NT or the DAMS

[Gordie]

I have a lot of trouble on this site, I am much better with a bait caster than a keyboard.

We live in SE Qld. Just thought I would pass on some of my experiences with Barra fishing.

A few years ago my Wife and I had a caravan holiday up the centre to NT and Darwin. Great place. We were advised to go to the Daly River for the best Barra fishing.

Loved the place. My Wife out fished me her Barra was 10 mm longer than mine.
What the hell, I was hooked.

We came home I hung up my Alveys and bought my first Bait caster.

After 2 years I convinced a mate to come back with me, so we flew up , hired a car and back to the Daly.

We found 10 M of flood water. Exciting stuff. We had to go 40 k down to the mouth to find the tide and the Barra.

Logs and Crocs floating past on the flood. Dont put your hands in the water, dont walk into the long grass for a pee. Sharks chasing the Barra as you are trying to net them. (They fight a bit but not that hard.)

My mate out fished me with a 1 M Barra, mine was 90 cm. Lost a few caught a few. Loved the place, frontier country.

I have a photo of me holding a barra that cost around 2.5 grand.

I now fish Monduran. The Barra are big, heaver, stronger. The last one towed my tinnie around for a few minutes before it was landed.

In the dams you can swim to retrieve your lures, drink the water with out having your face rearranged by a croc. Walk the shores, which I love, flicking lures into likely spots and have a swim on those hot days.

I like to head to the top of Monduran, right up into the sticks and find the spot where on white man has ever been. ( still looking for that spot )

The impoundments cost less to fish from SE Qld. If I could afford it I would do both. I release nearly all. I just love to be fishing. As I say to a mate A bad day fishing is better than a good day at golf.

I hope I have put up some interesting stuff that has not been said before. I may have helped some one to save a few grand, but it may cause you to look at the north. It wont be there forever.

International visitors are arriving all the time to catch our Barra and the fisheries are counting the number of fish taken. Probably to control it one day.

Regards Gordon

[Dan5]

Mate this year will be a corker of a run off they have had plenty of rain in the Territory and all in the right place's and early enough to get the bait breeding.I lived there for 15 or so years and 12 month's ago moved to Cairns and have missed the barra fishing ever since,i'm planning a trip to go home at the end of april for 10 day's.There's nothing like fishing for wild fish in a wild river,i love it!!

Cheer's Dan...........

[robersl]

Hey gordon
I have never fished the fresh water dams here in s/e qld however like you it would be cheaper for me but i got the bug to go to darwin and this year is no different i am booked for the south alligator river 20/25 april yes it does cost a bit but worth it on my first trip there a few years ago i was coupled with a gent from texas (usa not qld) and we have both been back together since. this year will be our third year in a row ,i cringe at the expense coming from brisbane to darwin but my mate comes from the usa on a 36 hr flight gets in the night before we go then hops back on a plane to the usa the night we get back si i can not complain, and this year i will go up a couple of days early and i am doing an overnight deepsea trip to the tiwi islands or the perron islands depending on the weather, i leave at 3am sat get back 7pm sunday and go to kakadu at 5am monday.
while in darwin we only keep 1 barra a trip that we have cooked up for us at the hotel all other fish are released.

shane

[the_matrix]

Gordon,
Thanks for sharing your experiences mate, thats a great read and funnily enough one I have just covered for an upcoming edition of Barra Bass and Bream.

I too love these dams, they are easy on your gear, are full of big fish and its much safer to fish here without costing a fortune. You can bring the kids, the wife, even grandma and catch a fish of a lifetime.

In saying all that, in my opinion its got nothing on the Territory.
Your post stirred all those emotions, things like crocs, the opressive heat, the dangers.............all adventure and two days are never the same.
That stuff brings the kid out in me, Ive had plenty of crap dam sessions but the Territory has never let me down. If the fish were off, the crocs, birdlife and nature in full swing was on, so I am always amused.

The fish?
I am the opinion that saltwater fish are much more powerful than dam fish, particuarily the metre plus models. The local saltwater population around Gladstone prove that to me every time I go.
They are thoroughbred , while I reckon dam fish are candidates for the biggest loser Nah just jokes they too fight impressively but they lack the stamina of their saltwater cousins.

As you state, you just love to be fishing. Me too, its why I moved from NSW so I could be close to Awoonga and fish it every day if I chose (which more often than not I do).
Its an amazing fishery that has so many faces, so many pitfalls yet so many redeeming features its almost impossible not to go back.
Bit like the Territory, yet nowhere near as intense.

I love these dams, but my heart is in the North(and with the species) any chance I get Im there.
Infact any chance I get to fish for Barra, I am there.
They are an incredibly addictive species.

The thing about the North is its not just about the fishing up there, its an experience that livens the senses.
If your a barra dam hound, you need to see the other side to fully appreciate what dams offer, and what they dont. Just as Gordon has.
Thanks for your awesome post and your experiences, one of the better posts I have read recently.
Cheers
Jas

[Magella]

Thanks Gordon,
Thought back memories to me of the NT as I spent 2 years in Kakadu,with just on 18 months working as a tour guide for an aborginal company. This meant I fished and saw a lot of places and things the average person never gets to experience. It is Gods country and I would recomend everyone who fishes try and get there at lest once, not only for the fishing but the crocs,scenery,people and whole NT
way of life, you will love it.
But untill I get back there its only 20km to one of best barra fishing spots I know.

Cheers Foxie

[wheezer]

orinally from FNQ, given the chance wild barra trumps impoundment barra every time for me. As Jas said above, its not just the fishing, its the whole experience. last wild barra trip was a week up in cape york last year...just me and a few mates in the wilderness...no contact with the outside world. can't wait to get back there next month as soon as the tracks dry out a bit!

[NAGG]

Being from NSW .... I'll take both ( yet to fish NT .... but fish FNQ annually)

Personally .... I get a buzz from fishing for both. I see them as nearly two different fish ...... which present completely different challenges . ..... So much so that we fish for Salties one day & could be fishing for impoundment fish the next! I certainly don't see this changing real soon. ( Already planning the next trip to FNQ later this year ..... with some impoundments on the way there & back)
Nagg

[the_matrix]

Personally .... I get a buzz from fishing for both. ..... So much so that we fish for Salties one day & could be fishing for impoundment fish the next! I certainly don't see this changing real soon. ( Already planning the next trip to FNQ later this year ..... with some impoundments on the way there & back)
Nagg

Nagg,
A few of us in Gladstone, and I mean a few, fish for Dam fish and salt fish the same day pretty often, and metre salt and metre fresh captures is a common occurance.
Yep, we are lucky in Gladstone, very lucky indeed. Its why I live here
Cheers
Jas

[NAGG]

Nagg,
A few of us in Gladstone, and I mean a few, fish for Dam fish and salt fish the same day pretty often, and metre salt and metre fresh captures is a common occurance.
Yep, we are lucky in Gladstone, very lucky indeed. Its why I live here
Cheers
Jas

Thanks Jas ...... Rub it in
Nearly a 3000km round trip to get to your waters ( leaving next Tuesday morning )

Cheers

Nagg

PS .... You Queenslanders need to develop a larger plastic industry

[BR65]

give me the territory any day, tied off fishing a creek mouth while 15 foot of croc is eyeing you off, waiting for you to make a mistake, in wicked heat and humidity, awesome.
One of my favourite barra moments was landing a small 60cm salty on a popper at the mouth of a drain up the Wyleman River, there were multiple fish boofing bait right on the edge of the colour change, on the opposite side of the drain were the slide marks from a big handbag we had just disturbed.
Impoundment barra fishing, love it, but it cant compare to the territory
cheers
brian

[Dan5]

give me the territory any day, tied off fishing a creek mouth while 15 foot of croc is eyeing you off, waiting for you to make a mistake, in wicked heat and humidity, awesome.
One of my favourite barra moments was landing a small 60cm salty on a popper at the mouth of a drain up the Wyleman River, there were multiple fish boofing bait right on the edge of the colour change, on the opposite side of the drain were the slide marks from a big handbag we had just disturbed.
Impoundment barra fishing, love it, but it cant compare to the territory
cheers
brian

Yep there's nothin like it,tied up out front of magella crk mouth listining to the boofing all around waiting for the mullet to come up river with the tide change,casting popper's accross the surface and having a near heart attack when they hit.Croc's trying to grab your fish,mozzie's draining your blood ahh the serenity...............Can't wait untill April.......home again to do some real fishin.

Cheers Dan.................

[BR65]

ahh yeah, nearly forgot about the mossies, big enough to pick you up and fly off home with ya, mean enuf to do it for fun, thank god for bushmans

[wamjam]

Few freinds and I had 10 days in FNQ fishing from the mouth of a river right up into the tops of the creeks ,best fun.
Best part I liked was the variety of fish ,youd be casting some sticks or logs and a 20lb grouper or cod would follow your lure out to the boat and just eyeball it for a few seconds before inhaling it and take it back to his log with you on the end trying to stop him.
Or you would see a bit of a bow wave coming along the bank so you grab the rod with the fizzer on it and throw out and have some fun with a queeny zigzagging behind the lure, didnt matter if you caught it, funny as.
Then there is the jacks no need to say anything about them.
As you get back to camp you see birds diving the water so out come the metals and when you are getting sick of the queenys and small trevally and the sun is nearly touching the water ,stick a big fizzer or a popper on and get your arms streched by some GT's.
Not hard to get sleep after a few beers and tea.
We are going into the Gulf this year hope its as good. Five days in the salt and five in the fresh.
Great to read the NT and FNQ storys
wamjam

[NAGG]

I definitely want to tow my boat up to Darwin & surrounds to fish the run off ...... I just need to get the courage up of my crew ...... & do it ( nothing like having your own boat) ....... Maybe this time next year

Nagg

[wamjam]

Just do it Nagg ,the positives way outdo the negs. Do your planning and youl have ball.
wamjam