Bag a Barra — 14 July 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 shamanofish.com.au.

Well, he's the man that knows everything that's going on in the fishing world in the north in the Top End, but I'll need to believe he's been on a bit of a family holiday in the Gold Coast, but he's still got his finger on the pulse and Barefoot Fishing Safaris. That's the business or angling adventures. And I'm not sure where he is right now, but he's on the line, Watty. G'day.

Hey, Doc. How are you? I'm going, all right, mate, they tell me you've been down at the Gold Coast. Yeah, that's right.

We took the kids for a bit of school holiday fun down to the Gold Coast there last week and you know, did the SeaWorld and movie world with the kids, which was heaps of fun. We did it when we were kids, so it was a, yeah, it was fun to go back there with my kids and ride on a few rides with them and see some cool stuff over in Queensland. I was about to say, did you go on the ride? So did you go on the Superman ride or whatever it is?

The big one? Yeah, yeah, we did. Geez, that was the bloody Purlo. That, um, yeah.

What is it? The, um, only hyper coaster in the southern hemisphere or something? Bloody hell, it was fast, scary. I don't know what a hypercaster is, but I'm sure. But there's no way you get me on that.

Sorry. Yeah, good. And then the other real good one that SeaWorld was the Leviathan. Yeah, that was a cracker too. The theme parks.

Where did you stay? You stayed at the big 4 then? There's a big 4 up there on the right near there. a crack.

No, it was like a small kids resort, just in the Gold Coast there somewhere. Of course. My brothers and sisters there and all their kids in it. So yeah, it was fun. It's been a bit of time playing with the kids and having a bit of a relax, I suppose.

peak through season at home, of course. So it was good to sort of get a bit of a breakaway and of course a bit quiet time up here. So it was good. There would have been a bar there.

Yeah, a little bar there, yeah. Yep. They had a state of origin, uh, seemed VB can, which was uh, novel. Yeah okay.

What was it, the state of origin one? Yeah, the Maroon and Blue VV cans, which I'd never seen before. They still tasted, alright? Yeah, fair enough.

You don't drink the can, you idiot. I mean you drink what's inside them. Now, what's happening up north fishing wise, you're off to Kakadu next week? Yeah, that's right.

Next trip off to Kakadu. A few blokes there for 4 days. So we'll spend a fair bit of time exploring all those remote, or a bit more remote billbongs that we touched on there a couple of weeks ago. So, that'll be, that's going to be really good.

They've never been up before these guys. So, um, all those billabongs, even though you're sort of, you're fishing for the same fish, they're all quite different in their own respect. So, yeah, you get a real good cross section of all the different landscapes and terrains and trees and animals and critters and everything that hangs around all those different areas. So it'll be a great one.

There's, there's only a fish comp, which we talk a bit about here. When does that kickoff again? Uh, that'd be end of September, I reckon that'll be. Yeah, so they'll be busily sort of preparing for that now and they'd be tagging a few fish and stuff already.

And every now and then one will get caught before the comp starts and um, and, you know, people will think they might get a prize, but of course they don't. But yeah, of course, the $1000000 fish are still floating around. So if someone catches the new, the one with the $1000000 numbers on him now, they'll, they'll still get the payout, which is cool incentive to go for a fish. Well, he's not floating around.

He's swimming around. Yeah, that's right. Hopefully he's not floating around. Yeah.

That's exactly right. We don't want him to be floating around. We need him to be fishing around. But yeah, no, I was just running when that kicks off again.

which is which is fantastic. So not until September. So you've got, look, it would be absolutely full noise up in the Top End now, wouldn't it? Yeah, it really is, especially um, with uh, Northern Territory uh, still in there, uh, we've got our long school holidays at the moment, so, 3 weeks, and uh, the phone, just for half day and one day trips alone, just, um, continues to ring, and it's a shame to have to turn people away, but that's sort of the reality of the situation these days, if you don't get in early, you, you do miss out, and um, there's actually not as many operators around as there was.

Say 5 years ago, and Darwin, as far as guide, fishing goes either. So, um, yeah, it's a bit more of a. You've seen them off? seen them off.

The big end of town. You've seen them off. Yeah, scared them away. and went and got a real job again.

Mate, I saw through the week there was an incident at Litchfield involving a crocodile. Did you hear about that Yeah, I did, um, I did see that and I keep a pretty close eye on that sort of stuff. It's um, yeah, it's an interesting one.

I guess a bit more detail will come out in next week or so, but the rangers would have went out there and set some traps and perhaps harpoon that crocodile pretty quickly, I would have thought, and it'd be back open again and full steam ahead again. But yeah, I mean, it, it's a, it's a reminder that even in areas that you, that you sort of expect to be, you know, right to go. It, it, it still pays to be careful and keep an eye out for each other, especially in some of those swimming holes that, that particular place is um, uh, has got a lot of overgrown vegetation and stuff like that. So I guess a, a smaller crocodile could slip through the surveying and stuff that they do before they um open those holes up or, or it could have walked in too.

So, yeah, it'd be interesting to see how it all turns out. All right, mate. Yeah, it's good advice there. Just be careful, even when they say it's got the all clear, you just never, ever know.

And I'm pretty sure that's where we went that day, swimming in there, and it's a very popular spot, so, but you've got to be crockwise, as they say. You're a good man, Watty. Look, I hope you enjoy what's left of your little holiday and head off to Kakadu next week and we'll see if we can't jag on the phone then, eh? Yeah, mate, that's good.

Hopefully we might get that $1000000 fish. You be sneaking around out there somewhere. Yeah, that's right. If you do, put him in a tank and then producing back out in September.

Yeah, well, yeah, that's right. They call me Billy, not silly. Exactly right. And there he is.

All right, well, talk to you next week, mate. Good on you, bud. Thank you. There he is.

That's Glenn Watt, the man who's seen a few fishing guides off in the northern territory. No, not really. But he is the best in the business, of course, Barefoot Fishing Safaris, or angling adventures, and you can find the websites there, and of course, if you want to go fishing in the Top End, go with our man, and of course, he is Wadi, and he'll certainly get you out there and get yourself that elusive barramundi.