Darwin Harbour

Craig Grosvenor [Darwin NT]

During the past seven years I have spent a large majority of available fishing time within the confines of Darwin Harbour. This was largely due to the suitability of my boat, being a perfect harbour flats and creek package. There really is no substitute for hours spent on the water to gain info and maximise your chances of scoring fish.I suppose I became ‘hooked’ like so many others after my first succession of successful trips…..it was a real buzz to find that I had it sussed…I could confidently take friends and relatives fishing and have them land their first barra or black jewfish. Of course, like we all find out, there are days when the conditions are perfect and plan of attack identical but for one reason or another we manage to draw a blank…what did we do wrong?? Probably nothing…that’s just fishing…after all..the experience just reignites the fire in the belly to get back out there and turn the tables. Isnt that what its all about?

Mick Dundee

12 KG Harbour Caught Giant Trevally

Darwin Harbour, how good is it! Right at our doorstep, sporting awesome creek and flats fishing for everything from barra, blue and threadfin salmon,to queenfish, trevally, mangrove jack and other snapper species. We also have a wide variety of artificial reefs located in the deeper waters, providing excellent grounds for black jewfish, Golden snapper, moonfish, spanish flag, cod, parrot fish, javelin fish and various other bottom dwellers including sharks.

Frequenting the harbour during seasonal phases of year are also spanish mackeral and Northern bluefin tuna or longtails as many know them.

So, don’t let anybody tell you theres no fish in the harbour…believe me, theres plenty of rod-creakin action to be had, it just takes a little forethought with tidal and seasonal activity to best maximise your trip. The ‘ build up’ is about to set in and we all know what that means- bring on the barra!

Bring it on at East Arm.

It would be fair to say that my most successful barra/salmon hangout in Darwin Harbour is in East Arm. Being no more than ten minutes drive from home, it’s a perfect last minute fishing destination with endless opportunities of scoring fish.

Popular with the locals for a quick crabbing or barra session is Sadgroves creek. Containing Dinah beach boat ramp, it’s the ideal ‘after work fish’ location. Sadgroves creek sprouts three distinctive branches, all of which contain gutters worth a cast with shallow minnows on the run-out tide. Low tides of under 2 metres are ideal, with most fish coming during the last two hours of outgoing and first hour of incoming tides. Slow-trolling the mangrove edges during this time is also productive. The huge mudflat existing between Reichardt and Sadgroves creek is a popular flats fishing location, with best success coming via the ‘stealth’ approach, often with the use of an oar or bamboo stick to slowly manouvre the boat toward sighted targets.Watch the big tides…many have spent hours stranded here!

Around to the east is Reichardt and Bleesers Creek, both of which are high priority on the local barra scene. Fish to 80cm are common from this close duo, the mouth of both sharing the same vast spread of mudflat seperated by a narrow channel that can be tricky to navigate during the lower tides. Reichardt Creek is one of my personal favourites. Get in three hours prior to a low of 1.5metres and work the gutters up both sides with a slow troll of shallow minnows, watching the sounder to remain in under 6ft of water. Anchor or drift past the gutters holding active bait fish, casting as you go. Work colour changes where possible and take particular note of where barra are ‘boofing’. Further upstream, past the wreck ‘chang 1028’ is a distinctive branch off to the left. Trolling and casting the left corner, harbourside, is extremely productive due to the mullet that ‘hold up’ in the back-eddy. This area also houses some good submerged snags, visible only at dead low. Live bait is deadly here. A good junction on the left side approximately 300 metres further upstream is also worth a cast, usually within an hour prior to dead low. During dead low, I have found working the flats out the front to be the best option. Casting ‘just unders’,shallow bombers, B52’s and trolling the edges of the channel often results in hook ups with barra and salmon. I often do well on 70cm plus-threadfin salmon trolling 3 metre RMG scorpions straight down the guts of the channel once the tide begins to push back in. On days which seem unusually quite, soft plastics can be the answer with salmon on the flats, ‘pearl’ colours out-performing all others.

Further East, about 1 kilometre to the left of East Arm boat ramp is Hudson Creek, the spot that currently holds my biggest harbour Barra of 104cm. Who said you need to travel for hours to catch big fish? Hudson works best on a low around 1.4 to 1.6 metres, again concentrating on the final two hours of outgoing and first hour of incoming tides. Trolling the edges and casting the gutters as the mangroves become exposed is the name of the game. Again, look for live bait activity and cast at any visible back eddy where a barra is likely to lay. The huge mudflat exposed toward low tide, appearing between Hudson and Myrmiden Creeks offers great flats fishing and this is where I managed to land 104cm barra on the old faithful Gold Bomber, late in October with the ‘build up’ in full flight.

In passing , its always a good idea to give the East Arm Wharf rock wall a troll, both on the Northern and Southern sides. Some great reports have come from the wharfies working at night, mostly big barra feeding on bait fish along the rock wall edges. Troll shallow minnows slow and close. If fishing at night, give a rapala Skitterpop a go, using a slow erratic retreive mimicking a wounded fish. You may be surprised!

East Arm is also ideal for picking up the tasty mudcrab. I have fished every variety of tide and used every combination of baits in almost every creek I can get to, and have found a few common results. Firstly, incoming tides produced the best results, continually moving my pots up into the mangrove gutters as the tide rises. Generally a minimum of about three metres of tidal movement is required to push the scent up and lure the crabs from their hideouts. Working the crab pots every hour is advised (more frequently if using dillies) as the odd crab is smart and can find its way back out!

Baits that produce the goods include- fish frames, roo bones, canned sardine cat food (pierced), slightly cooked chicken frames and soup bones. Those serious about their crabbing often soak the baits in tuna oil overnight before using. Drop pots close to mangrove roots for best results.

The above mentioned locations are just a few worthwhile areas to fish in East Arm of Darwin Harbour during the forthcoming warmer weather of 2004.

For further information, drop in for a chat (and free tea/coffee) at Got One Darwin some time soon…I would be happy to hear about any of your ‘secret spots’!

Regards

Craig Grosvenor

Got One Darwin

Truck City, Berrimah

When fishing East Arm, Craig’s tackle bag consists of;

Bomber 14A tiger Lilly

Bomber 15A XMK Gold

Bomber 14A XM7 Green

Bomber 15A XSICH Chartreuse

Bob Forrester ‘Little G’ (Got One Green #12)

Reidys Little Lucifer (Got One G1X)

Reidys Little Lucifer (EJ)

Reidys B52 H-SB (silver)

Classic Barra Just Under- Gold Bleeding Mullet

Classic Barra 97- Golden Streak +3ft

Nilsmaster Spearhead #67

RMG Scorpion 90 3mtr #24

Rapala Husky Jerk 12cm