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Barra Fishing Guides

Our expert Barra Fishing Guides have years of experience for your best possible chance of landing fighting barramundi, huge jewfish, spanish mackeral or other great sport fish.

Meet our team of Full Time Guides, waiting to get you to the fish.

With Allan Beale, owner & head guide (16 years fishing NT & 5 years guide),  we have years of professional fishing guiding experience in our main safari guiding team.

 Tony and Jason have many years experience and extensive fishing knowledge.

Also to support this fantastic team we have Andrew Darby as our part time fishing guide with another 6 odd years experience

Allan Beale

Allan Beale Owner/Head Guide established Darwin’s Barra Base from scratch in 2004, completely rejuvenating the Old Barra Base Business Name at Bathurst Island into a new energy vibrant Barramundi Fishing Safari Business located in Darwin.   With his lovely wife Heather, he  renovated an Old 70's style double storey badly run down Aboriginal halfway house into a beautiful well appointed Bed & Breakfast Lodge in Darwin’s northern suburb of Malak.  It is located only 5 minutes from the Darwin Airport and 15 minutes from Darwin CBD.  Now with 3 Fantastic Custom Built Guide Boats, Darwin’s Barra Base can cater for all corporate fishing groups, families, couples and individuals alike.

Allan (on right) with client Danny and his 129cm Barramundi.  Allan with another good catch

DOB 6/8/59 Born in Corowa NSW.
Raised local mixed sheep/wheat/cattle farm near Oaklands & Daysdale - 32Klms from Corowa and 65klms from Albury/Wodonga.  Loved Aussie Rules and played professionally till he was 36 years old, and my worn out knees retired me still too early. Hung up the boots with Nagambie Vic in 1993.
Joined the Australian Army in April 1977, with the words still ringing in me ear from Dad.  Well the Bloody Army will either break you or Make You, Best of Luck Son!

Well 21 years later I retired in Darwin as Warrant Officer Ammunition Technician in charge of the Northern Territory Explosive Ordnance Control Centre.  So you better come fishing and ask about the many hilarious stories (some even true) to be told of that career.

 
Joined NT Government as their Senior Dangerous Goods/ Explosives/OH&S & Radio Active Ores & Concentrates Officer for 7 odd years.  Great working in the public arena; and some great achievements for the NT and the Country were achieved. However, things didn’t work out and I moved on to go and complete a career that had been my passion since I caught my first Redfin Fish with Dad in the Coreen Billabong between Daysdale and Urana. Great days before the Carp infested our country’s waterways. 

Fishing Experiences and History

Caught my first real memorable fish at approx 6 years old on the banks of the Billabong with dad and my older brother Crissy, first Murray Cod at 9 years old at Corowa’s  Irrigation pumps towards Mulwala.

Then went on in the Army to fish NSW Coast, QLD Townsville, upper NQ around Hinchinbrook Island, great days in mates boats hooking Barra, Coral Trout, Snapper and Queenfish. Loved Scuba Diving and was one of the first to be taught under Mike Ball of Townsville. Still have the ticket and love this water arena. Then fished NT in 1983, and then again in 1988 on posting transfer to W.A, and fell in love. Fished W.A, S.A, VIC and missed NT fishing, worked hard and got back to NT in 1993 in the Army into the WOAT position.  Rest is history.  Have loved fishing the NT inland billabongs, coastal waterways and the tremendous saltwater rivers ever since.

Have now 16 years experience fishing these fantastic Northern Territory waterways and there is something that surprises me with every fishing adventure, every extended safari, and every One Day Fishing Trip to make the most hardened fishing person swell in heart blood pumping extreme adrenalin with every twitch of the rod could be your hook up of a lifetime.

 
Fish with me and or my guides and you will have a great time. But always remember even fish sometimes have bad days, but more than not in our NT Waterways they are great days.  Remember to bring 5 Good Jokes per person to the trip.

Jason

Jason (left) helps display the catch.
Jason has a terrific sense of what the fish are doing in different conditions. When you read his story below, it is obvious why he has this ability to take people to the best fishing on any given day.

G'day There !

Ok, about me. Well I've been addicted to fishing since I could walk, I guess you could say I caught the angling bug off my Ole Man.

I spent my teenage years relentlessly hunting snapper and the likes on the shoals of Port Phillip bay in Victoria. This is also where I began my "professional" career, first as a charter Decky, then at 19 a Skipper. That kept me busy for a while as I explored the South and up the East Coast.

Finally I moved to Nth Queensland and worked on the Great Barrier Reef and surrounding area.

Then not too much later  bigger and better things beckoned and I moved to the NT to take a job with Darwins Barra Base and chase the iconic Barramundi.

My main target now being to put others onto their "Dream Fish" - what a buzz!

I often get asked "So what do you do on your days off?" - you guessed it - I go fishing! - although not every time, my girlfriend would kill me!

cheers,

Jason

Jason (on right) with a happy group & their catch.

We have just returned from our first ever "barra experience" & can't wait to do it again!!!! Jason was our guide for the day & was fantastic at getting both of us onto our first barra. He worked every inch of the billabong to give us the best chance to catch as many fish as possible.
Thanks Jason for a fantasic day that we will always remember.

John & Allyson

Nathan

Hi,

My name is Nathan Litjens and I am an experienced fisherman and guide.

I've been fishing since I was able to walk. Since then, I have travelled and fished many exotic and amazing places.

• Bass in New South Wales and Queensland
• The gorgeous flats of North Queensland's Great Barrier Reef
• Popper-fished the reef edges for GTs
• The Mighty inland rivers
• High country trout
• Estuary/sea-run trout
• Bream in New South Wales and Victoria on lures
• Bluewater on the Great Barrier Reef for mackerel, marlin and tuna
• West Papua's massive jungle rivers
• Cook Islands flats and reef edges
• New Zealand
• And of course the Northern Territory's billabongs, reefs, islands and rivers.

A Longtail Tuna on fly

A Golden Trevally taken
on fly in the Whitsundays.

My speciality is fly fishing. I have written for a couple of issues of Flylife magazine and have a massive amount of experience with the flyrod. Among the over 100 species I have been successful with on fly are some of the most elusive and prized. I am possibly the first to have worked on, and succeeded with sight-cast Bonefish on the flats of the East Coast. Also I have caught Permit on fly and a heap of Golden Trevally, Barramundi, Saratoga and others.

A Slatey Bream on fly from the flats

Sailfish from Dundee.

Lure fishing is also a speciality with a wide variety of experience with everything from tiny mountain trout to bluewater heavyweights such as GTs, Tuna and Mackerel. I can also put you onto Barramundi with a variety of techniques from soft plastics to surface lures and deep divers.

A 94cm Barra

My 111cm Barramundi

My other interests include basically any outdoor pursuit, photography and travel.

So how about booking with Darwin's Barra Base for the trip of a lifetime.

See you soon,

-Nathan Litjens

Darwins Barra Base Home Contact Information;

It may be a recent technical problem has prevented us receiving some emails. If you have contacted us and not received a reply, please use FREECALL 1800 777 420 to ensure your enquiry was received. Thank You

FREE CALL: 1800 777 420

mail : 2 Todd Crescent Malak NT 0812
phone: +61 8 8945 0376
fax : +61 8 8945 0379
email: Click here to email Darwin's Barra Base.