Bag a Barra — 25 April 2025

It's time now to head to the Top End and Bag a Barra with Glenn Watty Watt, thanks to Barefoot Fishing Safaris and Uniden. For the best in UHF communications, explore the extract series at UniDed.com.au. Well, our man, what he is in the Top End, then he wouldn't have heard that we were just talking to Neil Stewart about the radio that's happening at Nunamar Tavern with James Blundell playing there as well as Locky Closher, who I saw perform at the Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach. I mean, I should have mentioned it to Neil actually a few years ago. He is on the line.

You'd be going to the Nudiments Tavern for that, wouldn't you, Watty? Mate, I was there last night, actually. And I do know the owners, so yeah, perhaps I'll get a backstage pass. Well, you'd have to be backstage.

I mean, mate, that ring was right beside where we were camping, basically, where the helicopters were landing on those pub crawls that used to do up there by chopper. Exactly mate. Yeah, it's a pretty intimate little stage at the actual pub. I'm guessing James might be playing in uh in the Rodeo arena or something like that though.

Yeah, it's a pretty big show out there. They hold a lot of major events through the year and they run a really great pub and an awesome feed there too. So it's a great place to stay, as you know. Yeah, oh, absolutely.

We enjoyed our time there and uh, keeping there and that sunset out the front of the pub of a night is just unbelievable with the sky just turns orange. It's quite amazing. Yeah, that's right. You're out, you're sort of out in the start of the big country out there.

Um, you know, that sort of wide open spaces as you head south of Darwin there and um, yeah, it's, we're lucky at our place. We got 6 pubs within a 20 minute drive but that's the closest one. All right, what's biting up there, mate? what's happening on the fishing scene

Mate, it's actually, we've hit a real sweet spot at the moment. I'm just about heading to the airport to pick up the next group, but we've really hit a bit of a sweet spot where that, um, the water is just, it's actually dropping off the floodplains really fast and bringing those barrel ride on the bike. So big catch numbers happening at the moment. I was supposed to a couple of fellas who are joining me in this group this week who were catching over a 100 bar a day in the last few days.

So, uh, you know, pretty exciting times for these guys coming up in the next couple of weeks for sure. A 100 a day. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, we get these little um this sort of window.

Perhaps goes for a couple of weeks, every year where it's just that right water level as it, as, uh, you know, the main groups of the beta, come off the floodplain, smaller barrow as well, and that brings all the barrow up from the salt water sections of the rivers, and they really have a big feed in frenzy in certain areas. So, yeah, I mean, we're lucky as gods, we get to see it every year, but it does change throughout the year when it is or over the years. Um, but yeah, I mean these guys that I'm about to pick up from the airport should hopefully hit it pretty sweet and we'll have a crack a trip. There's 12 of them.

So, you know, there should be plenty of, hopefully plenty of fish to go around. And is that out at Kakadu, where you'll be camped out there? yeah. Yep.

And we, you know, we've been fishing the south alligator up until recently, and actually, when I spoke to you last over the Easter weekend was just when we could start pushing across the Majila Creek, to head to the East Alligator River as well. So we'll spend a fair bit of time there in the next few weeks. It's a really beautiful river. You've got the escarpment country popping up out of the floodplains there and yeah, of course, sort of spreads the load a bit on the south alligator.

I mean, not that it really needs to. The south's about 120 K's long and the east is about the same, so there's plenty of room for everyone, mate, but it's good to be able to move spots if we decide we want to take the groups, you know, to one river or the other or if the fishing's going better at one spot or the other as well. Mate, just on that, and I probably should know the answer to this anyway, but I don't. I might have forgotten, but is there a bag limit on Barramundi up there?

Is there bag limits on fish up there? I mean, is he catching 100 a day? Surely you wouldn't take a 100 home? No, absolutely not.

No, we these days we encourage mostly catch and release. The bag limit for Barra in Kakadu is 3 per person. Uh, same at Mary River, and then other rivers, or daily might be the same too, but say, um, areas like Dundee, Bynoe, Darwin Harbour is 5 per person, and, and that's not a daily limit, so to speak, or it extends a bit more than that. It's actually a personal possession limit as well.

So, if guys want to take fish home, they can take a maximum of 3 per person, and then you can add a couple of duty fish to that, um 3 snapper, and, you know, a few other mixed reef fish, but yeah, we've got some pretty good bag limits, and, and uh, cut release sort of rules up here, which is, you know, what, it's why the fish is, uh, fishery is still so abundant, and it's something that we work pretty hard to protect. Yep, and no wonder. and you've got to do that because, yeah, but that is amazing that you're able to catch a 100 in a day. I mean that is unbelievable. Obviously. Yeah, yeah, to me.

Well, I mean, if you if you were up here, you know, through March, April, May, and you went fishing every 2nd day, you're going to hit it at some stage, you know, it's just the way it is. But, um, to get, to link a 100 fish to what we were just chatting about, when we're in those hot sessions, Most guides, at least the responsible ones will encourage their clients to use lures with only one hook on them. Just so that we're not damaging those fish, you know, when you're having a big um feeding frenzy, you don't want to have be throwing fish back that are all damaged in the mouth and bleeding for the sharks and crocs to get.

So, we do pay a lot of attention to flicking them off at the side of the boat if we can, and, um, and you know, making sure they swim away healthy. So that's important to note as well. Yeah, I know you are all over that stuff, and you are one of those responsible blokes, mate. In fishing anyway.

In other areas, maybe not so much. No, well, maybe not if you ask the, if you looked up the court record, that's right. There might be a different story. Oh, I think you're pretty sweet at the court records.

I'm talking about your behaviour at some of the local establishments up there after a few hours. A few hours having a few over the timber, as you say. Yeah, that is a fun thing to do, isn't it? Slide a couple over the wood.

I mean, you are blessed. You got good fishing and you got a lot of good pubs up there too, mate. All right, you're a good man. Well, chat to you next week if we can find your Watty.

That's right, mate. You know, last week, I don't think I told you, but we went to the, um, the golf club in Jabberoo, which is a local club there. It's about the only pub in town, and every Saturday they have a mega meat tray raffle there, 26 meat trays, most days. And half the town rocks up. We bought about 80 bucks worth of tickets last week and and we got two, so I think we, you know, a good investment.

So anyone around Jabari should get to the mega meat Trey raffle on Saturdays. Nothing like winning to meet Trey at the pub, mate. It's the best. It used to be the chookra. It used to be a chookraffle once, were that? 34 on the chookie.

Yeah, yeah. And the best show is these, all meat trades that you can carry out too. It's not a bloody voucher to go to the butchers and pick it yourself. Yeah, it's good fun.

Oh, nothing like with it a meat, Trey, mate. I've only won a couple of me day and they're a good thing. And you'll be raising money for a good cause too, which is always good. All right, mate, talk to you next week. Right, yeah, good on you, mate.

Have a good one. There he is. Barefoot Fishing Safaris. He's checking him out online.

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