Bag a Barra — 30 June 2023

It's time to head to the Top End and Bagabara. With Glenn Watty Watts, Thanks to Shimano. Remember to buy local and fish local. visit shamanofish.com.au.

Well, he is the man up there in the Top End, and we're going to talk about a place that's my favourite fishing spot up there. In fact, it's the only fishing spot I know because it's the only place I've ever fished in the Top End. Corroborate Billamong, where he's been through the week and had a bit of success. Of course, he has Watty, g'day, how are you, mate?

I'm going well. Yeah, that's right. It still continues to fish well this year, which is great, the old crobbery billable. So you've been out there through the weekday, just for people that don't know, corroborate bullabong, where is it?

And how big is it? Because that was the thing that got me. It's not really just a small billabong, is it? Yeah, that's right.

It is a bit of a weird one and perhaps a bit deceiving in its name. But, yeah, so corrobory is part of the Mary River system. It's about an hour and a half drive out sort of towards Kakadu, out the Arnham Highway, from Darwin. And yeah, it's just one section of what is the Mary River, which starts, um, you know, further south, um, across the other side of the highway, um, Mary River Lagoon, and then the next section is Hardy's Lagoon.

Then you've got corroborate Billabong, and then you've got Shady Camp fresh, and then you've got Sampan and Tommy Cutt Creek. So all different names, the different sections of what is actually the Mary River. I like that one. What was it?

What was it? Tommy's Cut Creek. Tommy Cut. Yeah, that's right.

Tommy Cat. He comes up with these names. I mean, it's a cracker, isn't it? Yeah, I know.

They've been around for a while, I suppose. Shady Camp. It makes you wonder how it got that name. There's not much bloody shader out there, but... Oh, is that right?

Yeah, oh, there's a couple of big old banyan trees, if you want to stand under and make friends with a 1000000 mozzies, but other than that, she's pretty bare country, blood plain grant. what it's called, Shady Camp, you know how you call red dogs blue and vice versa. Redheaded mates, we call them Bluey and stuff like that. Yeah. I mean, corroborate is actually the, uh, it's perhaps the biggest section of that entire system, really, because there's a, there's well over 40 kilometres of, of water there that you can fish in, and as you saw, it, it's actually, you know, it's quite big, it's much wider than Murray River, and a lot of points of it.

And, you know, five, six, 8 metres deep. And, um, yeah, it's, uh, to think of a billabong, like a swag man sitting beside a billabong and, um, yeah, how are you going to take a fishing charter in there? But, um, yeah, no, it's just like being on a big river and it is a fairly beautiful spot. Oh, mate, I can remember when we're burning along and then all of a sudden you've added through those little channels running through the lilies. It's just amazing space.

I loved it. That's a great one. Yeah. Even the drive out. I mean, you got the road, you got the pub.

I mean, I mean, it is a good spot. Yeah, they're both sitting out at the corroborate tavern there right now, so I'll probably have to go back out there one day after 11 o'clock to pick it up. What have you done off the boat out there? Yeah, when I've got a few days in a row out there, I tend to leave it at the pub.

We used to leave them right at the boat ramp there when we're there all the time, but these days, the road, to the boat ramp, so we bring them back, fuel them up, and unhook them beside the pub there, and then, and you can, um, you know, just grab the boat as you bring out the next group the following day. So it's really convenient in that way. They're pretty safe. Nothing happens.

Yeah, yeah, it's all just in the caravan park out the back there. So they've got some, they've got some good accommodation out there and caravan parks, chockers and obviously most people around there and they're, they're there for the same reason. They have a bit of fun, so hopefully they're not going to go through boat too much. If they do, they can give it a bit of a wash and a polish.

That'd be good, but we'll see how it comes up when I get back out there, I suppose. Yeah, absolutely. How'd you go? Did you catch a few when you're out there today?

Yeah, it has been really good. It just continues to fish well. I think this, um, the El Nino, where the pattern that we're in, it's kept things pretty warm and and the water tempers just stayed right up there this year, um, and and the fish just really haven't gone off the bike, like they do, sometimes when we get a bit of a cold break, but today, uh, the last few days have been really cool. There's one particular spot in the billabong there that's um got some water running in off the floodplain and It's probably in an area, say, the size of a regular sized house, maybe not your house, duck, it might be a bit big, but a regular.

No, no, mate, I'm a v mate. No, come on, please. That was a very modest place, mate. There's a bigger the joint, the more you got to clean.

Anyway, go on. Yeah that's right. There's, there's probably, there would have been 30 jabberoos, um, wading around in this little bit of water and probably at least 30 crocodiles, maybe more, all just sitting around in this same spot right where all the bait was coming off the floodplain, and yeah, the Barra and Saratoga and Tarpon just going crazy on all these little rainbow fish, bait fish that are getting forced off the floodplain. So pretty much just sit there for the last few days and and catch fish.

So yeah, it's pretty awesome to see that you get there. Of course, we get there, you know, right on sunrise and got all these birds dancing around on the floodplains and stuff and yeah, you're just sort of like, wow, this is pretty special stuff. Oh, you got to love that, mate. You've got to be happy with that.

All right, mate. Well, it sounds fantastic. Robbery, Willowong, and I've seen it firsthand after you've been out there with you. The thing that blew me away was the size of the thing to start with and then just the scenery and the feeling of the place.

It certainly does have a bit of an aura about it. I mean, it's just beautiful. It's just, especially right, it was the sun's coming up. You can't get much better.

All right, well, we might see if we can catch you somewhere next week, mate, if you're not out fishing somewhere. Yeah, I'll be floating around, mate. Probably in between here and the tavern somewhere. Yeah, or one of the taverns.

Yeah, that's right. The taverns? Any of them? The tavern, exactly. Exactly.

All right, Watty. We'll catch you next week, eh? Good on you, Doc. There he is, Barefoot Fishing Safaris or Angling Adventures.

Find either of those names and you'll find Watty. how good he is. Angling adventures and you can go out of the website or you can afford to go to the Barefoot Fishing Safaris website as well and of course social media pages. He's the best in the business up there in the Top End and certainly does know his stuff when it comes to how to catch fish, where they are, when they're on the bike, when they're not, he's all over it.