Bag a Barra — 8 September 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 Shimano fish.com.au. Watty? G'day, doc.

Yeah, listen, I've got a little challenge for you. Yeah, we've set up a TikTok, a TikTok. We've got Oz off road on TikTok. And we've got a bloke who works right now.

He's been on. He's been on. No, I'm not on there. He's been he's been on already today.

you missed him because you're probably fishing or something, but his name's Anthony. We call him T. So he's very, very smart. He's in the workshop.

I mean, he's lot smarter than me. And we've got this idea, tease TikTok, tech tips. So can you just say that 3 times quickly, tease TikTok, tick tips. Okay, yeah, yeah.

Up next is tease, TikTok, tep tips with tea. No, not tip. No, not tip. It's tech. You're as bad as Harry.

Teams, TikTok, tech tips. Tactics. tactics. No. What, the tic-tacs, aren't they?

There's always someone better than me. I'm not on TikTok, mate. I don't have that in my vote at the moment. I don't even know what it is, to be honest. I mean, I think my young bloke said that.

I lived a few beers one night and he's telling me about TikTok. I said, oh, mate, set us up. He put me on. I don't know how to get a hot date, man.

I know. I reckon that's something, but I'm on there. I'll get your band off pretty quick anyway, though. What's? Oh mate, I just, mate, I haven't got time for that stuff.

But anyway, all good. What's happening in the Top End? because you've been away. We haven't had you for a couple of weeks because you've been doing some fishing, but there's a lot going on and this time of year, things are on the turn a bit, aren't they? Yeah, absolutely.

Warm weather's sort of started up a bit and we've got some humidity back in the air and yeah, everything's really starting to kick in too. I suppose what's early buildup, you know? September is the start of the buildup and it's all behaving that way, so it's good. The fish have uh started to really fire up and not that they really had a quiet period too much this year, but um war attempts Barrow really active in particular and uh I don't know whether you saw, I'd have to send it through to you if you haven't seen it.

I took a video of some crocodiles, uh, doing some fishing on the East Alligator River with their little fingers up, and that's a real sign, uh, the marlet runs happening, which is a, a build-up thing as well, and um, our winds are changing and stuff. So yeah, we're, we're looking forward to the rain starting. We might even get a bit of rain in September, fingers crossed. Yeah, I know you love it.

You do look forward to that rain. Are the tours still on or they drop off now? Oh, no, I'm booked right through until the end of November, and the general tourism does tend to drop off, probably from mid-September onwards, largely, but the, the fishermen that want to come up and actually, you know, they dedicating a trip to fishing, uh, this is a really good time of year to get to, to get um, right back into some really good barrow fishing. So yeah, September, October, November, really quite busy months for, particularly for extended charter groups, right across the Top End.

Yeah, which is, yeah, which is, like you say, a lot of, you know, a lot of the big crowds would have left, wouldn't they? Yeah, that's right. Yeah, caravan parks start to thin out. I've actually got an uncle who's got a couple of theories on why it happens and he's a grey nomad, so he's probably in the loop more than I am.

Number one is, of course, footy finals are on, particularly local footy. A lot of grandparents want to get home for the local footy. And then the other one, Duck, which you'd probably know more about, uh, is that it's the start of bowl season early. Oh, yeah, we recycling. I wasn't home, mate.

I'm sitting thinking, where's he going with this? Oh, you idiot. Well, listen, listen, I've, I've done better footballs. You done that?

Yeah, we, I very often have my, uh, the Barefoot Fishing Safaris Christmas party at the uh, at the lawn bowl club down there at Steve Club in Darwin. What was that movie with Tom Maloza at Crackerjack or something where he took over the bowling club? Great movie. Oh, yeah, I mean, where's he going? I would have thought that that a tourism economy could be driven by lawn bowls in Victoria.

Well, there you go. I mean, I've never, I've got to say, I wasn't expecting that, and I certainly know nothing about it. I knew that I went and look, the only reason I went to the to the lawn bowls was because there was an open bar. It was a function.

Well, yeah, I mean, as you know, cheap beer at most bowls clubs. Well, that was an open bar. It was a function. Oh, there you go.

yeah. That was on. I mean, hello. I mean, yeah, oh.

They're good at functions when the be's on. And when they put on when they put on the beer. Yeah, that's right. Well, Barefoot, we usually have a couple of grand on the bar at the Barefoot, do some barries, um, Christmas parties, so, yeah, we get, yeah, we get a couple of other charter guys together and usually one of the, um...

What's the date of that? The date of that. just write that down. I'll be there

Yeah, we haven't decided yet, actually. Yeah, we were talking about the other day. We've got to get into it. Keep me posted. Yeah, well, I've got no doubt you started celebrating Christmas last year in October or something.

That's right. Yeah, yeah. I'll tell you the, well, I'll tell you the weekend. Now, there's been fly fishing.

a bit of an after that, isn't there? You've still run on the courses, because it is an art to that fly. I mean, I'd tangle it up and choked myself with a tangle around me neck and me arms and I'd be walking through it. I mean, I'd just be hopeless.

I mean, but there is an art to it, isn't there, with that fly fishing? Yeah, there he is. It's something that we do a lot of up here. It's a really effective way to catch a lot of tropical fish.

It, it enables you to, I suppose, present something to the fish that's, that's a bit more realistic of what they're actually eating. You know, you can really um create a bait fish pattern or a shrimp pattern to really look exactly like the, rather than sort of a lure or something just to get them to bite it. Um, so, yeah, it's a really satisfying way to fish, really effective, and it does take a bit of practice to get, uh, to get the hang of it, and particularly, um, for the tropical stuff, you do need to be able to cast a bit of distance and cast, um, quite quickly, and if, and, and of course, quite accurately, and it's one of the, it is one of the, I suppose, um, learning curves, or the next stage of difficulty, even going from freshwater fly fishing, where guys mostly used to catching trout and not casting too far, smaller fish, closer distances, that sort of thing, um, to doing what we call a double haul on some bit heavier gear and that sort of stuff, does get a bit more technical, but really effective way and super engaging, super fun way to fish because of course, most of the time we're spotting the fish, uh, before we even cast it and and trying to get that action right in front of him and and then get it to um, feed that fish and go.

It makes no difference to me. I mean, we're not only fishing. Have you've seen me? I mean, I hope I had no idea.

No idea. Now, one thing I probably would know. I'm the sort of bloke that had jagged the $1000000 fish. Um, I'm just one of those blokes, you know, without the girl who bought the $10 hand rule at 7-Eleven and went in at 110.

remember that one? Now, the $1000000 fish. The reason we bring it up is because it's on again soon. Yeah, that's right.

It's the end of September, it starts. I'm pretty sure I probably should know that. Um, but it's the end of September generally, and um, big news this year, actually, uh, that the $1000000 fish will go off. How do we know that?

Well, we're unsure of how it's actually going to happen at the moment, but we've been teased with um, with this. Yeah, the incentive that it will definitely go off this year. So, whether that's a random number of any tag that gets caught or whatever it might be. There's still going to be 100 of the $10,000 fish.

And on average seems to be around about 10 or 15 of them get caught every year. There's actually, they had their tallies up on their social media stuff the other day, being close to a $1000000 worth of $10,000 fish, um, caught already as well. Um, so, yeah, there's actually a bit of money go. go out of the pool already and and if we can get the 1000000 out this year, that'll be a that'll be a pretty big deal for someone.

I just don't understand how they would know that. It's guaranteed to go off. Yeah, well, I guess they've got their own little secret ways of doing it. Ducking, there's probably people out there that are smarter than you and me that are working missing out.

Well, definitely smarter than me. I mean, you know, but I just, that's, that's, well, mate, that just, that makes you want to get up there, doesn't it? Yeah, well, that's right. And maybe it'll be something like off the top of my head, it might be the 5th $10,000 fish that gets caught might be the $1000000 fish or something like that.

Yeah, right, okay. So they're going to turn one of the other ones into a 1000000 dollars. Oh, I reckon that'd be my bet. Yeah.

So, um, you know, all those normal hotspots where a lot of them get caught, Daly River, Bynoe Harbour, Dale and Harbour, Corrobery, Billabong, your favourite film being caught in Manton Dam. Yep, yep. And yeah, so it's, it's all go, and that, that goes right through until the end of March, um, and March being our, I suppose, the 1st month, 1st real month of our runoff fishing, uh, you know, you can combine, imagine if you could pay for your 5 day vision charter with a 1000000 bucks, um, plus 3 bit of change. What would you do if you won a million? I mean, well, say you won, if you won a lotto, say 5 million.

What would what he do? Yeah. Why do you probably pay off the house, number one? Yeah, much is out, though. Stop giving money to the bank and I don't need to, and then I'd probably go on a nice little holiday, buy a pretty big kick-ass boat, and I guess the smart money would probably be to take the rest of it down to roulette and chuck it on black or something, wouldn't it?

See if you can double it. If I won the five, you'll know when if I've won it. If I say 10 million, because you turn the radio one to listen to the show one weekend and you just hear this. No more duck.

Duck's gone. He's gone. He's won the 10 mil. Anyway, no, it's exciting time, great time of year, warming up.

The water's coming your way, Watty, and you hopefully think maybe, um, you'll get some water and some rain later this month, eh? Yeah, I reckon we'll be in for a storm or 2 later this month. It's sort of feeling that way. So fingers crossed.

All right, mate. Well done. Well, it's all happening up in your part of the world and look, we're playing on being there next year too. What do you say, stand by.

Start preparing for it now, I reckon. Yeah, that's right. and get some fresh locks for that gate, I reckon. Yeah, yeah, you'll need to do that, okay?

Well, bring an honorage with us. filming up there. Oz offro TV. We'll get you on.

Oh, get me on, yeah, face the TV for sure. Yeah, yeah, mate, absolutely. We get cameraman on the boat. They'll full go.

Well, get on the corroborate billabong as the sun's coming up. Make sure I'm on top, make sure I'm on time, actually this time. Yeah, we might get you to stay out there on a houseboat, so you can't be late. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, good with that. You got houseboats out there? Yeah. Yeah, it was funny. I remember the houseboats out on corroboration.

Hardy barges. They just had the, they just had the girls, secret women's barra fishing comp out there last weekend, actually. 200 odd girls in about 50 different boats and had a big old party corporate, bought a heap of fish and got fairly loose. Got on the drink. Up there in the territory.

Yeah, the weather for it too. Don't worry. I'm sure it is, mate. All right, mate.

We'll catch you next week. See what's doing and see if you'll be out there looking for that $1000000 fish, I'm sure, once that starts up. Yeah, I'll be out there as often as I can. I better go and download TikTok so I can check out...

Just give us one more. No, it's tea, teas, TikTok, tech, tech tips. T, TikTok, tech tips. Just give us one.

Tease, TikTok, tick tips. Tease, TikTok, tech tips. That's it. Get on the TikTok.

Yes, well done, Watty. Top of the glass, please, son. We've got purple on the... The security of the mouth. I've got people on this show that can't speak.

I know I'm not going that well myself, but I mean, hello. Yeah. Anyway, take it a bit steady for a start. Yeah, exactly. I've been practising it for 3 weeks.

Don worry. These TikTok, tick tips. There you go. All right, Woody, there he is.

See you next week, eh? All right, laden. Good on you. See you, mate.

That's him. That's our man, Glenn. What do you want? Barefoot Fishing Safaris.

You can check him out online. You can check out the Facebook page. Angling Adventures as well, and I'll tell you what, Ape, what he gets that $1000000 fish, he deserves it. He works hard up there and he puts back in.

I thought he was going to say, put the rest of the money in dono design. But he does. He does plenty of his time, shares the wisdom on some online courses and stuff like that. does some great videos as well.

Check him out. Barefoot Fishing Safaris.