G’day Everyone, I want to share how I’ve still done some Top End fishing during the Covid-19 lockdown during the annual runoff season 2020.
Due to this unfortunate virus pandemic, and airport closures, all my bookings were cancelled for the year so I decided to fish the run-off with the family.
Tides and fishing were just too good to miss so we did our best and followed social distancing regulations while we fueled up and got the basic necessities together.
Once on the river, I was surprised to have the whole river to myself as we headed to the fishing creek I had in mind.
Casey landed the first catch
With high hopes and expectations we arrived and saw mullet/bait everywhere as the high tide approached.
Casey was the first to hook up a 92cm Barra and it pulled her sideways and jumped furiously. A quick photo and it was released in no time.
I was just putting the net away and tidying up few loose ends when Casey hooked up again with a bigger monster.
Oh boy, the excitement on her face was priceless. We had only been fishing for 15 minutes and we landed two of her biggest Barras she had every seen.
So, once her personnel best Barras were on board, the banter started.
I just laughed and said I get a better kick out of seeing people land big fish in my boat but I knew I had to get fish for myself on board otherwise I will never hear the end of it…
So I said I promise you I will catch a bigger one by the end of the day, “ you keep going”.
I guess the Fishing God was on my side after studying the bait flush and eddies where the bait was holding.
I let my lure fly. A few twitches later I felt a solid thump and the game was on, 98cm solid silver Barra and I was in front.
Great rewards fishing during the Covid-19 lockdown
We managed to land about a dozen Barras every day. All fish were in 90cm mark, but we did lose some bigger specimens that pulled like freight trains. Our timing with full moon and spring tides were perfect for some of my hidden fishing creeks.
During runoff period March/April if you can experience the bait flush from coastal creeks you will never ever forget the explosive fishing the NT has to offer.
When the Mullet and Tarpon are drained from the wet lands they have nowhere to go but out to sea where the Big Hungry Barras are waiting.
Most of my regular clients have experienced this phenomena and even after ticking off their bucket lists, they keep coming back nearly every year to experience it again.
Thank you to Colin from Reidy’s Lures. The big B52 was the favorite lure of choice.