Bag a Barra — 3 May 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.

And of course, Wadi is our fishing guru in the Top End. Now for many, many years. Watty and I have been talking about the $1000000 fish. In fact, we were talking about it here on the what he's been coming on this show for about 5.5 years.

Prior to that, we was talking to other people about the $1000000 fish competition. It's never ever gone off. And we're starting to wonder, did we ever think it would come off? Well, you wouldn't believe it.

And I'm sure most of you have seen this, that this young fella from Catherine has pulled a $1000000 off the bank. How good is it? Standing there with his younger siblings, fishing away, pulls in the fish, didn't even realise that what he what he caught. He knew he'd caught a barra. Until his sister said to him, what's that thing on its back? And it was the $1000000 tag.

What do you get, eh? Hey, Doc, how you going, mate? Oh, mate, how good is that? Yeah, changed his life, that's for sure.

Oh, absolutely. And it was good to see because he, you know, I saw an interview, um, I saw an interview with his with his dad and he's saying that he has a couple of jobs. He loves his fishing, loves his hunting, as most people who live in the territory do, and he was just out having a casual fish and he's jagged a 1000000 bucks. It's not a bad way to go on a Sunday, is it?

Oh, mate, they said to him, what are you going to do? He said, well, the 1st thing I'm going to do is help me family. I mean, well done to him. And isn't it good to see?

And you were right, I'm sure you mentioned that someone could easily just pull that $1000000 off the bank, didn't you? Yeah, well, it's been done before with the $10,000 fish plenty of times, that's for sure. So, yeah, probably no great surprise. It was in a, obviously in an area where people do plenty of fishing and young fella was soaking a live bait, just relaxing under a tree and yeah, pulled himself in a 1000000 bucks.

So half his luck. Oh, mate. So how long ago did the $1000000 that, how long ago do you think that fish would have been tagged? I don't know those details, mate. It could have been one of the ones from previous years or one of the ones from this year, but it was a real big fish, so perhaps not too long.

Maybe a year or 2 at the most, I would have thought. Yeah, I did notice it wasn't that big of, bigger fish. But mate, well done to him. I mean, I just think it's fantastic.

And what it does is it gets everybody keen, doesn't it? You think, well, mate, if he can, if a young bloke like him can pull it off the bank, just by standing there and doing his best, it's, it's got to build a bit of excitement for the, for the, you know, for future competitions and all that, wouldn't it? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's also a really great example of the value of abundant Barramundi fishery for us here in the northern territory and it really plays into that narrative that we're working pretty hard on now to remove commercial gill netting from the area as well.

So, more and more people can enjoy that experience up here, both recreationally as well as catching a fish for a feed or trying to win a 1000000 bucks. the more fish that are in the water, the better it is for everyone. Yeah, absolutely. So what happens now, Watty?

Does the competition continue or is that off for an hour or 2 later? What happens? There's still tags out there isn't it? Yeah, no, it's past the end of the season and the 1000000 bucks has gone off.

So that's it for now until end of, I suppose September. Later on in the year, yeah, when they'll crank it up again. Incredible, mate. It's been one of those things where it's gone on for so long, no one's ever jagged a 1000000 bucks and I think there was people, they were even trying.

Well, they did say that they were guaranteeing that someone would win it this year, but I don't think they thought it would be like that with a $1000000 tag. They come up with ways to, you know, to sort of get to it. But, um, there would have been people thinking, look, you know, you know, hope here. I mean, where are they?

And lo and behold, bang. he's got one. Good on him. Yeah, that's right.

It does illustrate how much effort is put into barrow fishing up here, probably every day. There's 100s or even 1000s of people barra fishing in the northern territory every day. So, yeah, it's a great example of how important it is for our, for our economy and our lifestyle up here. Yeah, which is all pretty good, mate.

that is for sure Just quickly, mate. What else is biting around the place? What are the conditions like and what's been happening?

We've switched over into the into officially the drive season now, mate. So there's the blue water fishing comes on board for us a bit more now. We've got a couple of sort of mixed trips going for Barramundi and Bluewater stuff coming up and and the tuna are in Darwin Harbour already, I know, which is... And then, of course, the billabongs will open up pretty soon, um, right through uh, that Mary River system and then into Kakadu as well as the tracks dry out a bit. But yeah, it's cool, cooling down and we've got our southeasterly winds turned up here, so we probably won't expect rain now until maybe middle or late September.

Unbelievable, isn't it? Which I know you love that wet season, but it is a little bit of excitement once that passes and then, you know, things open up, think places dry out, accessibility, um, begins again for some of the swimming destinations, once, you know, they're checked for crocodiles and things like that, and it's all basically setting up for what will be a pretty good tourist season, I would imagine. Oh, it'll be a cracker. Yeah, the waterfalls will be really pumping all 3 Litchfield and Kakadu and and those billabongs have all had a good flush out and replenish all the fish in there for everyone to go and enjoy as they get opened up.

And yeah, of course, the blue water fishing, which we haven't been able to do too much of, in the last 6 or, say, 4 or 5 months because of the northerly, um, sort of winds, uh that really comes back on the chart now too. So you can go back out and get a fee of refish and have some fun chasing some mackerel and tuna and stuff around in the harbours and and even out wide off Dundee and that sort of thing. So, yeah, it's a really abundant time of year for us and and um, they're spoil it for choice.

You talk about those waterfalls and all that. It's just nature at its best. I mean, the northern territory is just, it's, words just can't describe how good it is. It's just just that natural landscape, all those things, like those big waterfalls, those river systems, that, it has it all.

It is certainly, it puts on a good show, doesn't it, the territory? Yeah, absolutely. Got all those things that you just mentioned, and then just speaking from personal, um, personal preference here, we've got 6 pubs within a 15 minute drive. That worked out quite well. Yeah, and on that note, we'll let you go.

Sorry you didn't get the $1000000 fish, mate. I was banking on it. I was ready to come up for my taste. Yeah, I would have been hard to get hold of, I reckon, if I did, but yeah, maybe next time.

I'm sure you would have been. In fact, you would have been just gone. Where's Roddy? Gone with his little tagfish anyway.

Drinking gets to keep the tag as a souvenir as well. Well, I did hear on the wireless this morning. I think that it was going to be mounted and put into museum or something, that fish. They don't even get to eat him.

Oh, mate, who cares? You can buy as much pair of money as he wants now anyway. Anyway, all right, mate, you enjoy. Oh, I know, bud. Good on you.

Talk to you next week. There he is. who lives near 6 pubs and a couple of waterfalls as well. He absolutely loves it up there, Watty, doesn't he?

Barefoot Fishing Safaris are of course angling adventures. You need to check both of those social media pages out, check out the websites as well. He is the best in the business, Watty, when it comes to fishing in the Top End and what is happening with the river systems. He knows all about it, and of course, puts a lot back into it as well.

He doesn't just catch the fish. It is, he puts a lot back into this fishing game up there, and nobody, I think, knows as much about it as he does in the Top End, particular. He's just very across all of it. And so you need to check him out.

Barefoot Fishing Safaris and of course, angling adventures.