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Landbased Fishing darwin


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So myself and the K man are heading off to Darwin early April. We have a full day charter planned for one of them but have 2 full days up our sleeves to do some Landbased fishing.

Anyone one ever done any up there? Any hints and tips would be great. Hoping to smack a couple fish that pull drag. What should we expect up there apart from the obvious barra?

Any help would be fantastic!

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Honestly, the main wharf/pier in town blew my mind though it was 25 odd years ago on a u16 rep footy trip around April I think. They dropped us kids down there for a few hours. Straight up spotted long tom and milk fish just cruising the shallows then watched a dude further along for about half an hour, he caught various emperor and trevally up to about 50cm one after another, a small black mully a hammerhead about 6ft and he got blitzed by what he reckons was a big spanish mack which smashed one of those emperor he'd put out under a balloon as a livey.

It was too much for me, I climbed underneath and scrounged about 10 metres of line a couple hooks and some oysters for bait, landed a few emperors myself and some colourful reefies from in the pylons then got smashed by a bigger trevally which ate one of the reefies i was trying to pull up and snapped my line. 

It was time to go then anyway but i did spot a bait school jumping on the way back and as best as i can tell it was getting pillaged by what i think was a barra about 1m long. 

Like I said 25 years ago and have never been back (one day....) but I remember it well, you can't forget insane stuff like that, I don't know if it is anything like that normally or now days but i am pretty confident that if you can find decent access to deeper water and structure and fish like you would a jetty here but with beefed up gear you will do well.

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8 hours ago, Meppstas said:

Try finding someone who can take you to a spot & catch "Milk Fish" they're caught in the shallows in and around Darwin.. Very large solid fighting fish that will give you a run for your money & a real challenge.. The following clips will give you some idea...😁

cheers

Adrian

 

Already had a couple spots in mind fir them itson my bucket list

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Barra are just the beginning. Threadfin Salmon, Blue Salmon, Golden Snapper, Estuary Cod, Travs (various types), Queenies then you could get lucky woth the odd drive by from a Sapnish Mackeral, Black Jew, Jack, various reef species. Depends really on what land based you do and whether you are cbd based or in on of the suburbs. There are various estuary vs wharf locations.

There are two main wharfs in the CBD which you always see people fishing - if you want to see an amazing sight have dinner at the main wharf over sunset. Grab a seat hard up against the edge where the spot lights are directly below you. As the sun goes down and the lights come on the fish come out to play. Huge moon/bat fish, barra, trevs and various other fish school up on the surface chasing the offerings dinners drop in.

If you going to be fishing from the waters edge, it would pay to ask/keep an ear open for croc sightings. 

Enjoy! Darwin is a great place.

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Sounds like a great trip mate.👌

Buffalo Creek near Lee Point for Barra. Best fished at low tide. There's a fishermans track that leads back up the creek bank from the carpark, which will take you to a few spots worth a flick. Not a track for the faint hearted.

Seen Queenies taken at Nightcliffe jetty and the Cullen Bay ferry jetty. As mentioned the main wharf has a great reputation for fishing. 

Another option would be to jump on the ferry, 15 minute ride, and fish the Mandorah jetty.🐟🐟🐟

Good luck.

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Yeah Land based fishing in Darwin, firstly , watch out for crocs ! 

Mandorah Jetty i would go to if decent tides, they get a mixed bag off there inc Spanish macks , queenies , trevally , sharks.

The wharfs do still fish ok , but the majority of decent trevally etc will smoke you on structure .

If your going to try for Barra landbased, id gather some info first on where is fishing good at the time you plan to go , as alot depends on what baitfish are around etc and of course the sometimes huge tides. The local knowledge of the crew at the darwin fishing and outdoor shop (in darwin city) are great , They will put you in the right direction and you could save yourself some time by speaking with them (they have a FB page too, and are responsive on messenger)  Channel island and buffalo creek are some places to look into , plenty of land based barra get caught there usually under 80cm but good fun, you need to know what your doing barra fishing though with the tides etc, And like i say , fishing safely ! ,knowing what the massive tides are doing constantly , and keeping crocs in mind is absolute #1 

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11 hours ago, Squid Inc. said:

Doctors Gully for milk fish, they do fish feeding down there. Go just the other side of the fence which puts you the other side of the “No fish zone”.

 Will you have a car while your there?

cheers mate. Yeh will have a car for the duration of the trip

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