Bag a Barra — 14 November 2025

It's time now to head to the Top End and Bagga Bara, with Glenn Watty Watt, thanks to Barefoot Fishing Safaris and Uniden. For the best in UHF communications, explore the extract series at Uniden.com.au. He is the main, the mayor of the topping, of course, the Northern Territory, which we love, my favourite part of Australia, I've got to say, I was asked the question many times on stage at the Perth show. What is your favourite destination, in Australia, and I said, I've got a few, but when it comes right down to it. A close 2nd, of course, is the channel country in North Queensland. I love it, but they can't beat the Top End. and the man who is up there, the chief minister in waiting.

Glenn Watty Watt from Barefoot Fishing Safaris, Watty, g'day. That would be a worry, wouldn't it, mate? Yeah, g'day. No it wouldn't.

It wouldn't be a worry. I think it would be fantastic. Maybe, yeah, maybe in time. Yeah, good stuff.

You'd have to lose my mind to run for that job. I think. Mate, what's doing up there? I've actually bumped into a few people that are heading there.

I mean, travelling, the wet season and this time of year. That's probably not a bad time to enter the Top End, is it? Well, I mean, a lot of, a lot of things start to get a lot more freed up with, I mean, accommodation and availability as well as you get some pretty good wet season rates, mate. If that's what drives you, because it's lovely and green up here now.

We've had over a 100 mil range in the last few days. So yeah, it's um, it's a really good start to the wet season. So maybe they're keen to come up and have a look at a few of these beautiful storms we're getting coming across. Yeah, maybe so.

Yeah, I bumped into quite a few people at the Perth four-wheel drive show and I said, well, you're off to from here. They said, we're off to Darwin. And I said, well, be sure to check out my mate. Wadi up there?

They're not, you know, not heaps, but I reckon at least 3 or four. Got, you know, there was a group, you know, heading up that way, and I mean, and I know Mal Leylan used to talk about getting to the Top End in the wedding. loved it. Oh no, you live there, you love it.

And I mean, I guess if you want, you know, cheaper accommodation, a bit of space, not so many people and big crowds, I guess it would be worth it and of course, from pretty good fishing. Yeah, that's right, yeah. And it goes, if those guys are towing vans and got boats on the roof or whatever, they can, they can park up for a month and just go out fishing on those really good glass or flat days in between the storms, which is, uh, you know, which is exactly what we do up here as locals, it just, it just gets a bit tricky to pre-book 3 or 4 days, um, fishing for a group, you know, 6 months in advance when you don't know what the weather's going to be doing for this time of year or from sort of start of December onwards anyway. Um, but yeah, it's that time of year, mate.

I'm actually going into my last week of trips uh this week. We've got a 3 day and a 4 day and then I'm wrapping her up for the year. I'm taking the last set of tides in November for meself to go enjoy a bit of a bit of time on the water with a couple of mates. So yeah, that'll be good.

Mate, and I guess you've probably been to 3 or 4 Christmas parties by now. I know they start early up there. Yeah, that's right. I can't recall them, but they probably were good.

Yeah, yeah. Where's the Barefoot Fishing Safaris? Christmas party on Christmas Day, I suppose. Well, we usually have a pretty big joint one with the Tales from the Tinny radio show, boys, but that all wound up after 17 years last year.

So, yeah, perhaps need to find some new Christmas party buddies, but it's never too hard to find one to join in. You can go for a wander around anywhere up here this time of year, probably any day of the week and there's one going on. Big business opportunity up there too. I'll shoot you that link the other day.

I think, is it Shady Camp, where you go, that lodge, it's for sale. Could be. Yeah, yeah, points to it, wilderness lodgers up for sale, mate, after over 20 years or so, Dean and Nadina moving on. So, yeah, big opportunity there for someone right in the heart of some of the best barrow fishing in the world.

That's Point Stuarts where all of the guides who fish Shady Camp and Mary River system, all stay. So yeah, it's a busy joint and um there's been plenty of good fish and yarns over the bar there over the years. Oh, I can imagine the lies as well. There would have been plenty talent.

I got to say to you that, Piggy Riddell sent it to me, my mate, and he's been with us on this trip, he's gone now, but we were both looking at it thinking, geez, this could be us. I sent it to you. Imagine that, eh? Yeah, that'd be a bit of fun.

It's a cool spot. It's the old buffalo abattoir is actually from back in the day. So, yeah, it's it's got some good history attached to it as well. Yeah, absolutely.

All right, mate. Well, I'm sure the fish are biting up there. And quickly, any tag fish caught? There's been another one or two, mate.

Yeah, and they seem to be a bit of a pattern. There's been 9 of them caught on the same brand of lure. Bite me, wedge tail, seem to be the lucky one at the moment. So I actually went and bought a packet of them this morning, just...

Yeah, all right. Well, I do more than that. I can tell you anyway. All right mate.

Well, well done. You enjoy what's happening up there. 100 mil of rain this week, which is pretty big. It is the start of the wet season, of course, and you're going to expect a fair bit of rain and obviously you'll be out there catching plenty of fish.

We'll talk to you next week, mate. Righto, mate. Good on you. There he is.

I mean, Watty, Barefoot Fishing Safaris. Check out the website and, of course, check out the social media pages and, of course, angling adventures. The king, when it comes to fishing in the Top End.