Fishing Up North

I have been travelling to tropical northern Australia for almost a decade. Here are pictures of some fish caught and places visited on my adventures up north.

This little barramundi was taken on the Mary River at Shady Camp. It isn't shady and it is full of mosquitoes and thousands of crocodiles. The Mary River is only a few hours from Darwin and gets plenty of fishing pressure but manages to produce great fish. This barra was caught on my first fishing trip up north and may well be the very first barra I ever caught. After getting accustomed to the crocs and having to dodge them as we motored up the river my friend and I managed to catch some good size barra. Even had a croc try to steal one barra as I was reeling it in. My mate tentatively said "A croc is after your barra." Yeah right I thought as I kept on reeling in the fish. He said it again with somewhat more conviction and swearing. I scanned the water behind the barra and sure enough there was a croc after the barra. I reeled in at such a furious rate the fish was almost out of the water. The croc kept chasing the fish. "Cut the line! Cut the line!" my mate screamed, terror in his voice. No way I was cutting the line. I wanted the fish. The croc kept coming. He wanted the barra. He failed. We ate barra.
As I am on the subject of firsts here is the first barra caught by my mate Tony. After many years of wanting to, he finally joined me on a trip. Again we are at the Mary River. We motored downstream to a narrowing of the river. My keen fishing instincts told me this was the place to catch barra. Tony was a touch sceptical but he gave it a go. Sure enough a minute into trolling Tony had his first barra hooked. The line screamed off the reel as Tony held on somewhat nervously. But like the gun angler he is he collected himself and brought the barra in. He released it. Minutes later he had his second barra. Too easy.
Heading up north isn't only about fishing. Well mostly, but not only. The beautiful scenery and relaxed atmosphere of the place is reason alone to visit. Only a short drive from Darwin is Lee Point. You can bush camp and of course fishing is always an option. There aren't any facilities so your need to be prepared. The beach is known to produce some good fish and as a bonus you get to experience stunning sunsets as you wait for a fish to take your bait. The only problem is you can't always fully take in the sunset. Especially if you have a rod in your hand. As fish have a want to do sunset is one of the best times to land a fish. Throw in a change of tide and bets are you will catch a fish. Sure enough just after this photo was taken I landed a decent sized threadfin salmon. One of the best fighting fish up north and definately one of the tastiest. Freshly cooked with some herbs and spices with a generous squeeze of lemon. It doesn't get much better than that.
Saratoga is one of the most ancient fish in the world. They aren't much to eat as they are extremely bony so catch and release is the done deal. What a saratoga lacks in taste it makes up for in sheer angling thrills and spills. When hooked a saratoga wants its freedom. Bigtime. Runs that test out the skill of the angler and the sturdiness of your gear let you know your in for a fight. Leaps clear out of the water and violent head shakes as the fish tries to throw the hook really get the adrenalin pumping. This beauty was caught amongst water lillies near the bank. A favourite saratoga hunting ground. For fish and angler.
Well seeing as I have shown off my first ever barra I thought I might as well present the last barra I caught. So far. This barra was caught at the "S bend" on the Mary River. It is one of the larger barra I have caught and definately the unluckiest fish I have caught. I was lure casting from the bow of the boat when this baby took my lure and ran like the wind. Suddenly to my horror my reel malfunctioned and line raced from my reel causing a massive birds net of twisted line. I managed to untangle some line but not enough. The line began to stretch to breaking point. Just when I thought it was going to snap the line went limp. The fish had turned and was heading towards the boat. I furiously untangled the line and began winding in line as quickly as I could. Thankfully I felt the weight of the fish on the line. After a few more minutes the fish was beside the boat. But that wasn't the end of the drama. Just as Tony placed the landing net in the water and I positioned the head of the fish towards the net the bib on the lure the line was attached to snapped. "No" I screamed. But as luck would have it Tony had just managed to scoop up the barra before it could get away.
Up north you get plenty of fish in the water. Unfortunately they are not the only creatures you encounter. Crocodiles are an ever present danger even hundreds of kilometres inland. You must always be vigilant. You may not see them but they can see you. This little darling is a resident of the Adelaide River where the world famous "Jumping Crocodiles" perform. There is a safe big boat you can go on to see the crocs being baited to jump with raw meat hung from the tour boats. No matter how often I have seen this tour it is always awesome and scary. To think this guy is not even fully grown.