Bag a Barra — 21 February 2020

OK, let's head to the Top End to Bag a Barra. With Glenn, what he wants, thanks to Barefoot Fishing Safaris. We've come to you pretty quickly, Wadi, 'cause we know you're in a dodgy area, and that's because you're a dodgy sort of a bloke. That's a bit rough, but yeah, I'm in dodgy phone reception anyway.

anyway, let's say that on down, just towing the caravan down to Daly River to set up camp for the big kickoff on Monday. Oh, what's happening on Monday? Well, Monday's the 1st day of my charter season for the year, so we're back to back extended charters right through until the end of May. Very exciting

Yeah, sounds like it, mate. That fantastic, isn't it? So you set up camp down there and on the Daly and then and got and worked from there for a while. Yeah, that's right. So I've decked out an old caravan with a deep freeze in a fridge and all the gear that I need to sort of set myself up and um and I'll be down here at least until the end of March and I'll probably come and go a little bit on April and do a little bit of blue water as well and May will be sort of barren blue water down at Dundee Beach there. We've spoken about in the past.

So, I'll shift camp once I move down that way and um, and set up again a bit closer. Yeah, how good is it? What a lifestyle. How good is it?

You are on fire up there, mate. It's mate, seriously. We're actually talking to the people from NT tourism about doing some stuff, mate. So I'll keep you posted on that because we might even try and get you involved.

Yeah, that'd be good. They're good people there. We do a fair bit of work throughout the year promoting the territory through fishing stuff and other things, this general outdoor activity loft, all sort of things, which we, of course, they'll all embrace up here. Mm, yeah, absolutely.

Why not, mate? Especially this time of year. How's the, uh, before you tell us about freshwater prawns, which I didn't know you had there, mate, how's the wet season been? Is it still, you're still getting those afternoon rains or are they sort of dropping off a bit?

Yeah, look, no, we're back into it now and and we have had a bit of downtime and I think though, um, there's a few sort of fairly disappointing stats getting around there at the moment, but we've just had 2 days of pretty good rain, uh, particularly over the catchments and I, I will, because it's law to go past the pub when you're down here, I'll have to do that and check out the river, um, while I do that. But yeah, we've got a monsoon trough forming in the gulf, as we speak, so they're forecasting sort of this weekend and the next um, a few days after that to be really quite wet and that, that's got the potential to, to give us 500-0000, you know, like the last one we had. So that'll get us right back up and and revive things pretty quickly, but yeah, you never know with this um whether the way things are happening at the moment, do you? Five? No, exactly right.

And I know on the east coast, it's been all sorts of weather, here we've gone from bushfires to floods, to rain, to storms. I was up in, I was in Brisbane last week, drove, drove up through, what's I got north of Grafton and drove through a hell of a lot of rain. Then on the way back, drove through a huge thunderstorm just north of Grafton as well. And we've had some pretty big storms right across the east coast.

It's been a little bit all over the shop, but that's just summer in Australia. Mate, you want to tell us about freshwater prawns up there. Tell us a bit about that. Yeah, that's right.

We call them Cherubin is their local name. There's a couple of other different sort of names as you, as you move across the territory, but essentially they are a freshwater prawn and they really do look like a big banana prawn or, um, or a tiger and they, they, they live right through the estuary systems up here, as long as they can get access to fresh water, so they need, they, when they spawn or when the little babies hatch in the, in the freshwater billabongs at this time of year, they need to reach brackish water within 4 days, so you get a bit of an idea of, of where they might be, but they're absolutely loaded into the billabongs up here. um particularly along the Daly and Adelaide rivers, um uh they're littered with billabongs either side and and they're really good tucker for us and really good good tucker for Barramundi as well.

So, it's a bit of a catch 22. When you've got a bucket full of them in the boat and it gets to lunchtime, do you do you put them on the gas burner or you put them on a hook, you know? How do they taste? They, they, they taste amazing.

Really, um, sort of quite different to a yabby, but probably, yeah, more, more prawnish and they're, they're really sweet. Their shells are quite soft, so they're easy to shell, and you know, you can get them, they, say their body and tail length, up to, uh, you know, we catch the real big one the other day, and he was probably 25 centimetres, body and tail. Really? Oh, yeah, they're monsters. And then they'll get their little really long skinny nippers about that same length again, sort of doubles their length. So, they, they're big and, and you can imagine that, um, you know, they're a very tasty treat for all the fish up here as well.

So, yeah, we tend to um throw um imitation lures to look just like it, particularly in the Daly and things like that, this time of year. I'll tell you what, it's not much future if you are one of those prawns, eh, is he? Really? I mean, I mean, look, if you believe in reincarnation, you wouldn't want to come back as a freshwater prawn in northern territory.

Your future's not your future's not bright. I often say that about mullet as well, but definitely the cherub, and you know, we'll probably right now if I go down to the river and I'll have a look for you. send you a couple of photos, but they'll, they'll come down the river and and the, the fry. I suppose they are.

They're tiny, you know, they might be the size of half a match head. And and they'll be in um groups of 1000000s around rocks and things in the shallows and And when the barrer get keyed in on them and and really start feeding on them. It can be really frustrating because you certainly can't imitate them, but you can just hear and see Barriages, boof, boof, boof everywhere. So, you know they're there, but they're just getting the guts full of prawns and, you know, who can blame them?

No, exactly right, mate. And um, so you, you, um, tell you what, you catch some and then you, you got to make that decision. Do we eat these or do we use them for bait? Mate.

So the barr, so the barrers obviously just love them. They just go for them 100%. 100 mile now. Yeah, yep.

Yeah. So we, um, we catch them in um, the old opera house next, um, which, um, bad luck for you guys, they're illegal, beginning Victoria now, but um, we still use them up here and catch, you can catch, you know, you might catch, uh, half a dozen on average, but up to sort of 20 in a net in a good spot with the right bait. And then usually use the, I guess, the one that is probably too small to worry about eating for, for bait. And then try and keep a few for a feeds.

They make a really good um, you know, if you put a garlic sauce with them on top of a barrel fillet or a nice bit of steak. Obviously, it's the old beef and reef. So, it's um, yeah, it's a, it's a catch 22. They are excellent barrabait. can fish them on the bottom on a sinker or under a float.

Um and yeah, but every time a shark or a catfish gets one, you sort of get a bit dirty on yourself for putting him on the hook instead of in the pan. Exactly. All right. Now, you did say it wasn't law.

you're not allowed to drive past that pub, are you? It's something like that, duck, yeah. and I don't like to risk it, you know, so I'd just call in anyway, just to keep peace. Yeah, exactly right, mate.

Be a law abiding citizen up there. All right, mate. I will let you go because we know you've pulled over to talk to us. You enjoy where, so where exactly do you set up your camp?

I'll be at Lee and Jenny's bush camp all through, or from now, right through till the end of March, and then after that, we'll, we'll come and go a little bit. So there's half a dozen really good operators down here. You've got the mango farm, Daly River Barre Resort, Lee and Jenny's bush camp, and Woolliana, uh, as well as Perry's on the Daly over the other side of the river. So, yeah, that's 5 good operators.

There is plenty of room, and um there's plenty of river. 90 kilometres to the mouth here, so everyone can come down and have a bit of fun. Oh, sounds fantastic. And for people who like the northern territory.

There's a couple of great camp spots for you right there. So if you're camping anywhere near there over the next few weeks. Keep an eye out for Watty. He will be the bloke sitting at the front drinking cans of an afternoon, just cleaning his prawns, his fish.

That's right. Hopefully cleaning fish, yeah. Yeah exactly. All right, mate.

Will you enjoy travel safe and we'll catch you next week if we can find you? Yeah, that's right. We might have to freestyle the next couple of months a bit, but we'll get there. Yeah, no, all good, mate.

Happy days. All right mate. Well, you enjoy all that, go and sit up your camp. in a beautiful part of Australia, up there in the territory on the, on the, on the Daly.

How good? any better than that. and I only wish I was up there with you, mate. There is a chance that we could be up there later in the year, what do you say? Better start preparing yourself, son. Friday, eh?

What's the main exercise I've got to do to get prepared? Oh, just, you know, mental stuff. Oh, no, just, you know, make sure your right elbow's working all right, I reckon. Okay.

I'll give you a run for your money, okay? I've got no doubt you will. I'll probably send me home in a camer. All right, talk to you next week.

Good on you, doc. Good on you, mate. There he is. Our man, Watty.

Don't forget, you can check him out on Facebook, Barefoot Fishing Safaris. And what a great lifestyle he's got, a lot of hard work in it as well, but check him out, and he certainly does live the lifestyle up there in the Top End. And look, it's coming up to that time. It won't be long now before it'll start cooling off down here in the southern states, and people will start heading to the outback, heading to places like, you know, outback Queensland, and of course, everybody's favourite, the northern territory.

There's just something about the northern territory. I think once you get to the, when you go into the territory, you just feel more Australian, as that was a feeling I got, it was like you're in the real Australia. So, uh, it's plenty to see, plenty to do up there in northern territory and fishing. Obviously, is a big part of that.

If you want to go up there and do it, you can just get onto our man, Watty, Barefoot Fishing Safaris, check him out, and he will help you out.