Bag a Barra — 24 December 2021

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

Well, we couldn't have a Christmas show without speaking to our Top End fishing guru who's not in the Top End today because he is spending Christmas on the family farm, and he's been a big part of our show for a couple of years now, and we love catching up with him when he's there, and he gets put to work. It's actually when he actually does something. I mean, he makes you out he works this bloke. He's kidding.

I mean, he goes fishing every day. But when he goes home for Christmas. Well, he's, oh, man, sees through all that and just gets him straight on the tools and onto the job. Watty?

Merry Christmas, mate. How are you going? Have you been doing any work down there? Have you been hiding?

Yeah, no, we have been. You're right. You're dead right. Actually, I thought I got away with it for the 1st day or two, but no, we've been trucking sheep in, trucking sheep out, shearing sheep and carrying on, doing building and all sorts of stuff.

He's got a fairly long list there, the old fella. Unbelievable. not silly, is he? You imagine how many jobs he puts off through the years?

That's all right, Glenn, I'll be home at Christmas, we'll get him to do that. I mean, it's even, it's even better for him this year because we've got all the brothers home, so there's 3 of us and he's, uh, yeah, so. How good is it, eh? What do your brothers do, Watty? Sorry, what do your brothers do, mate?

Are they, a bit like you into their fishing laid back, or are they a bit more fair to income, or what's the story? Yeah, no, no. So again, there's 4 of us. So, uh, sister Fiona, she, she lives over in Clare in South Australia.

They're big time farmers over there doing a bit of cropping and that sort of thing. And then uh brother Dean is next down. He's he drives commercial workboats over in Scotland there now. He did do fishing guiding for about 4 years or so. And then, yeah, so he's in based in Scotland and then youngest Nicholas.

He's uh, he just finished up a job uh doing some uh work with robotics on um, on earth moving gear. So, yeah, he's, he's actually uh, you know, do a bit of gray nomad around this year, you reckon, so next year. Yeah, we're all home for the 1st time in a few years. It's good.

So even your brother from Scotland, he's home as well. Yeah, yeah, he came over and did his few days in isolation out in the bush and caravan and then he got his designable results. So, yeah, he's here for a few weeks, which is great. Oh, that is fantastic, mate.

Well done. I bet it's great to be catching up. Did he, did he, did he come home with a Scottish accent at all or? No accent, but he doesn't look like he's seen the sun for a couple of years. Yeah, that's right.

Good thing Christmas wasn't held at your place this year, mate, he would have ended up fried. Yeah, that's right. mate, it is great, mate. So what happens with the, so the Wadi family, getting together at Christmas time, which is great, which is what families are doing all over the country, and on the family farm, which must be, must be fantastic, mate, to spend time, you know, in that location there on the family farm.

I'm sure that that farm is probably special to all of you. Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, I was saying to some dudes were doing trucking a bit of grain the other day and the house on the property next door, which we did own for a lot of years, is where my grandad was born. He was one of 16, and then they built this house that we live in now, out of, um, the bricks are made out of, uh, uh, sand out of the creek, which is down the bottom of the hilly, so incredible, a lot of history here, and I went into the post office in town a couple of times the other day, and um, lady said, oh, every person that's coming in is a what at the moment, because everyone comes back for Christmas, and after 16 kids, 2 generations ago,

There a lot of us now. Yeah, I remember. He was one of 16. incredible.

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, they need a lot of workers back then, these fellas. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, geez, where good was he going?

Unbelievable. That's amazing. Now, mate, I guess you're not really... I suppose you are.

I mean, they're obviously still the fishing up in the Top End. They're still biting and people are up there having a go. Obviously, the locals that have stayed home for Christmas and those who have headed that way will be enjoying what's being caught up there, mate. Any standouts, any other tag fish court?

Have you heard? Yeah, no, there have been one more court uh, uh, down Dundee way. So that's good to be catching them, especially now that it is, it is raining, a fair bit up there. I keep an eagle eye on everything and uh, yeah, it is raining a lot up there now, which is good. um, and so to be continuing to catch those tag, Barrett, through the wet time is something that sort of hasn't happened very, uh, much in the last few years, so, uh, but yeah, we'll be starting the next big thing for territory fishing is, uh, once the, we do keep getting the rain is, uh, when the billabongs and stuff, they, like your favourite spot corroborate, billabong where, once it starts, they flood up and rejoin

all the little waterholes. Um, all the fish start moving around a lot more and you, and you do start getting some good little sort of Johnny on the spot bite moments, uh, say in the mouth of, uh, um, creeks, as they flow into the main river systems. So, that'll happen uh, sort of, you know, Christmas time through to the 1st couple of weeks of January and um, you know, the guys who are up in Darwin and got their finger on where the rains falling, we'll get some good results. Oh great stuff.

All right, mate. Well, Watty, thanks very much. for a game being a part of our program this year. You certainly do make a fairly healthy contribution and plenty of people who listen.

We broadcast all up through the northern territory, as you know. In fact, on the Karma radio network, we broadcast from Cowgirlie, right up through Cowgirlie to Catherine, Cowgirlie and WA to Catherine, Alice Springs, right up to Darwin, and Darwin Kicks Country Radio and Darwin as well. 2 stations up there, which is great. We love you being a part of the show, mate, and giving us that information because plenty of our listeners, from all parts of the country, love to head to the Top End for their getaways, and obviously love that barra fishing as well, and they love to know what's biting up there.

It just makes them feel good, even if you can't go. It sounds good and you're paying a good picture, mate. So thanks for being a part of the show this year, mate. Enjoy Christmas with the family.

It's great. You all together there on the farm and we see if we can't find you next week somewhere and see how it's all travelling for you there. Yeah, that's right. We'll be, uh, we'll probably turned into a yaddy by then, I reckon, we've been given the Dan's good blogging out here and getting a good feed of them, so that'll be good.

Good on you mate. Well, Merry Christmas. Talk to you soon. Good on you, you too, mate.

Have a good time. See you later. Oh, you know I will. There he is.

That's our man, Watty, and no one knows more about fishing in the top in than he does, and there he's spending Christmas right there on the family farm in Victoria.