Barramundi-Sailfish-Pelagics
Jarrod Day Reports

Chasing barramundi, sailfish and pelgics, Jarrod Day reports his barra fishing trip with Darwins Barra Base was actually a Do Everything Trip.

There was no doubting it, I'd been chomping at the bit to get out in search of a fish and by this time I really didn't care much for what species, size, or where it was caught from, rather just the pleasure of actually catching a fish.

I say this because the truth of the matter is that the weather forecast in Victoria or at least south-east Melbourne had been consistently blowing between 20 and 30 knots each day. Oh, there were a few occasions when it hit over 100km/hr and I think from memory, fish were just being blown around like kites. So with the following few weeks looking like a carbon copy of the previous, I booked a flight and headed north to the Northern Territory where the wind was at bay.
On arrival, I met with good friend, owner/operator Allan Beale, of Darwin's Barra Base. I have known Allan for quite a few years now and fish with him at any chance I can skip the border.

Allan Beale, with one of his captures
while chartering a crew from Victoria.

Allan's, the type of salty that has been fishing for years and knows his waterway like the back of his hand; better yet he knows where all the good ishing is and still gets just as excited, as a first time angler the minute a fish s hooked up.

As with every trip, this one was no different. I gathered a few fellow anglers and spent three days dropping baits and trolling lures amongst the variety of fish available.

Without fail and with every day trip or fishing safari I have been on, Alan had rods hooked up the minute the lure or bait hit the water.
The funny thing with that is I'm actually not joking; the first lure to hit the water on this trip was engulfed within no more than five minutes by a sizeable Spanish mackerel. Upon reaching the end of our trolling session by lunch time with a tally of 28 Spaniards caught and released to 25lb, we hit the reef to explore the bottom with baits, jigs and soft plastics.

Whether it is, Spanish flag's, coral trout, finger mark, cobia, black jewfish, red emperor or any of the other dozen or so fish species we encountered, each technique was just as effective as the other. Travis, one of my fellow anglers, even flicked out a squidgie soft plastic to see what was around. On the first double hop, the lure was engulfed and took off at lightening speed. The end result, a 20 odd pound Spanish mackerel.
Trips with Alan, always seem to be the same, the right location, big fish and great entertainment. On this recent trip, by the second day everybody was weary from the previous with mackerel aplenty, so it was off a little further down the coast in search of the highly prized black jewfish.

Well, with Allan's expert knowledge of the area, our timing was better than perfect, making it just in time to fish the last two hours of the ebb tide.

Happy anglers display their catches on the beach after
a successful day's fishing in the Darwin area.

It took a few goes to position the boat in the correct location, but that's typical of Allan, wanting the boat situated in the correct location or right on the GPS point to maximise the fishing potential from the location.

"If it ain't right, it ain't worth it" would be the correct saying you'd stick by when fishing with Al.

Near the end of the tide and amongst he array of humongous catfish, my rod with the same setup as you'd use n Western Port took off at great speed. After a lengthy battle, a nice black Jew around the 28lb mark came aboard.
Unfortunately no more wanted to come to the party so it was off back to the cobalt blue water at a location called Sail City to see what was about. What I find most interesting about fishing in Darwin is the variety of fishing Allan does in a day. Where one minute you're at anchor waiting for a jewie to take a bait and at the end of he tide you're off in search of sail fish, which might only be 10kms from the jewie grounds.

After arriving at Sail City, four lures were deployed along with a teaser and within 200 metres of trolling the reef's edge, two sails around a metre in length appeared from nowhere eye balling the lures.
Still you can't always make fish eat and these two got disinterested very quickly blending in with the surroundings as they swam off, still we did get to see them.

We spent the next few hours trolling he reef's edge picking up Spaniards and finally called it a day around 5pm, knowing it was a good hours travel back. 5pm is a good time to leave considering we began the day at first light. There's no nine to five on Allan's trips it's all up when the fish are and home to bed before darkness hits the boat ramps, remember there are hungry crocs in this neck of the woods.

By the third day, we'd pretty much conquered the saltwater scene and opted to travel two hours up the coast to Corroboree Billabong. Corroboree Billabong is home to huge population of barramundi and with the forecast dishing out a little wind; this was a great option considering some of the lads haven't caught barra before. Without going into the nitty gritties, the boys had a blast. Picturesque views of the lilly lined billabong, water buffalo cruising the swampy plains, crocodiles sunbaking along the muddy banks while brolga's and Jabiru's frolic in the shallows.

Barra galore and what better location to bring a good bunch of mates to see what the top end can deliver for avid anglers. Our result, countless numbers of barramundi all released to 78cm, great fish in anyone's book.
Although this trip was only a three day safari, Allan offers from three to seven day fishing safari's covering barra and bluewater.

Amongst the plethora of fishing available in the Northern Territory, Allan and his expert fishing guides spend more time on the water than you can imagine, putting their clients in the right location to catch quality fish. Next on the agenda, is another trip booked for me is in next April, in search of the metre barra, with places still available.

These trips are Allan's forte, big barra during the wet. Still with the variety of fishing available throughout the year, Alan and his guides have the ability to offer such a wide range of fishing trips from runoff barra in the wet to billabong and bluewater safaris in the dry seasons. Those that are wanting head to Darwin to experience barra and bluewater fishing at its finest throughout the year, give Allan a call.

3,4,5 & 6 Day PEAK Barra Run Off Safaris 2011 Safari Start Dates and Availability as at 12th June 2010; Green blocks indicate Neap Tides,  Blue blocks Spring Tides ( Mouseover the start dates if you can't see the colours) February Shady Camp Avl March Shady Camp Avl April Shady Camp Avl May/June Finnis River Barra to Sailfish Avl 5 Day Start: 11th Neap--Shady 12 4-5 Day Start: 5th Spring--Shady 16 5 Day Start: 4th Mothership 6 4 Day Start: 3rd Spring--Shady 12 3 Day Start: 12th Neap-Shady 12 3-5 Day Start: 12th Neap--Shady 16 5 Day Start: 4th Spring Shady 8 4 Day Barra to Sailfish Start: 9th May Neap--Finniss /Dundee 12 5 Day Start: 19th Spring--Shady 16 3 Day Start: 15th Neap--Shady 8 3-4 Day Start: 11th Shady or Finnisss 16 3 Day Barra to Sailfish Start: 13th May Neap--Finniss /Dundee 12 3 Day Start: 26th Neap--Shady 16 5 Day Start: 19th Mothership 8 6 Day Start: 17th Mothership 4 4 Day Barra Run Off Start 18th Spring--Shady 12 5 Day Start: 26th Neap--Shady 16 5 Day Start: 20th Spring--Shady 8 5 Day Start:18th Spring--Shady 8 4 Day Barra to Sailfish Start: 24th May Neap--Finniss /Dundee 12 5 Day Start: 27th Neap--Shady 16 3-5 Day Start: 25th Neap--Finniss 16 5 Day Barra safari Start 26th Neap--Finniss 8 3 Day Start: 28th Spring--Shady 16 4-5 Day Barra to Sailfish Start: 28th May Neap--Finniss /Dundee 12 2010 seats still available for Barra Safaris at Finniss River from 19th April to end of June 2010 Click here for Finniss Safari Itinerary Barra to Sailfish Bluewater Safaris at Dundee also available from May 1st to November 2010 Click here for Barra to Sailfish & Pelagics Bluewater Itinerary Green numeral (12) indicates seats available. Orange ( 2 ) indicates limited seats on existing safaris. Red Zero (0)indicates fully booked Can cater up to 12 Person Fishing Safari Group anytime if needed. (4 per boat)

Mark Berg Fishing Addiction TV Show filming of his 10 species Challenge was a great success. We thank all that participated and assisted us in this. This Challenge will be aired on Foxtel’s Lifestyle Channel across Australia in January/February 2011. A shortened 3 minute version will be placed up on our website for all to see, once all filming has been edited etc and is provided to us from Mark Berg

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.