our name.

The spirits went back right up!

It was a 56cm (22.047244 inch) Barramundi, and he had in him the fight of a much bigger fish.

The proof of it, is what it did to my brand new lure:

Where is the plastic?

Yes it totally destroyed the lure.

But still, I let him go, as at 56 cm, he was still a young fella, in need to see the world.

Then I put my last one of these on my line and started again.

And in no times, I got snagged...

I could feel that it must have been snagged on a submerged branch, and not on a rock or big log. 

I tried every tricks that I know, and finally got the lure free.

Happy to feel my swimming again, I gave it a good jerk to try to get it away of the snag as quick as I could...

And at the end of the jerking motion, something happened. Something pulled ferociously on my line.

And a nice Barramundi jumped out of the water, with my lure deep in its mouth.

It must have been attracted by the commotion in the snag, or been sitting just under it, and when I gave a quick jerk to the free lure, it must ave pounced on it thinking that it was a bait fish trying to flee.

This one was a better fish, not enormous yet, but able to take some line with not too much problems, he quickly came to the rear of the boat to launch itself in the current, to turn it to its advantage.

Half laughing half panicking I asked Arrabmundi to get the net ready, which he promptly did...

As the fish came back toward the boat it was quickly netted and a few yahoo escaped from our enthusiasm! Only once the net and fish were on the deck, did we realise that a lure that was lying around in the boat had the hook stuck in the outside of the net's mesh and had taken a dip and was now sitting back in the boat. It was rather lucky that we didn't loose this lure.

But this fish, how big was it?

Big like that!

My best fish of the day.

At 72 cm (28.346457 inch) this was to be my best Barramundi for the day.

But one again my lure was destroyed in the fight.

This fish I kept for the esky.

I had to put a smaller one, in another colour, and it resulted only in some missed hits and a 47cm (18.503937 inch) Barra. Still it was fun to get all these hits.

I did get a fish that could have been a point scorer, but just at the edge of the boat, it jumped sent the lure flying on the right, while he went on the left. 

Then it nearly ended well has he landed on the boat gunwale but it went horribly wrong and he bounced back in the water... 

Lucky bugger of a fish!

Arrabmundi got another Barramundi, on a soft plastic from KO Tackle.

Last Barramundi of the day.

At 54 cm (21.259843 inch) it was a point scorer in this comp., so it was measured, photographed and set free. 

This fish was caught on a soft plastic made by KO Tackle, a new Australian brand of fishing tackle.

I had never seen their product, but now after seeing them in action, I want to get a few of their lure to try them.

We stayed there a little more, but soon it was time to go back home, as we still had a long road ahead of us.

So we opened a packed of crisps, two drinks and started our way back up river in direction of the boat ramp. 

In the evening light with the rain approaching, the river now empty from most of the people who had cruised it earlier was a fantastic sight.

On the Daly River.

This is a great place, and I do hope that it will not suffer from over development in the future.

This is the kind of place that makes you feel alive and makes you want to come back, again and again.

Then as we were at the boat ramp, I was left in charge of holding the boat while Arrabmundi was going to get the car. Just before living me there he said: "And don't get eaten by a croc!"

Just what I needed... I took in my hand the rope at the front of the boat, and walked back as high as I could on the hill, as fare as I could of the water. There was no slack in this rope, believe me.

And then he came back, reversed the trailer and just waded in the water to attach the boat...

And then it was the road again back to Darwin...

On the road again.

Most of the trip back home was spent trying to revive the adrenaline rush that we had when the fishes bit the lure... 

To me this was another great day fishing on a very beautiful river.

Thanks Arrabmundi for taking me aboard your boat, once again.

Now, how did I score in this first round of the Top End Barra Series?

Well I ended up 16 on the overall scoreboard. 

This is far from the first ones, but considering that we fished only on one day of the two days round, I and still happy with that.

Even if I still don't have a Metery with my name on it...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.