Bag a Barra — 12 January 2024

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, normally, we go to our man, Wadi, from Barefoot Fishing Safaris up there in the Top End, but he's actually got a bit further than the Top End now. In fact, he's in Port Moresby. Hello. What do you come in, son?

Yeah, g'day, Doc, get almost get a prize for the most loggedest call in, Doc. No, we've actually had longer than you. I'm sorry. Oh, really?

Okay. No, I'm the one. What do you want me to lie? I can say I can say that, but I can tell you that. Listen, mate, now I've got to say, you're up there fishing and you're checking out spots and you're doing some maintenance on fishing cabins, but you sent me a couple of videos.

It's all happening where you are. Yeah, that's right, yeah, you, everyone um down Australia would have seen a little bit of news on the telly um bit of um unrest in Moresby here a few days ago, but um, yeah, I mean, it's been pretty isolated areas and just some hungry people trying to get a feed that's um pretty tough life here for a lot of people. So, unfortunately, um, yeah, it gets a bit out of control every now and then, but no, no, no harm done for us and we're actually out fishing right now, mate. I'm the president of the game fishing club.

Boat and catching a couple of mackerel and have a good time, so it's all good. Absolutely. Well, actually, look no different than a barbeque at your place, to be honest. That's what I thought you were.

Yeah, that's right. I thought, hang on, what you today, putting on a... putting on a down. What he's put on a big deal at his place. But so you're out fishing now. So what sort of bait, you're like a big sucker on tipping, is it? or?

Yeah, yeah, just a nice big fibreglass glass boat and yeah, we're trolling around a few lures for some mackerel and dolphin fish and tuna and stuff. They give um, amazing glue water fishing here as well as all that um, that fresh water, river stuff that we do at Lake Murray and Ben's back as well. So, yeah, we're getting a good taste of it all this trip and um, exactly why we wanted to come over here and really get a feel for the real place and um, so we know what we're, what we're talking about when we're sending people over here and coming over back, back ourselves later on this year as well. So you'll, you'll, you'll take, you'll take groups over as a fishing guide to that area, yeah?

Yeah, yeah. I'll come over and host a few of the trips, but a lot of the groups, they'll come over with an experience, a group leader that's been here before. Um, and, you know, once you, once you hit Port Morsby, you're just from the international airport, straight to the domestic and and then you're up into Mount Hagen and um, and then out to Lake Murray. So you can spend as much or as little time in the cities as you want.

And of course, for me, one big city is just the same as the other one. So, I don't worry about it too much, but, um, yeah, it's, it's a matter of us just putting together some really good safe itineraries for people and, um, and choosing the right hotels and, and getting the right local people on, on our team. So we um we can provide a good service for all our clients coming over New Guinea this season. And do you get a few?

Do you actually get a few people bookings for this sort of thing? Oh, it's huge. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

One of our lodges we book for over here at the Bendsback River, um, could probably book out 3 years in advance, I think, if we open the books up that far out, um, and Lake Murray, um, should be booked out for the season, uh, in the next couple of weeks. I think we might have one or 2 spots left there for the black bass, fishing and barram, undy fishing ride in the middle of the western province, on a, on a lake, mate, that's 60,000 acres, with 5 rivers that flow into it, about the size of the Daly River. You know, it's a massive, massive system, biggest lake in New Guinea. So, um, I got some really good mates there and we, I, um, I, I keep saying to the lioness,

I'm going to move there one day. I just love it there. Yeah, right, OK. I bet she's keen to pack her bags and move over there as well.

Well, see, actually, there's opportunities for school teachers and all that sort of stuff over here, of course. So, yeah, it might be on the cards one day. Yeah, right, okay. All right.

You'd fit in there. I mean, there's no doubt. Now, listen, what about back home on the Top End? Have you heard anything? What's happening there at all? Oh, yeah, well, the big news is that the monsoons arrived.

Really exciting for everyone who does a bit of barrow fishing. Well, and all fishing, I suppose, up the Top End, but the monsoon's a couple of weeks late this year, but um, yeah, it seems like it's here with a vengeance right now, and hopefully when we get back to Darwin in a couple of days time, it will be still raining and stick around for a couple of weeks yet and really fill up all those floodplains and get us ready for a big runoff season starting late February. Yeah, Jesus, incredible. Just all just keeps just going on, doesn't it?

from one to another, one thing to another. Anyone won the 1000000 bucks yet? No, it's going to be quiet on the $1000000 fish. It generally does after Christmas, mate, as you know, you know, it starts to rain and then the fish will spread out a bit and maybe once people get right back out there in bigger numbers after the monsoon sort of leaves.

Um yeah, we might see one or 2 um pop up again. Hopefully a couple of fishing charter clients maybe. Yeah, absolutely. Now, just on the, um, before I let you go, if people want to book these trips, on the, especially in particular, these ones that you're going overseas, how do they do that?

This is angling adventures. That's right, yeah. So you jump on anglingadventures.com.au, or you can just get hold of me through any of the various channels, even through Barefoot, and I can definitely talk anyone through all these trips to New Guinea, and of course, we've also got New Zealand stuff. We've got Costa Rica.

Um, we've got all sorts of different locations you can go to, Tanzania for tigerfish, um, all sorts of exciting things, so, um, yeah, anglingadventures.com.au. Check out the Lake Murray and Ben's back river trips in um Papa New Guinea and yeah, we can get you onto some of the world's best fishing and, you know, in a place that's an hour and a half flight from Cairns. It's really close. Is that it's unbelievable really, isn't it?

when you look at it that way, that is unbelievable. All right, mate, you're a good man. You stay safe over there. Enjoy.

And what's the weather like now? You're on the boat as we speak. What's happening there? On the boat as we speak.

Yeah, it's a beautiful day. I wouldn't call it glass, but it's not far off glass. About 30 degrees and yeah, a couple of storms out to sea, but it's all very enjoyable, very peaceful. Couple of cold cues in the SP too.

dont worry. Of course, I'm not worried. I know they're there All right.

Have fun. Travel safe. I told you next week. be back home by then.

Righto, mate. Yep, for sure. See then. All right.

See you, mate. There he is. That's Watty, Barefoot Fishing Safaris. Jump onto that, or of course you can jump on angling adventure.

But how good is it? He's over there in Port Moresby, New Guinea fishing, basically doing a reconnaissance mission, really. And he's out on the boat fishing out of there as we speak, which is fantastic, and just getting everything in readiness for a bit later on when he starts taking customers from Australia, fishing over there. You want to go fishing in the Top End as well.

You can get onto Watty, Barefoot Fishing Safaris. That's he's the go to, and he certainly does know how to catch him. He loves this thing. I just don't know how, you never know.

What do you, mate? What do you say, Harry, you want to live there? It'd be a pretty good place to live. Oh, well.

He has lived in places overseas before. He's a character. But anyway, I'll tell you what, Darwin wouldn't recover if he left, especially the Bottolo businesses up there, they'd be struggling. fill that gap.

Anyway, he's a good man. Barefoot Fishing Safaris. Check him out, and of course, look at some of those trips, not only overseas, but also some of his fishing tours he has in the northern territory in particular the Top End.