Limmen bight river

[scott_b]

Gday all
Frends and I are going to the limmen bight river on the 13 sep .Would like any advise on barra fishing and if anyone would no about the reefs off the river mouth. eg if they exist or how far out ,how big. Thanks ???

[clutter]

Wamjam,
Two mates from work came back from there just last week. Had a good trip but not as good as other years though. They go every 2 years.
I'm told there is stacks of reef not far from the river mouth and you get just about whatever you want. Think they said they caught over 20 species. As for the barra, there were plenty but no real huge ones, up to about 15-20lbs.
There are 2 camps, 26km and 32km from the river mouth. If you need to know a bit more about the place, there is a book called North Australian Fish Finder, get it at the newsagent. Its got a basic map of the place and a brief outline with some phone numbers for contact there.
I'll see if I can get some more info from the boys and post it tomorrow.
Cheers Clutter

[scott_b]

Thanks Clutter
for the info im about 50 times keener after reading that.We have been planning to go for 12 months not long now.
Thanks again wamjam.

[clutter]

wamjam,
Spoke to Peter today at work. He's going to get me a copy of a map of the area he got up there. Shows where to go, where the banks, rocks etc are. They camped at the 26km camp. Said he's heard of the 32km camp but in all their times going up there have not been able to find it.

The reef is straight out from the mouth of the river. There is an island about 2-3 km out from the mouth and another a further 2km or so after that. Fish anywhere and everywhere.

Couple of tips he did mention. The trip is real hard on the trailers. Check you have good pins (split) in the roller shafts, some of theirs wore through on the way and they lost a couple of rollers. Also give the trailer a good going over, what may seem a small rusty bit may not stand up to the pounding. Also, cover and tape every oriface on your motor eg. tell tale hole, exhaust, air intake etc. The dust is that fine it will get in anywhere and when it does, being so fine it can compact down pretty well and clog things up.

Will get in contact when I get the map. Hope this helps, Clutter.

[Big_O]

Wamjam,

I'm currently living at Gove NT but have fished the Limmen a few times. Last time I was there was late '99. We didn't do really well but as far as numbers went but had a good feed for the four of us every night.

The river can be a bit tricky on low tide - plenty of rockbars. Local knowledge when you get there is the go. Also a GPS and a map as it's pretty easy to get lost in the system. I bought a 1:100 000 topographic. Name of map is Mount Young. That can be folded to 1/4 and has the whole system.

Take some crab pots with you - plenty of muddies in the system. There are three 'mouths' out into the gulf. Northern arm has a straight called 'Hollywood'. Excellent for barra on the troll or for flicking as the tide drops and the water comes off the flats. We fished the southern arm a bit and went up into smaller creeks hunting jacks in the holes as the tide dropped. There's plenty of mullet in the system for bait. Also at some of the junctions there are good holes. Junctions are everywhere.

Islands out the front are Beatrice Island and further out Maria Island. I've never bothered with Beatrice but Maria has everything you can want. I've pulled up all kind of reefies there as well as good Mackerel (40lb) and tuna when they're running. We also went to the next creek north - Spillen Creek and also did ok for mudcrabs. The top of the creek - not vey long - is mud flats and as the tide pushes in it's easy to lose the main channel. We had some fun there on 10 - 15lb shovel nose sharks.

Hope this helps.

Big O

[scott_b]

Thanks again

I must have the same map ,I got a friend to scan the river system and lamminate it ,a coppy of that other map would be very helpfull thanks.
We are putting our boats on top of the utes, so trailers won't be a worry.
Just wondering what the river banks are like, can we leave the boats in over night.
Much appreciated wamjam

[Big_O]

Banks are no worries. Launch at the main campsite as there is a good ramp then just anchor to shore where ever you camp. If camping downriver then still ok with cartoppers. Just be on the lookout for toothy critters at night.

[clutter]

Agree with Big O there. The boys said not to get into the same routine eg. put the boat in different spots each day and don't hang near the edge too long. Plenty of mud gecko's around. Remember them saying they used the southern arm but will get all that to you.
Clutter

[scott_b]

clutter,big o
These toothy mud geck'os worry me a bit , hope they don't interrupt our sosial life to much.
I can't see Maria island on my map , I was wandering is it close to Beatrice island.
wamjam

[Big_O]

Wamjam,

Been away from the computer 4 a few days. Maria is a northeast of the mouth. It is a bigger island than Beatrice. Good for camping if you want a change of scenery while you're there. It is probably about 15km out. When you get to the mouth you can see it pretty easily.

O

[scott_b]

Heading off wednesday night i'll let ya's know how we went.
wamjam

[Big_O]

Have a good one mate - tight lines
This is what you're after

Big O

[scott_b]

Home from NT ,that went quick. We got a fair few barra no real big buggers I think 72cm was the best. We had a lot of learning to do ,its a good thing barra fisherpeople are very helpfull and put us on track. We didn't do any reef fishing ,Maria island is 50 odd km from camp , bit to far in windy weather for 3.8 m boats. Can't wait to go back.
wamjam

[billy7]

how did the fizzers go?hooked for life id reckon.copeton wont be the same again
dave

[scott_b]

Never landed any on the fizzers but I had a few hook spitters have a go at em . We reckon barramundi is aboriginal word for hook spittin barsteds . Local fishen going to be bloody sad for a while . Going out to the dam this arvo to have look . Catch later, Scott.