Bag a Barra — 6 November 2020

It's time to head to the Top End and Bagabara. With Glenn Watty Watts, Thanks to Shimano. Remember to buy local and fish local. visit shimanofish.com.au.

Well, he went MIA last week, Watty, because he was out on a three day fishing safari at Dundee Beach. He's back. He's probably still cleaning his catch. Watty.

How you going, mate? G'day, duck. I am back. Yeah?

It was a good trip. And yeah, we don't have much phone service when you're out remote there like that. I'm just listening to your intro there. I'm just staring at the BF Goodrich tyres on my land cruiser and and I was reminded when you talked about the Strezlecki track of years ago I used to drive graders and bulldozers up there maintaining the track up there in a minca.

Yeah, yeah. That's I never knew that. So what were how long were you out there for? Uh, I did, I only did a, I did one 5 week stint out there with Duns Earth moving.

So I could ate all the boys at Done Dirt moving to it. You could probably feel based at Padullah there. in the south of Inaminka, and um, yeah, they sort of maintain the Strezliki track as well as um, sort of uh, do the roads and cart the water and all that sort of stuff for all the oil and gas around that area. So, I was there in, um, in wintertime I was there for Anzac day, mate. We had the dawn service over, over the desert sand dunes there and it was just spectacular.

would have been fantastic. We broadcast all through regional South Australia through Flow FM. So, uh, yeah, I'm sure plenty of our listeners on flow would uh, certainly have driven the stress link. I did not know that about you, mate, eh?

So you've been out there and eh? What about the, I'm tipping, you would have had a night or 2 at the Inaminka pub, wouldn't you? Well, we didn't, we had a couple of big ones there. Not too many because they were mostly working, you know. We're flat strap work.

And I remember, I'll never forget, I took, I was up there for 5 weeks, so I took, I think, 8 boxes of VB cans up with me in the back of my old 60 series Land Cruiser, and by the time I got there, half the cans had rubbed through and was all through the back of the land crew. Under corrugation. Oh, you got to love that, which is the fact you're up there on the grader grading the raids.

Well, mate, well, I didn't know you did that. So that's good to know, mate. You're a man of many talents, mate, that's for sure. Mate, how'd you go?

You went away 3 days fishing at Dundee Beach. That was one place when I was in the territory. I usually say when you go away on a trip. It's always good to leave something behind that gives you an excuse to go back.

And Dundee Beach, we just didn't get there. So, which was a bit of a shame, went everywhere else, as you know, but that's a good excuse to come back, just to go and check that out, and of course, go back to my favourite spot, which was corroborate Bill along with you. But how'd you go, mate? Did you get the new boat out yet or not?

Oh, no. Well, it's sitting there staring at me in the shed too. It's still little bit away. I decided not to try and get it on the water before we sort of finished doing the charters this year.

I'm just too busy and I don't have the time to, to sort of muck around with it and get it going properly, so I'll do that over the wet season, which isn't too far away, you know, honestly, you know, like by the end of this month we'll be finished. Um, but the old girl's still going pretty good and um, and you know, she gets us to where we, where we need to go and Dundee is a really good um, location for those extended charters because you can sort of do a bit of everything. you know we had really good weather there. Um, and so, you know, we blast down to the Perrin Islands, sort of an hour and a half drive in the boat down, down the coast towards the mouth of the Daly River, where we just got stuck straight into those big um, black Jew fish, which live down there, and then we had a couple of days chasing some barrow as well, and, and you know, this time of year, they start to aggregate a bit, so we, um, you know, you have these little bite periods where you, you got all these schooling sort of um, 60 and 70 centimetre barrel, which can provide a pretty intense little bite time there, and have a bit of fun

them and of course, taken back to the Dundee lodge for, um, where the guys at the restaurant will cook them up for a feed for you at night. So she's a pretty pleasurable experience out there last week, actually. Oh, sounds great, mate. I was about to ask you the 3 day thing.

Where do you stay? So what the, what, so what done do you lies? They've got accommodation in it there as well? Yeah, absolutely.

And it's one, um, all the listeners should check out. It, uh, it's a ride on the beach there on the west facing beach, so you get the beautiful sunset every night. They've got some big cabin accommodations set up, one and 2 bedroom cabins as well as these bigger sort of family rooms, which we had the boys in for this trip and huge big campground as well. So, it's very, very popular, gets busy through the dry season, um, and yeah, like, it's probably the most popular boat ramp in the northern territory for blue water fishing, and, of course, it gives you access to, to all the, um, sort of offshore stuff and down towards the paren islands around the Daly, and, and heading west over to the Moyle rivers, and, and then towards the Kimberley as well.

your sort of last main launching place. So, it's very popular and, and you know, when the weather's right, you can do anything that you ever want to ever dream of down there. Mate, with the weather changing up there now, because obviously, I mean, I look at the, look at the weather up there. I'm still reading the NT news every day.

With the weather changing, is that changing what you're chasing? Uh, yeah, it does a little bit. So, we'll go back, sort of starting in September, again, um, as it, as the water temp turns, start to increase the, the snapper and the jew fish sort of come back on the bike. They come back into a bit more shallower country um to, to do their thing.

um so we start um targeting them a bit more than I I have been through the dry season. Um, but no, probably more so it, it sort of um, changes the techniques and and the timing and locations of where we're targeting our barracks. So, we try and um, infiltrate their breeding system with a few lures and get them in, get it in front of them when they're um, doing their thing and um, and you know, this, this is when the time of year, those bigger barrers start to turn up on a mere, more regular basis as well as um, better numbers of your, I suppose, school size, fish, the 60s and 70s as well. So, yeah, it's a good time of year for sure.

Oh mate, how good is it? Sounds fantastic, mate. You'd be getting some nice storms of a night now, wouldn't you? Yeah, we had a, um, we had a couple of really big ones where all our creeks flowed and the, um, and the little dam out the front of the house started to fill the other day, but then we've had about 4 days now where we're in a bit of a break period and it's, and um, it's, actually, we had a little bit of rain last night, but it's building up again for the, um, next few days, which is exciting again.

It'll get, keep the, keep the cycle happening for all the bait fish and prawns and stuff that are building up in the harvest to hopefully feed up these, these fish that are looking to spawn and and get that, um, that lifecycle really kicked into gear before it. You know, the monsoon, hopefully, will turn up here at Christmas, on Christmas Day, or if not a week earlier, and it'll just rain for a month for us, which would be lovely. You love the rain. All right, mate.

Well, we'll leave you there to look at that boat in the shed and whatever else you're doing there and we'll talk to you next week, eh? Yeah, the boat has bloody yells out to me every time I'm walked past this day and take me out, take me out, but it's hard to take a 7.5 metre boat out without a trailer or a motor. We're working on that next week. Good stuff.

And mate, you must be getting some water in those little creeks and water holes you've got on your property there, which is fantastic. It'll be all greening up now. I wish I was there. Send me some photos, eh?

Yeah, yeah, I'll chuck a cup up on the Facebook page. Yeah, good as gold. All right, why do you all talk to you next week? Good on you, Doc.

Thanks, mate. Good on you, mate. There he is. Glenn, Watty Watts?

Bear. foot fishing safaris. You need to get onto it. Anyone wants to go and be guaranteed.

to catch something. You need to go fishing, head to the Top End. If haven't gone fishing, till you've fished up the Top End with Watty, I can tell you. Look, for me, I did a lot while I was away.

I did all Queensland Channel Country, went to Lornhill, Adele's Grove, went up all round Darwin. Catherine went everywhere. I loved it. I was away for over 2 months.

But the highlight for me was the day I went fishing with Watty, and look, it was a fantastic experience. If you want to experience that as well. Just go to that website, barefootfishingsafaris.com.au or check him out on Facebook. He just mentioned the Facebook page, Barefoot Fishing Safaris.

You can do a lot worse. And look, everybody wants to catch that barr. Well, they want to, they want to go fishing in the Top End. It is an experience whether you want to go up there this time of year or you want to go up there in the dry season.

You need to go with what he is the best in the business, and he certainly will look after you. That 3 day safari at Dundee Beach sounds like an absolute perler. How good would that be? A few beers back at the lodge. You can just imagine Watty holding court being in charge.

You know, he's going to be a politician one day. He's just aiming himself up. He's getting himself gearing up to take on the chief minister up there and take charge of the whole northern territory. how much they would it would be. Light beer wouldn't exist.

Mid strengths would only be allowed to be drink while you're working. And it'd be a pretty relaxed, sort of a lifestyle. Is a good man, Watty? You can get onto his website.

He's got merchandise, all sorts of things happening on there. He posts little videos and things and educational stuff as well on that, on that Facebook page, check him out, Barefoot Fishing Safaris.