Bag a Barra — 27 August 2021

It's time to head to the Top End, and Baga Barra, with Glenn Watty Watts. Thanks to Shimano. Remember to buy local and fish local. Visit shamanofish.com.au.

Well, we could stick a uniden, um, extract pro in the vehicle. The 80 Pro, and then we could give you Watty, the extract 50 Pro, to take you in the boat with you because it's waterproof. And then we can see where you are. We can track you.

mate, how good is that? That tracking feature does sound really, really handy, especially, we do a lot of, you know, camping out in the bush and you might be riding around a quad bike or a buggy or something and say, oh, well, we'll meet up for lunch or whatever, what it, you know, wherever Billabong or something, but you, you're not always there exactly at the right time and then you, you could just at least know, Oh, well, old mate's on the way or is... Yeah. Look, I think it's a game changer.

I think for kids, and you've got kids, you know what I mean? You go out, you do a bit of stuff on properties. So you fit one in your vehicle, you give them the handhelds for 17 K radius. They're not going to wander too much further than that. And the fact that it's got so much, you know, 30 hours of operating time as well.

Look, I think it's a go, I think, for safety, if anything, especially kids, if you've got young kids or, you know, when I say young kids, I mean, you know, in their early teens, you like to just use their own time and wander off and explore, give them the handheld. your laughing. I think it's an absolute cracking idea. uniden.com.au if you want to look more at the X extract pro series.

I've certainly got them here and I, to be honest, I haven't really got to speak on one too much because we've been in lockdown, but I'm looking forward to getting it out and giving it a bit of a run. Now, what are you up there apart from being a very, very good fisherman in the Top End, and we'll find out what's been biting lately. But, mate, they tell me my mail, and as you know, I've got spies everywhere, tell me that you're actually preserving and turning your own salmon. What's the story there?

Hey, oh, Boddy West will call you. Forget John West. We've got Watty West. Yeah, yeah, that's right.

Close, but yeah, Chinese whispers have got a little bit out of whack our tuna. Our local tuna. Oh, tuna, was it? Sorry.

What did I say, salmon? You said salmon, yeah. When we we don't really get the red meated salmon up here, so no opportunity to do that. But the tuna, of course, everyone needs tuna out of cans all the time and uh, you know, here a while back.

I, uh, I was having a feed of one uh, tuna tuna while we were actually catching tuna and I thought, what the hell am I doing here? I should be eating my own fish. So, yeah, I started doing it, and it's, um, it's really great, just boil it up for a while into some seawater, and um, and then chuck it into jars, a bit of oil, and some, you know, whatever flavours, I'll do, chilli and garlic and stuff, and then let it sit in the, um, in the cupboard for a couple of months. Usually let it all really sort of soften up and get the flavours and then, and then you're, you're away sort of thing, and it's, um, it's sort of tuned, but not if you've ever had it before.

It's just um, it's amazing. Yeah, real good. But you're the man. You are.

The man. Now you may remember last week. Have you had any feedback from your new voicemail system you have there with the lovely Louise taking the job of greeting your customers? Yeah, she got a bit rosy faced when I told her about that.

So, um, not, you know, apart from the usual blokes who give it to me, you know, I have it down at the, um, you've made it a boily shed there. He gives it to me fairly regularly and a few other blokes, so there's nothing out of the ordinary mate, but it's just constant. It's just a level that um there is a little bit for me. Yeah, fair enough.

mate, I get it. I understand that concept, mate. No problem. Now, listen, what are they, what's biting up there, mate, is we move another week closer to weather changes and the like.

It's all still happening, full noise at the minute. Yeah, it is, and it is starting to warm up again. We had actually our 1st bit of rain here for the season the other day. Broke a record done, got the tires, or our highest recorded rainfall in August for 30 years, and you know, up to 80 mils in area. So that's washed a bit of dust off and it's starting a little bit of green pick happening, um, and that, of course, will trigger the fish.

One thing that is going red hot at the moment, uh, and I'm about to have a crack at them myself is uh, go down and get a feed of cherubin down in the river. Because of last year's good wet season, the recruitment in those critters has just been amazing and everyone's getting plenty of big ones for a feed as well as um good sized bait cushion ones as well. So, you got to make the choice, mate, whether you put one on a hook or put it on top of the steak with a bit of garlic sauce, and one day was like, we usually go. What about you?

I mean, mate, you know who you are. You've become the, um, what was, what's the bloke's name, the, um, the chef who does all the swearing budgie? The Ramsey. Watty Ramsey.

I don't know about that. But it's good bush, Tucker, isn't it? Journey, but fish on, they're 2nd to none. Oh, you're canning, churning, fishing on steak with garlic sauce.

I mean mate, is there anything you can't do? Honey, I can't do very well, that's for sure. mate, please. I've got all the gear here.

No idea, mate. Don't about that. But anyway. So, yeah, well that's right.

So you've made 80 mil of rain. I mean, that's a fair bit of rain, isn't it? So you're saying you just washed off the dust and, you know, and it's about it. It's incredible.

Yeah, well, there's puddles lying around and, you know, it's really good. We don't often get much rain in August, but obviously, you know, it's pretty close to the end of the month now, but, um, if, if it's the start of what they're predicting, it should be another really good season for us up here and, you know, fingers crossed, everyone will be able to get up and go fishing. Um you know, again next year. But the people that are here at the moment are really having a good time, uh, caravan park choppers, of course, and, and, um, you know, there's plenty of fish around.

I actually went out for a bit of a night fish, uh, last week, um, throwing some flying around that I'd been tying up that we spoke about, and, um, did pretty well myself, actually, um, just had a couple of beers, all the sun was setting, and then had a fish, and then, um, got driven into the swag by the mozzies, but there's heaps of fish in the billabongs, and, and, you know, there's heaps of crabs, and everything, he's really, really humming up here this year, so, um, it has been great to get some, whoever is lucky enough to get out of here or to get up here, um, get them out in, in amongst it. Yeah, well, I know a couple of people, a couple of mates of mine who are up there at the moment who basically was meant to, well, were meant to be back in New South Wales some time ago, but are staying there. And why wouldn't you? You certainly wouldn't be coming back down to lockdown land.

And if you can do it, and if you can work it out and work from up there, which you can do. I mean, geez, I was there for a couple of months last year and work from there quite easily with the technology these days. Why would you want to come back here? And I've been saying to my missus all week, we've got to get back up there.

get out of here, mate, that's for sure. Well, that's right. I mean, there's plenty of people have been coming out of how it brings quarantine facility and going off and renting a house straight away, so they're not keen on going back home just yet. It is tricky enough probably to get a room up here at the moment, but if you got your own van, you can settle in.

no better place to be. Exactly right. Yeah, the front of your place, on the outside, the outside of the boundary fence for me. Yeah, that's right.

We got the electric fence going the other day. to make sure I don't jump the fence through the night. Okay. All right.

Well, listen, Watty, we'll leave you there to Ken your tuna, and we'll talk to you next week, mate, eh? Yeah, mate, no worries. I looking forward to having to chill on this later on once it cools down. Yep, um have a good time this week and we'll catch you next week.

I'm sure you'll be washing it down with the Great Northern as well. You're a good man. Talk to you next week. See you, mate.

There he is, Glenn, what do you want? Barefoot Fishing Safaris. That's him. You need to go to the website.

Barefoot Fishing Safaris.com.au and check out the Facebook page, Barefoot Fishing Safaris and get ready to book your trips for next year or if you want to get any tips and advice, get in touch with the body. He is the best in the business when it comes to Top End fishing, and certainly does know his stuff, and obviously knows how to cook them as well. So jump onto that website, Barefoot Fishing Safaris.