Bag a Barra — 24 September 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 had the big 40th a couple of weeks ago, so we thought we'd give them a bit of a break to get over all that last week because I could only imagine that the 40th celebration. It would have been a soiree. It would have went for days. I just imagine it up there.

The tropical Top End, you know, just coming into the wet season. It's hot, it's beer drinking weather. It would have been enormous. Watty, how did you go?

Oh, g'day, duck. Yeah, look, we had a, we bought a good weekend. Actually, probably you are probably right. It probably did turn into about 3 days, sort of one day getting ready and making sure that beer tap was all hooked up correctly and then the actual day and then the Sunday making sure it was all finished off.

Yeah exactly. Now, look, um, did you say the beer tap? So we had a keg going. Yeah, we did, mate.

Yeah, no, just the one I, um, I had a couple left over from runoff, uh, fishing, so, 0 yeah, I pulled a, pulled a nice cold barrel of VB out there for the boys and never enjoyed a couple of, uh, couple of handles of them. Actually, we had the old Victorian pot glass handles. That was nice. Yeah, right, okay. All right.

So was there any drama? Any scandals? No particular scandals, mate. Well, none that I know of at the moment.

You never know what's going to come out later on, I suppose, but no, it was a good night, and you know, I'm really lucky to be surrounded by some really good people up here, and to show him a few of the mates and family couldn't get up from down south, but now we had a good time, and it'll give us an excuse to pull another barrel out another day. Oh, well, well, you normally head south for the Christmas time. So hopefully you'll be able to do that and you can celebrate your 40th down there with some family and on the farm. Yeah that's right.

Yeah, absolutely. That'll be good. Hopefully the flights are all good. By then.

So, yeah, we'll be looking forward to getting down the farm and a feed of yamies and maybe catch a red pin. Yeah, absolutely, mate, which is a bit of a highlight of your year down there, which is always good, and in between your own man putting you to work in between your drinking, you know, needs. Mate, what's happening up there, mate? They're catching plenty at the minute.

Yeah, look, it has, you know, as we've been talking about the last few weeks, mate, it has really started to fire up here now, the barrow fishing, particularly in the harbours has got really good with a bit of water temperature and um, you know, we're getting some nice calm days on the neat tide, so there's some good numbers of better sized fish coming out of the big rivers that are going into that sort of pre-spawn mode. I actually got out for a fish, uh myself, uh, to one of the kakadoo billabongs last weekend, um, which was really good fun, and, um, yeah, caught a few fish throws and flies around with, uh, one of me good old mates, and, um, you just in a tiny little, uh, sort of 12 foot tinny that I've got. We don't do much of that these days, but, you know, it's such a nice, pleasant, simple way to have a fish just in the little tinny. We just had the electric motor just sneaking around and um yeah, beautiful out there.

Yeah, any crocodiles around you at that time? Uh, mate, we did see a few crocs, um, well, coming back in the evenings. There's certainly plenty of them around there, but they, they don't, they don't hassle boats, really. I mean, any crocs that um ever do cause anyone any drummers.

I mean, there's that many people on the water up here every day, that those sort of problem crocs get spotted, you know, virtually the day they start misbehaving and um, and they do either sort of trap and remove them or sort of move them on one way or another. So no, it's never, never too much of a problem. You just got to, you know, you got to be mindful of it, of course, not doing anything silly, but, yeah, um, you can, you can pape around in, in virtually any size boat in, in those billabongs. So, you know, it's nice and safe.

You don't have to worry about the tides or the wind and that sort of stuff. So, it was cool. The, I tell you what kept us awake all night though, the, um, with a big full moon there, and the donkey's carrying on our Gekadoo there, mate. There was a heap of donkeys. Yeah, really?

The donkeys in Kakadoo, yeah? Yeah, yeah. and we saw the big Melbourne on the way out um uh on the way home and yeah, geez, they uh, they like yarning to each other from across the valley, um, all night on those full boats. It was funny, yes.

Yeah, exactly, mate. you say the full moon out there. Mate, I mean, a full moon's the same everywhere, but up there, I could just imagine it'd just be a little bit brighter, wouldn't it? Yeah, I mean, it's absolutely spectacular out on the billabongs, of course, and it's a perfect time to do a bit of night fishing because, as you know, like, once you get away from, I guess, light pollution, you know, the, from the towns and stuff, it really is quite bright, and you could, you could have a kick of the footy in, under these um full moons up here, and, and it's absolutely prime time to have a fish.

Once you get set up around the mozzies. Um, you've got to be pretty mindful of them, but, you know, you can see where you're casting, you can see fish moving around, you can see them buffing and you can see exactly what you're up to. Um, fish do tend to move around and the barrow definitely bite well at night. So if it's something you're into, it's, the full moon is a, is a really good time to, to do it.

There's a few little tricks involved with it, though, knowing when that moon's coming up and setting to help you get the best out of it. But yeah, um, Full moon can be really good for night fishing and actually a little bit detrimental to our daytime fishing sometimes if the fish are feeding all night over a full moon, they might be a bit full or lethargic uh throughout the day sometimes. Yeah, right, okay. Sounds, that sounds all right.

I mean, it'd certainly be, mate, it must be just a surreal feeling to be on a billabonga Kakadu on a big full moon like that in the middle of the night. It must be, it must be just a completely different experience than if you were there through the day. I just imagine the sounds of the realmate and the wildlife around you. like you say, the donkeys, which is something different, but just in general, it must just be so, you know, must be so relaxing and so surreal.

Yeah, it is. It's beautiful, and it is a totally different experience, and especially that, um, the early morning stuff, you know, we even when we don't fish at night, we're getting out of bed before daylight, and, and, um, and getting going, and yeah, you've got the nighttime birds, like the curlews and stuff like this, and the owls, and the little bats that are dipping around and catching insects, and, uh, the bingoes are howling, and the donkeys are carrying on, and, um, yeah, and it's just, yeah, like you're not, um, sort of getting belted by the sun as much, and it, Yeah, it's a totally different experience. You're right.

unreal. Life in the Top End. Mate, you got me sold, eh? I love it.

It sounds good. It sounds good, mate. All right. Nothing else happening.

So the barrer are on at the moment. They are right on, mate. Yeah, and it's, you know, obviously we're coming up to $10000 fish, what that can be next week. So, you know, fingers crossed.

There'll be a few of them caught. Usually within the 1st couple of weeks, there's um, there's a bit of a flurry of them course. So I'd say there'll be a pretty big effort and not much going on in Darwin. um for the 1st couple of weeks of October, everyone would be out fishing trying to get themselves a red tag. Yeah, absolutely.

Will you be one of those? Absolutely. I've got a couple of spots figured out already. I look at where the past captures have been and I'm going to go and sit on the spot. Yeah, why not mate?

Exactly right. All right. Gee, you'd be dirty if you had one on, and you went to pull it in, it got off, and you saw the big red tag on it. Oh, I've got a, I've got a re-

got a recurring nightmare about that. I actually, I, I think I, I thought I told you that um last year we, we jumped one off in, in Darwin Harbour. I saw him, yeah, halfway back to the boat and he, and he did jump off one of my clients and uh, well, I went back there another half a dozen times, you know, as soon as I could, and, and uh, couldn't even catch a day, let alone that, um, that particular one again. I'm sure he wouldn't have been hanging around waiting for a 2nd chance, mate, if he got away.

He doesn't have any boundaries. Probably swimming down here somewhere now. All right, mate. Well, good stuff, and I'm glad you survived the 40th, mate, and hopefully I'll make the 50th, eh?

Yeah, well yeah, that's right. We'll see you. You know, they might have the borders open by then. What a nightmare, seriously.

All right, mate, you're a good man. Why do you enjoy that lifestyle up there? It sounds fantastic, mate. Get into that $1000000 fish next week.

Hopefully you can go over that one with that red tag and we'll catch up with you and get the latest then, eh? Yeah, absolutely. You know, and everyone down, down, get your chins up and go and get the jab and we'll look forward to seeing you up here as soon as we can. Yep, exactly right.

All right, mate. talk to you then. Good on you mate. See you, mate.

There he is. And of course, is Glenn, Watty, Wad. can check him out. Barefoot Fishing Safaris.

He's jump on Facebook and give his page alike. If you're going fishing in the Top End, you need to get onto him for the website as well, barefootfishingsafaris.com.au. And for those of you that want to get up there and experience the real deal, that's what I call it, certainly he takes you out and he knows where to find them. So if you want to go fishing in the Top End, go out with Watty, he will look after you as he did me.

Barefoot Fishing Safaris.com.au or jump on that Facebook page, Barefoot Fishing Safaris, and like I say, there's plenty of fishing guides up there. What is our man though? So if you want to get up there, book yourself a trip for next year, and I know he's already taken a few bookings for it. You need to jump on and do that now, and you certainly won't regret going fishing with Watty. He knows his stuff.

Great bloke. And I can't believe his party only went for 3 days. Unbelievable. I thought it would have been a week for sure.

But anyway, he must be near 40, he's getting a bit old, I guess. Anyway. I reckon, yeah, 3 days. Watty, I thought you would have done bigger than that.

But it would have been a lot of fun and he has. He would have some great mates up there. Living the dreamers, they say. What about that? Fishing out in Kakadu of a nighttime, with that big full moon just listening to the donkeys, which is different, and all that night, wildlife would be fantastic.