Bag a Barra — 22 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 shamanofish.com.au.

And of course, Wadi is our man in the Top End from Barefoot Fishing Safaris, and of course, angling adventures, and you can check him out on the website and book your fishing gig for next year. You want to get up there, you want to catch the real deal. You need to go with our man, Watty. And he is on the line.

Now, Watty, they told me there was someone skinny dipping at Berry Springs last week. That wasn't you, was it? No, that was Louise. I was hot on it.

Oh, you are very... She obviously doesn't listen to this show. Oh, yeah, no, she's an avid listener and she walks around in the nerd all the time. as you know you would have seen it.

Well, I see it. I'm down here. I mean, Fan Deakum. When you were parked outside over the fence there last time you were up. No, listen, they try and get me in trouble and you're going to get yourself in trouble, right?

Now, listen, what, more important thing, though. You did mention to me off air that you'd been swimming in very spring. I like my hair good is Berry Springs. If you go to Darwin.

It only like it's, what is it, half an hour out of Darwin? Yeah, yep. Round about that, not much longer, if any, if it is, um, beautiful spot, and the water, even in the colder months, well, cold for us, but, um, yeah, it's sort of, it is a bit warmer than, um, perhaps, uh, other normal water around. So, yeah, even comfortable when it's a bit chilly up here, but um...

I was there in wintertime was, can you swim in very springs during summer? Uh, no, the, as soon as it starts flooding, they, uh, they do close it, uh, dropping that crops, um, start pushing further up from Darwin Harbour, um, where it flows into. Yeah, but, uh, you know, right throughout the year, it's just, uh, it's a great spot and we were there on, uh, yeah, last weekend whenever that was, and it was absolutely chock a block in the car park, but the good thing is that such a big area that, um, everyone can spread out and still have a picnic sort of on their own. Yeah, it's a great spot. Got plenty of, um, plenty of spots to have a swim and you sort of drift down between 3 different pools and, uh, yeah. I mean, our kids love it.

We can go there every weekend. Yeah, it's a great sport. Probably one of the best places I think I've ever swam. It was beautiful.

That's a beautiful spot. But now, yeah. Now, quickly the, because before we get onto the big video, the $1000000 fish, it's about to kick off. Yeah, that's right.

I'm just on their website at the moment. Season 9 starts at the end of the month and um, yeah, and guaranteed 1000000 to go off. There was last year I I sort of remembered it a bit wrong. There was 20 recaptured Barra out of the 100 tag fish release last year, so there you go.

That's not bad, is it? Yeah, yeah, that's right. So, and so $230,000 worth of prize money claim. When you think about it, that's, I mean, how many, I mean, there's a lot more than a 100 fish swimming around.

So you've got a 100 fish tagged and 20 were caught. Yeah, that's right. It really goes to show the amount of fishing that is happening up here. I reckon so.

Yeah, that's, that's right, because uh, especially before uh, the end of the year, when it, um, when everything does sort of flood, most of them are caught before Christmas, looking at that, probably 3 or 4 of them after Christmas, but yeah, so... You've had a bit of rain there too, Watty? Yeah, on and off. We actually haven't been under any at our place here at Bees Creek, but I've driven on the road through puddles in various places, scattered all around the Top End. So, yeah, it's starting. My weather guru, mate, that I follow up here, reckons it's going to be probably a bit of a late start, but still a good season.

uh and that's fine by me. Yeah. Okay. I know you love it now.

Let's get onto my spot. Corroborate Willabong. You were out there the other day. Tell me what you've seen. Was all that?

Oh yeah. I finished a finished a 5 day trip with a few mates from down home there last week and we were in there mostly to catch some Saratoga. We've got plenty of barrow through the week, fishing in Bynoe and Dundee and all the other blue water fish as well, and we just went in there on the last day to have a look at that beautiful area and some animals and I went, um, right up to the back. Actually, it was right in the area where you caught your barrow there, on the opposite bank there last, or year before last, and yeah, there was a, there was a cow, it would have been a wiener sized cow.

Um, you know, it would be a couple 100 kilos and um, it was half eaten by the time we found it, uh, with 20 crocodiles, probably none of them under 2 metres. There was some that would have been pushing 4 metres there, I reckon. Unbelievable. Chewing on him and yeah, in beautiful, sort of clean green water. So I put the drone up and got some amazing footage of it.

Chucked it up on YouTube there if anyone wants to have a look. All you have to do is search up crocs eating cow if you'll find it. It's on YouTube. Yeah, there's a link through my Facebook page, but you can search it straight up on YouTube.

So the cows, the, so obviously the cows obviously gone down close to the water for a drink or something and, um, and the crops have grabbed hold of him and pulled him in. pulled it in. Yeah, we've had a bit of bad fire where they're up here lately. It's sort of the worst time of year for fire just before the rain and, you know, everything's really dry and it doesn't take much to get a bit of windy weather and, um, yeah, there was fires up in the sort of higher country around the Billabong, so I don't know whether the, um, the station guys pushed the cuddle down onto the floodplain or that, or they just let them down there to get a bit of green pick late in the season.

But, you know, there's a lot more cattle down on the on the edge of the water and um, yeah, obviously that one was silly enough to um, go and check out what that funny looking log was. That was the last thing he did. Yeah, and the crocs have come from everywhere to get that many of them into it. I mean, how many crooks have been, corroborate Billabong, you reckon?

It's very hard to know. I think, I mean, there were 20 that I could count in the drone, uh, that you can see, and then, of course, there's a, there's going to be a lot more that you can't see, even in that immediate area, there'd have to be 100s. Uh, you know, it's a big, corroborate billabong's a bit of a misleading term. I sort of have to explain it a lot.

actually. It's actually a part of the Mary River. Um, one, just one section and, and, and all the different sections of the Mary River have got individual names like Shady Camp is one, Shady Camp Fresh, Corrobory, Billabong, Hardy's Wagoon, and, and so on. Um, and, and yeah, like there's probably, there'd be 40 or 50 kilometres of, of, uh, of, of section of river in corrobory Billabong. So, yeah.

I know I was surprised when I went up with you. How big it was and how we went through those lily pads and in a different sections and the like. Yeah, it really is. It's big.

We should sort of refer to it as the Mary River, and that might be a bit more accurate in people's minds, but there's such a beautiful spot that, you know, I try and get people there at least one day on our extended charters, and there's always plenty of fish to catch, and you see some amazing stuff like this too. We saw a heap of pigs on the side of the water that day as well. I don't know whether they'd been chased down by the fire as well, mate. Yeah, you never know mate.

Well, they'll certainly get chased out of the water, that's for sure, if they can get away. Yeah, that's right. The old crocs are loving to bacon for breakfast, I think. reckon they would.

All right, mate. Well done. Okay, so people can check that out. They just, so on, it's on YouTube.

What do they search? Yeah, oh, you can go onto the Barefoot Fishing Safaris, YouTube page. Well, that's the game. We'll see it there. Yeah.

Go onto your Facebook page. Barefoot Fishing Safaris. the video there. Yep, that's right.

All right, there you go. I have a look at it. I have had a look. I mean, I mean, you come up with the name of the video.

Crocs eating cow. Creativity is not one of my strongest suits, Duck. I mean, this is like kindergarten stuff. Crocs eating cow. Yeah, I'll have to get to that. Suggestions for a better name then, will you?

Harry, what do you think? Maybe some of the, maybe some of the artist type people down your way that you hang out with might be able to tell me a better name. Well, maybe we give that job to a 1st year apprentice. He's a great he's a great title for the video.

Crocs eating cow. Anyway, good stuff's original. Well done. Well, that's what it is.

That's what it is, mate. You can drop it at creative ages anytime soon, buddy. No, that's bloody good too. Don't like it. Don't work too much.

Crocs eating cow. All right, mate. Well done. And we'll talk to you next week, eh?

Yeah, warm. Oh, yeah, I'll probably be fishing. Actually, I'm not sure what I'm doing next weekend, but yeah, we'll see. I'll be, I will have some more fishing reports, though.

And by then, oh, no, we'll be ticking off. The minutes will be ticking down to $1000000 fish, so everyone wants to get registered if they're coming up. And also it pays to register regardless of whether you're planning to travel or not because there's a heap of um lucky prizes just for registering. Is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Me and Harry will sign out, sign up for it now then.

Well done. That's right. Yeah, there's a heap of prizes on the website. milliondollarfish.com.au.

Alright, good stuff, mate. All right, we'll chat to you if we can find you next week. Good on you, mate. There he is.

That's Watty, and up there, Barefoot Fishing Safaris. Check out the video, crock eating cow, and... Anyway, check that out. Barefoot Fishing Safaris on Facebook.

You'll see the video there. scroll down a few posts and there it is. It's on YouTube. So, and check him out anyway, check out the website, check out Angling Adventures, and if you want to get away for fishing up there, not now, but in the next year.

And he's probably already taking bookings and he gets a lot of repeat business. What do you need to jump on and go fishing with the best. We might even slip up there and go fishing with him one day ourselves next year. a bit of filming for us off road TV, uh, which will be good.

But he is the best in the business up there. Great. Basically Barefoot Fishing Safaris or angling adventures. But check out crock eating cow.