The beginners guide to Top End Fishing

If you ask an avid angler whether there are two or four seasons in the Top End, they're bound to tell you four... "There's the Wet, the Run Off, The Dry and then the Build Up".

So each season controls where the fish are biting around the Top End region. As it's one of our favourite past times, there's no limit to the information available for guidance on the hot tips about where to go and how to catch ‘em'.

The Wet - Jan to Feb

If you're after the mighty barramundi at this time of year, it's best to hit the mangrove creeks and estuaries around Darwin Harbour. Although the monsoon can flood the tidal rivers, it can be difficult to locate where the barra are biting this time of year. If it's not barra your after, try targeting the jewies, snapper, bream and mangrove jack as the juvenile prawns provide a feeding frenzy in the estuaries.

The Run Off - Mar to Apr

If the friends and rellies are into fishing tell them to avoid the peak season and come up a couple of months early for the Run Off. This time of year is the favourite of many anglers who have been holding out waiting for the floodplains to drain into the main rivers and into the creek mouths. With this brings, plenty of barra action as small aquatic life also gets sucked into the stream of flow providing a feast for barra waiting at the other end. Also at the other end is a boat cleaning up those unlucky barra who caught a soft plastic instead of what they were actually after!

It's not just the barra who benefit from the goodness flowing from the floodplains. The sport and reef fish also benefit from this occurrence and are known to be quite comfortable hanging around closer to shore as they would on a reef further out.

The Dry - May to Sep

Another popular time of the year for fishing and it's not just because of the masses of tourists keen to catch a big one while they're up on holidays! This is actually a great time for bluewater fishing as the pelagic sportfish such as longtail tuna, cobia, queenfish and giant and golden trevally are traceable. If its tasty reef fish you're after then these can be found both in and offshore from Darwin.

When the water dries up, it's the landlocked billabongs and coastal mangrove estuaries and creeks to fish for barra. The lack of water movement will improve water clarity, which is perfect for fish to be distracted by a passing hard-bodied lure. This time of year can also provide a great camping and fishing adventure, particularly during the school holidays, as access opens to many of the great spots around the Top End.

The Build Up - Oct to Dec

Although the humidity can be excruciating at 90 odd percent it's not just the locals who are known to go troppo at this time of year. It is also the breeding season for barra (October), which brings the male and female species together at the river mouths. This congregation of males and producing females in the one place is an important time of the year so we recommend that you return the big girls back to the water to do their thing.

The action not only occurs in the river mouths but also in the billabongs that are steaming up, not because of the ladies, but because of the fast approaching monsoon. Action can go we'll into the night out on the billabongs so we recommend some noisy surface poppers or trolling out under the stars along the lilies in the cooler evening.

It may not be as steamy for the bluewater angler at this time of year however the calmer waters allow further distances to be traveled over water to try top spots for abundant sport and reef fish species.

Fish Species

Rivers, billabongs and seas in the Northern Territory are teeming with a wide variety of fish species, most of which can be caught year round.

The barramundi is best known as one of the world’s greatest sport fish and is abundant in Northern Territory waterways, some up to 130 centimetres in length. Other popular species all have one thing in common - their size - and include black jewfish, giant trevally, golden snapper and Spanish mackerel.

Check out Travel NT's fishing page for detailed information.

Top Barra Recipes

Benjamin Christie's
grilled barramundi with lemon myrtle mash

The Barra.com's
barra on the barbie recipe

About Seafoods
grilled blackened barra sanga

Don't know much about lures

Reidy's Fishing Lure Factory near the Arnhem Highway turnoff is not only a great place to stock up on your lure collection but to discover how a lure is made. A behind the scene tour of the factory occurs are twice daily which will provide an insight into how this barra attracting machine is made. Highly recommended!

FISHING RESOURCES