Bag a Barra — 9 June 2023

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. Well, of course, he's the man behind Barefoot Fishing Safaris, as well as angling adventures, bottle shops, stopoffs, proprietary limited, um, get rid of mid-strength beer and only have the real gear.com.

Watty. How's winner going up there, son? Oh, well, thankfully, mate, winner's done up here. We had our 3 or 4 days where it got under 20 degrees, so yeah, we're serious?

Yeah, yeah, no, we don't like too long of a winner down here. What wind is done? What about how you've been bumped up? You've been bumped up the order, mate.

Top of the show, though. Back where I probably back where I probably should belong, mate. I mean, I'm probably one of the eldest statesmen of the show now, aren't I? Should be...

Oh, you are? along with Vic Whitman? Well, Vic Whitman, Vicki's normally on now, but he's he's in some sort of a meeting at the moment. He's joining us a little bit later on, but yeah, no, you know, where you are, I guess.

I mean, Vic's been around him for about 10 years. I mean, you've been honest with about five. Yeah, probably would be now, yeah. Unbelievable.

Nonsense I put up with here. Yeah, listen. So what do you reckon? Win and went for what, 3 days? Oh, it might have been 4, mate.

It was a bit of a struggle probably through that 4th day, yeah, but I think we've come out the other side of it now and should be right for the rest of the year. I reckon. Yeah, so it was under 20. So what was it, 19.9 or something?

Yeah. Darwin gets under 20 for a few nights a year and everyone whinges and moans. It actually, out of our way, um, and, you know, one of your favourite places corroborate, it does get, we'll, we'll have days at, at, a corroborate tavern there, um, where it's under 10 degrees, um, or mornings. Oh, really? It's 28 or 29 pretty quickly after that.

Yeah. Not for very long. You might get a week of it at the most. Usually around May, June, and I think we've had it.

It looks like we're going into Nino, where the patterns. So, yeah, well, it should be a bit warmer this year, I reckon, which is good for the Barra fish and keeps them fired up. I know you should mention the tavern, not the actual, not the actual billabong itself. You actually mentioned the temperature.

You'd know the temperature at the tavern, especially what's coming out of the tap seat. Now, listen, you've been everywhere, mate, since we spoke to you last, because last week I think you were off fishing somewhere and we couldn't get hold of you, I think you might have been at Shady Camp or somewhere there. But mate, where have you been? How are they biting?

What's the latest? Is there plenty out there to catch? Yeah, it has continued to fish really well. I mean, we did have that little bit of a cold period, which does slow the bite down, particularly on the barrow, but it does, in, in, in other respects, it fires up the pelagic fish.

Um, but I, yeah, I've done a few days recently fishing for myself and um, you know, just a few mates and stuff and the barrow fishing, particularly in Darwin Harbour, um, has been really good. I took the Mako sunglasses sales ripping out fishing the other day actually. I'm just about... Get the plug in. Get the plug in. I'm not... I mean, you're getting

I mean, I know you're in Rick Woodman's spot here, and that's what he does. You slip the plug in. So, who is it, the make-o, who does make? Yeah, the main glass of sales rep. Yeah, they've been, they've looked after me for a long time. Yeah, hang on, Harry, are you there, Harry?

Harry, yeah, I am. How are your makeo sunglasses, mate? Are they all right? Pun? You make those sunglasses.

How are yours, guys? Did you get your pair? No, not yet. Well, yours must be with mine.

I mean, he's just plugging them away. Checks in the mail, mate. Oh, fair D. I mean, you're red hot, the make game.

They just Google what they look like. What are they called? Mako, are they? Yeah, the ones that suit you best, probably the Mako explorers, mate.

Okay, let me just check them out. Mud flaps on the side of them. Oh no, no, I'm not a fan of those. I'm not a fan of those. Makeo sunglasses.

Make those sunglasses. Oh, the review. These would all be written by Watty under disguised names, a review. Oh, they come with warranty and parts, and every replacement parts? So these aren't like the ones you used to wear from the 7-Eleven?

No, luckily enough, I've been able to upgrade slightly in those days, but... I need prescription ones too. I need some prescriptions. to the automatist right now to get my prescription makers off.

I mean, hang on a minute. Look at how many models they do. Mate, I think they should be advertising here. I'm sorry.

You want to get onto them? Which ones do we want? Which ones do you want me to get the explorer? Let me look at you.

Pretty good. Let me look at the Explorer. Oh no, I'm not a fan of that. no I'm sorry.

They're the ones, they're the ones, but they're the ones we use for site cast and barrow on the flat. It blocks out all the, all the light coming in from around the side, so you really get that. Yeah. Which ones to pick? Let me just go through them. I just give my daily wear the whole show. Yeah, the blade?

Blade, let me look at the blade. Good for a big fat head like mine. Yeah, I don't mind them. don't look too bad.

Man, they got clothes a bit more stylish. The Harry's. Oh, the Harrys are probably the flashest ones. What are they called?

The Harry's. Hang on. They've even got them named? Oh, hang on, I want some of those.

Harry wants a pair of Harrys. There you go, Harry, look at them. Look at the colours they come in. Just trying to get that page to load.

I'll tell you now. you'll be sending this to you'll be sending this to make those sunglasses after today. I mean, they've got the... What's this? The, what are the Mavericks look like? I'll just look at them. Let me have look at them.

The Mavericks are pretty cool. They all look pretty modern and funky. Yeah, more than funky, that old do. Anyway, okay, that's enough for makeo I wear.

And I'm sure what you'll be putting in an invoice for the big plug that they've copped here today, that is for sure. Anyway. Look, if you are the boss of Maker, don't go send him too many sunnies out. He was always happy with the ones from the survey. And he was always happy wearing those. But anyway, now, listen, let's get back onto where people are catching fish.

So you've, you, you were telling me off air that you've been into Kakadu, and they're catching fishing all right in there. Yeah, Kakadoo Billabongs are all starting to open up now, which is really exciting. So, they'll, they'll fish really well, um, particularly now, hopefully, the cold weather's gone, um, all the tracks start to dry out, and, and in we go in our smaller boats, uh, my big boat's a bit too big for those small remote billabongs, just the dirt, uh, launch, launching area, but, um, yeah, the big rivers continue to fish really well, and, and of course, the blue water comes right online, this time year too, the tuna, and mackerel, queenfish Travale, all that sort of stuff, so, if the wind stays down, which is definitely doing it the moment, um, it becomes a really, um, like the probably, it's the best mixed fishery, definitely in the country up here, um, that I've ever fished, for sure.

Yeah, absolutely. and yeah. It's amazing, people forget that there are other species up there. I know everybody thinks, you know, the Top End, the northern territory.

Let's go get Barramundi, but there's plenty of other good fish on the bite up there, isn't he? Oh, of course, yeah. And you're exactly right. Everyone comes to Darwin as a bar destination, but, but, sort of, often what we say is they, they keep coming back for all the other species that sort of wrap around, you know, like, the reefish like our cold trout and the big black dew fish that, they grow to a metre in 3 years, you know.

So we got onto them the other day at Shady Camp. yeah. you know, we caught, caught 9 of them. They all over a metre, metre 20 metre 28,

I think was the biggest one. How long it take you to pull that in the boat? Oh, they're pretty strong fish. They do big, long, strong runs.

I'm not fishing in real deep water. I think it's only about 5 metres deep on that particular spot, so they run you all around the boat and it's complete chaos, but yeah, it takes a few minutes and you're knocked up at the end of it for sure. They have sort of £40 of those fish. Unbelievable.

So how long you take, you reckon? Oh, I mean, it seems like it takes 10 minutes, but it probably takes 3 minutes, you know what I mean? Like, when you... Oh, hang on.

Hang on. That's another pair of make-o sunglasses being delivered to Watty's place, Harry. Unbelievable. What are you, to break into someone's car, are you?

I'll stand outside the pub, mate. There's a bit going on out. Yeah, so all right. So there's plenty of fish on the bike.

Plenty of tourists in town. Yeah, I reckon there's not as many as you probably expect at the moment. I'm sure it'll build up though. Yeah, it is, it's probably a bit early.

It's a, it's the next set of school holidays when it really starts to happen and and then continues to flow from there, but certainly plenty of caravans starting to come up and and the odd day tour inquiry. So, yeah, it'll it'll get busier and busier. Yeah, I think so mate. And I think, um, well, if it's, I can tell you now, um, we're on based here at Blue Collarville at the moment, it is a fair bit chillier than where you are, and I'm typically a lot of people in the southern parts of the country, and I, I, I basically regard, you know, New South Wales and, you know, especially from, say, the mid-north coast down, or maybe a bit below that as the southern part of the country.

It gets pretty chilly down here, mate. And, uh, you know, in on the outskirt. in the Hawkesbury, as you know, and burning plenty of firewood here, Watty, at the moment. I bet you are.

Yeah, we I spent a couple of days in Cairns there last week, actually, and I sold pretty cold there, and then I realised how far down South Kansas. So we're calling Cairns down south from up here, but yeah, that's right. I'd hate to I Well, I wouldn't hate to be, but it definitely would be chilly down in Tazzy and good old Western Victoria, where I'm from on the farm.

Yeah, I reckon so, mate. going through it. Yeah, well, we're going through plenty of firewood out there, mate, that's for sure. All right, mate.

So there's plenty of fish on the bike. No matter where you go, you're lucky you're you'll strike a blow, which is what we like to like to hear, mate. and fantastic. And I think you are right.

I think there's going to be so many people heading up there over the next, you know, 3 months will just be, I think you'll be inundated and all those caravan parks up there. My favourite, the free spirit with the bar near the pool. That'll be that'll be chockers. Yeah, I've got a few clients booked into there later on, actually, at the great play.

They're good rooms. Yeah, the whole lot. Yeah, it's a top spot that one, mate. and I really, look,

I mean, I've got no deal with them. I mean, but we camp there when I was up there and I thought, how good is this place? You just couldn't wait to go up to that bar of an arva, that live entertainment, everything going on there. Yeah, yeah, that's right, yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. All right, mate. So what pub are you at now? Oh, just outside the Karama Tavern, actually.

She's pretty hustle and bustle out here. going for a cannery. Yeah, yeah, fair enough. You get in there, mate.

Get in there. All right, you've knocked off work, haven't you? Well, yeah. I mean, I'm self-employed.

Oh, well, made full strength all the way then. Good stuff. All right, mister... Make how I wear. There you go.

That's who that's who decking me out with his sonnies and he wears. Which ones do you wear? I wear the blades and the explorers, mostly. Blades and the Explorer.

It's a quick one. How many pairs have you got? I've got him in a bag in the shop just in front of me. Actually, there's about 12 pairs in your back.

That's all right. That it. worry about me and Harry, mate. We'll just keep wearing the survey, sonny.

He's OK. Yeah, no worry about it. It's all right, mate. We'll look after your sponsors.

Yeah, those light servos only suit you anyway. But I don't know how much the white ones. How much are you charged? You'd be charging them, absolute.

You'd be a skinful. You'd be charging them plenty just to put them on your head, I reckon. Well, probably should, shouldn't I? What do you mean should, please?

You're talking to me, yeah. All right, Watty, I'll let you get into that. Get that count of lunch, mate. All right, mate.

Good on you. Have a good week, eh? You're good for you too, mate. There he is, the man who knows what's biting up in the Top End.

And of course, that's our man, Watty, Barefoot Fishing Safaris.