Bag a Barra — 7 January 2022

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 Shimanofish.com.au.

And, of course, my mate, Glenn, Watty, what is the owner operator, and, of course, the guru at Barefoot Fishing Safaris? based up there in the Top End. And if you want to go, if you're planning a trip to the Northern Territory, and in particular, that Top End, and you want to go catch that elusive Barramundi, it's, I think every bloke's dream, even if you're not a fisherman, you need to go with the best in the business, and of course, that's my man, Watty. He's been on the family farm.

They got sick of him down there, so they kicked him out. He's on the line from the Top End. Why do you g'day? Yeah, g'day, duck.

How you going today? Well bad, mate. So you've been launched from the family farm in Victoria because basically they, you know, they like that once a year, small dose visit. Is that correct?

Yeah, that's right, until I eat too many of the old man's lamb chops and poach all the abbeys out of his dams and he gets sick of me and sends me on me way. Yeah, right, fair enough, which is what happens. But mate, it would have been good. You were down there for a little while and you caught up with family and you did some camping and you mucked around on the farm and you did all those jobs, your old man's been lining up for you all year and now you're back up there in the Top End.

How is it? You would have been a bit of a difference when you stepped off the plane back at Darwin. Yeah, that's right. We did leave some pretty hot weather in West Victoria there.

It was about 35 when we left, and that sort of hot, dry north wind, and we walked out the airport door, as everyone does in Darwin, and you get punching the face from the humidity and instantly starting to sweat. So yeah, the big difference actually a bit cooler temperature, but you do sweat a lot more. But it is nice to be back. We've had a lot of rain since we, since we did get back already. And I'm pretty excited to get out on the water in the next couple of days, actually myself, the Daly River has come up over 11 metres and then and has dropped back down to about 6 now, so should be prime time down there for a quick look.

It's unbelievable. So you got a fever around. I noticed you, you've got that owl farm happening up there. I can hear, it's what I, it sounds like ours in the background.

What's that noise? Yeah, this is I was standing right near our Avery. We've got some ring neck doves in here and some clail and yeah, they provide a nice little ambiance to our backyard. What a nice little what?

On Beyond. You know that, don't you? Oh that'll do me with you. I mean, I mean, I mean, you're supposed to be a hardened topping fishing correspondent and you're using words like our little omnience. Oh, yeah, there's many layers to myself, mate.

You dig a bit deeper and see how you... It's a bit of a worry. You go down to Victoria for 3 weeks, eh? Look what happens. Mate, you said you're going to get out on the, I'd say the Daly.

mate, what's biting around now? I mean, obviously with the wet season in full flight and you've mentioned plenty of water about and rain. Mate, the locals will be still out doing their best. What are they catching?

Yeah, that's right. It is a bit of a tricky one. We don't do any guided fishing through this time of year. Just because the weather is a bit unpredictable.

It's good, good for locals if you can sort of duck out, get a good weather window. you can still catch a snapper and dew fish offshore. Um, as well as, of course, the barrow fishing. It does change a fair bit though, um, as the road starts to get water across them and underneath culverts and bridges and stuff.

A lot of, a lot of Top End guys turn their focus from boat-based angling to land-based angling for probably a couple of months, 6 weeks or a couple of months, and and the old doing the Culvert running out the Arnham Highway or out towards D&D is a, is a really popular thing. So you chuck a couple of rods in the esky in the back of the Ute and go and stop at any drainway, bridge or culvert that crosses under a road and have a flick off the side of the road. It's a real territory thing, this one. A real territory thing.

That's, I remember you telling me that last year that people were catching Barron Monday off the side of the road. It's just incredible. It's one of our players. It's funny, you know, where I am at the moment, I'm still camped here on the central case, and I've spoken to a few people that are heading to Darwin next year, and they're asking me because they knew that I was up.

I've been up there with you and we were up there for quite a lengthy period there. I keep, well, not last year, now the year before. But the best time for them to go be, what, head there, what, May, June? That way everything will be open and when I say everything, I mean the water holes and the like. Yeah, it really depends on what you're looking for from your time in the territory, I suppose.

Like, uh, Alice Springs and and uh, that sort of southern side of things is um, you know, it's accessible and open year round. Obviously after a bit of rain, it looks beautiful down there. And then once you get up to the Top End here, yeah. I mean, if you, if you're fully focussed on the fishing, um, you could start sort of mid-February or late February, and then, um, if you're more into the tour, you want to go to waterholes for a swim and look at, look at waterfalls and and do sort of, I guess, the main tourism, tours and activities, um, that are, that are less fishing focussed, yes. Party the, I guess, April, end of April.

And that's sort of as the as the flood waters recede and they start to get in and open up those tracks out through Kakadu and Litchfield and that sort of thing becomes a bit more accessible then. Yep, absolutely. which I think is what you want to do. If you're going up there, you want to go and check out Litchfield and Kaka do in those places and have a swim in some of those beautiful water holes and none of those waterfalls.

So I guess around and like you say, end of April, May is a great time, mate. Okay, before we let you go, the $1000000 fish, any winners lately, have you heard? No, no. No winners lightly in the last... I'd be surprised if there's too many more just soon.

Those little hotspots like Bamboo Creek and and Shady Creek Barrage, just... Alright, mate. Our phone line's dropping out there. It sounds like it's got its leg up in the air and with you.

It's going to be dodgy, mate. We'll leave you there and we'll catch up with you next week, mate. Good on you, mate. Thanks very much.

You enjoy. There he is. That's our man, Watty. Check out the Facebook page.

Barefoot Fishing Safaris. We go to the website. Barefoot Fishing Safaris.com.au. If you're travelling to the Top End, you need to go out fishing with the best, and there's plenty to do up there, as I've told you, many, many times, and it wasn't that long ago, we broadcast a whole stack of shows from the Top End.

We had a great time doing it, and there is plenty to see and do, but the one thing you certainly want to do when you go up there is, of course, go fishing. So you need to do it with the best in the business, our man, Watty, Barefoot Fishing Safaris.com.au.