Fishing on Arvos — 18 February 2026

Captain Watty from Barefoot, Fishing safaris, and AFANT board member, Rocky Edwards from the Fishing and Tackle Shop, Fishing and Outdoor World. Are you also on the board of our fat, Rocky? I say that? I've been saying what he is in ever.

veteran of the industry we discovered last year. After I said veteran, I thought, no one wants to be caught. Oh, unless they're much older than you are. Fiso, local Fiso. I think, no, you know what I've written down in front of me, so I don't say the V word, iconic.

Is that okay? Look, it's better than some of the names I could be called. The high priestess. High priestess. I know, I know.

All right. The high priestess. It is. Have you done a job that you're not quite qualified for, Rocky?

Yeah, I remember doing a tourist thing in East Arnham and they'd run out of gods that day and someone had to drive a four-wheel drive and it was actually full of ABC people and it had no doors, no windscreen and it wasn't until I started driving this thing because I could drive a manual and it was an old Jeep and the 1st guide went ahead and I followed him through the bush and it had no brakes. But I'd done a lot of bush badging, thank goodness. But on the way back, we hit 3 or 4 firefronts coming home and it was terrifying because I knew the track going in, wound around big trees and stuff. You couldn't see a thing in front of you.

So I had, um, I had one of the ladies in the front who was squirting water into my eyes because it was that bad. windscreen. No windscreen and then, you know, and we're going through firefronts and the rest of the ABC crew, one of which still works here upstairs, Benny. We're in the back laying down, so the flames were coming over and into the vehicle.

yeah. So there you go. I feel like you were a little bit qualified for that, though, with your bushbashing bushbashing experience, Watty? What have you done that you weren't qualified?

Well, I feel like I'm sort of unqualified for most of the things I do in my life being here with you is one of them. Everyone in the office, when I raised this earlier, said, for the job I do now. Yeah, just winging it. Mate, there's one, probably, that perhaps even my personality was unmatched for as well, was that in a past life,

I was a concierge at the Desert Gardens Hotel at Aires Rock. No. Yeah. Oh my god.

Yes, sir. No, sir, 3 bags full, sir. Does that, when you were a concierge. that means you have to attend to every whim. Yeah, you're the fancy guest.

Yeah, yeah. And you were all sharp and tidy and clean. Yeah, shave every day, all those nice. Wow, that's not the Watty we know. I've been allowed to flourish a bit more since... The problem, it's a bit of a problem solving job, though, isn't it? Yeah, I know that's certainly one of my skills and I like chatting with people and there's a lot of interesting people that go through that hotel too.

Yeah, but you have to be polished up to a certain level, don't you? Yeah that was uncomfortable. There was last time I asked this question. Someone called who'd got a job at silver service, like catering and didn't know how to do it, and they dropped a plate of potatoes into someone's lap and they didn't know what to do.

So they put the potatoes in their pocket. So I'm sort of imagining you might have done that. Jobs you've done that you weren't qualified for. I have time for more stories after half past three.

But last week you talked to number 2s with Amelia. And it just made me think, as a topic to discuss, if it wasn't Barra, what would be, like, what's the number, what is the number 2 fish? Wow, I think this could be, this could spark a lot of debate because it depends on the fisher and what their number 2 is, whether it's your number 2 favourite eating fish or number 2 fighting fish just depends. And it depends if it's a territory fish too, because some of us have fished. you know, interstate or overseas.

So you know, there's different sorts of fishing and different styles of fishing. If you had asked me what's my 2nd favourite fish to eat and to catch, it's a thread fin salmon. Someone's texted in number two. threadfin salmon.

Yeah, yum. So number 2 for eating. And they're also catching two. You're catching in a similar same techniques as you do, Barra.

So, yeah, that they jump and thrash around as well. So they're good fun, aren't they, rock? Yeah. Well that's not much of a debate.

Threadf salmon. Well, but... Yeah, you know, some of these guys that work out at Shady Camp get sick of catching Threadvin Salmon. So they really hate them and they perhaps prefer to catch a queenfish or a traveller or something. So yeah.

That one is probably more divisive than any other question about favourite eating fish. So they like they get sick of catching threadfinned salmon because they're out there looking for Barramundi. Yeah, because they want to catch bar, and there's so many of them out there now, since the nets got taken out all those years ago now, they've really bounced back and I mean, I love it because they're great to eat. They're all big and they fight hell, fight well.

And clients love it as well. But yeah, some of the guys out there start whinging. you know you've got a pretty good life and a good job, right? When you catch about 2 wins about too many meter-long threadies.

Yeah. Okay. Well what's number 3 then? Well, for me, up here would be golden snapper, because I enjoy catching them. They're a bit tricky because if you've never fished for them, if you catch some undersized ones, you're in shallow water, you're tempted to throw them back in, but it's almost like they, they swim off until everybody.

They're here. Run away, don't bite any hawks. And it's almost a thing that you do not throw them back where you pull them out of. They spread the word.

Everything shuts down. But if you catch them and they stay on the boat or you deliver them out somewhere else on the other side, perhaps, it doesn't seem to be as bad. I saw, well, speaking of good fish for eating, I saw this go up on the Dundee Beach tavern page. It was a couple of weeks ago now, and I'm just trying to, if anyone knows who Kurt is, I want to have a chat with young local Fiso, Kurt about this, who pulled it in an 81 centimetre, Dewey, land-based fishing at Dundee, and then they do, they must do a, you know, we'll cook up your fish for you down there.

That's good, isn't it? An 81 centimetre dewey? Lambo. Why is that? Why is that good?

Well, I mean, Dewey's perhaps more associated with fishing from a boat, number one, catching in a bit deeper water. An 81 centimetre fish isn't that old, perhaps less than a couple of years old, so it's perhaps showing some good recruitment around there. And, you know, young fellas having a crack and having some success too, because most of the fish you probably catch surf fishing off the beach at Dundee is going to be catfish, stingrays, and stuff that's perhaps normal. Or a shark.

Didn't the bride who went fishing down there? In a wedding dress, you caught a shark? Yeah, yeah, that's right. So you'd probably catch, you know, 10 of them to one, you know, nice estricod or a Jewie or something, but there used to be a lot more of those captures along that coastline, say 10 or 15 years ago, but yeah, just a bit of increased pressure and stuff. It's probably a bit less common now.

So yeah, it's a meritorious catch. And do fish, are they? They're good eating fish. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, great. Are they curry particularly?

Are they a dense fish? A bit denser than your barren threadfin. They're not as fluffy to eat. They are a bit denser but some people really like them.

Can I tell you with the thread thin salmon because I didn't know that that was a different, like, I've grown up only eating Atlantic salmon. That's a different... different type of salmon and came to the territory and always kept ordering salmon from the restaurant or from the, you know, from the clubs and going, this is... Are they related? They're entirely different fish.

They're very different. Yeah. Okay. They're, um, salmon that you're talking about to salmonate in the same family as brown trout, rainbow trout, Mongolian tame and that sort of stuff. Salmonade. Salmonade. Salmonade. Yeah. Our threads are in a very different species of fish.

Well, that's confusing. And they're real, perhaps a bit better common name is King Threadfin rather than Threadfin salmon. Yeah. That's what they find. They put that on the menu.

Yeah, don't get confused. Threadfinn, salmon, or king threadfinn, as it will, henceforth, henceforth be named, has come in at number two for fish. That's the only vote through on the text, by the way. Engrave Jack Rock, you forget about the Jacks.

Yeah, when you're good at catching them. hopeless. And you feel sorry for the jacks too, right? Because they take a long time to grow to any decent size, so there's not many of them in the harbours and it's good to let them go.

Once you get remote, Kimberley's are up into Arnhamley and there's heaps of them and you would not put one back. They're delicious. For their eating. The mangrove jacks.

right. Okay, all right. Yum. I'm hungry now.

Someone else. I've done some looking around on social media. I haven't been out in the real world doing any kind of fishing related activity, but I saw a great picture of someone heading out to Shady Camp doing a recy ahead of Tebs must be back soon. Yeah, Tebs will be on team.

Top End Barr series and the road looking a bit chewed up and a bit wet and a bit soggy at this time of year. And they went out there in their 2 wheel drive. really bad. Like, yeah, yeah.

There's people getting bogged. There's big sort of puddles and yeah, it's not good. Not something you do in a two-wheel drive. No, that'd be foolish.

I don't know who it was. If it was you, you had a very good song backing the footage of the trip out to Shady Camp. Give us a call and dub yourself in 1300 057 triple tour. A lot of people heading out there already at this time of year.

Oh, look, I have heard people are trying to get out there, but, you know, really that road is quite bad this time of year and it's just awful. There are better places to go. I think. Yeah, certainly easier places where you're going to get to and from your destination much easier.

And also, if you think about it from a purely fishing perspective, a lot of the fish will be pushed out to the mouth of the river and it's really windy lately too. So you're probably better off in the south or the east or the alley. Well, you won't get to the east, but the Adelaide River, as far as right now. And we keep saying it, but it is only February. Yeah, it's going to be wet at Shady Camp on the road.

It's like that every year and on such a big wet season, it's going to be even worse. Oh, ABC radio, Darwin, who is the number 2 fish? Send me a text 048799 1057 there. Captain Watty Barefoot.

Fishing Safari is an AFANT board member, Rocky Edwards, iconic Fisher, from the fishing shop. Hi, Chris Jess. Oh, Shelley's message. Number two, Queenie.

In a Ziploc bag, lemon, chillic, uh, K I see where we're going. Lemon, chilli, garlic, fanumbus. Yes. Yes. Any day.

Yeah, dead set. And you know, from a guiding perspective, Queen, he's right up there as well because they're easy to catch. There's heaps of them. and most people have never caught a fish that pulls that heart.

And they're right in Darwin Harbour, easy to catch. So, yeah, it depends like what category you're putting him in, Flyfishers would have Queenies up there in one of their top one or 2 as well. Well, I did deliberately didn't put them in any category so we could have this discussion. Is the Queenies are better for numbus for pickling than for other things?

Well, their flesh doesn't really hold up to freezing very well. So generally, if people catch queenies, they like to cook them on the same day and they're beautiful, but otherwise, people will pickle them and they are really good and there's a lot of it around Darwin. Good numbers. you make a numbus?

I haven't, but everybody, everybody does. Every family has somebody in the family that doesn't. And particularly a lot of the indigenous and Chinese sort of blended families are mad on it. I'll have to get, do you know, um, Daniel, who was the territory fiery who was on MasterChef.

He has a great numbus recipe. Maybe I'll get him in next week. And everyone does it slightly differently, but it's still awesome no matter which one you have, right? The other one for me is sashimi.

Queenfish, sashimi, just on a, like a bed of ice and some wasabi soil. unreal. Maybe it's recipes next week. Tides this weekend.

What do we need to know before I let you go before Rio's in with the news headlines, Watty? New moon. We're on the new moon. What does that mean?

Big toys. Yeah, big tides, good for the harbour if it's not blowing too much or those big tides will back up a bit of water at Shady Camp if you can manage to get out there or the top of the south. That's where I'd be sticking somewhere a bit sheltered. Anything to add rock?

No, that's probably about it. I mean, people have been going out to the south and to the Adelaide River, but the Adelaide River, the reports I heard just a few days ago, was it still too much water there? But the few... Everyone's just getting a little bit too excited. by the sound of it.

Just wait. hold your horses. All right. Captain Watty, I'm going to think of you as your in your concierge kind of role as you leave and we'll catch you next week.

I think we have to do more talk about the eating and the cooking and the numbness with the fish.