North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Hi all,

I made it out to 4 Mile this weekend past, fishing it for the first time. Went with my brother and a mate, though we did the Sunday/Monday.

My brother managed three toga up to about 40/50cm in the first hour fishing, with several small barra landed as well. He also dropped an easy +70cm barra during the Sunday morning session. Myself and our mate didn't do too well on the Sunday morning only landing a couple smaller rats.

We fished the Sunday arvo in to the evening continually landing rats up to 30/40cm.

Monday morning we were on the water a little late than planned and went about the same routine as the Sunday morning. This time round I managed to land two 62cm barra in quick succession. We continued to fish catching endless rats until about midday before packing up and heading home.

What I couldn't figure out was why so many of the smaller barra followed the lures and in most cases sitting right underneath them without striking.

- Jer

Strangely enough I fished two mile and we didn't even catch a barra the whole weekend, did manage a bunch of toga however including my PB of 72cm on fly. Great report Jer, what lures did you use to pull these fish?

tristan.sloan wrote:Strangely enough I fished two mile and we didn't even catch a barra the whole weekend, did manage a bunch of toga however including my PB of 72cm on fly. Great report Jer, what lures did you use to pull these fish?

Bigger fish where on hard bodies. Togas were on small soft plastics dropped in front of lilies.

Is that Salvinia weed in the pictures?

dannett wrote:Is that Salvinia weed in the pictures?

You're right, it is.

I made sure to clear the boat and trailer of as much of it as I could before leaving.

That's not good, does it extend into the large swamps that line the lagoon? I remember back in the early 90s that Finniss river fresh used to have loads of it, how was it eradicated from there?

Cracker report, fish look healthy too

dannett wrote:That's not good, does it extend into the large swamps that line the lagoon? I remember back in the early 90s that Finniss river fresh used to have loads of it, how was it eradicated from there?

It did look like it went a fair way back. Though I didn't really look to see specifically.

I wouldn't know what was done on the Finniss fresh but was looking at what Kakadu National Park are supposedly doing to combat it. I found this link that looks fairly old but mentions a biological control agent being a bug named "Cyrtobagous salviniae". The bug lays it's eggs in the Salvinia and the larve hatches and eats the weed.

I'd like to think there's ongoing efforts by Kakadu National Park and Dept of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment to control the weed.

Matt Flynn wrote:Cracker report, fish look healthy too

The fish did look real healthy. Fought well too.

great report. Might have to hook the tinny up and head there for some rat action

That photo with the mist rising off the water is a cracker. makes me want to pack the swag

The misses and I spent last weekend at four mile. yes the weed goes all the way back across the swamps. the barra are in there, you can hear the boofing but the weed makes it impossible to get close. we got at least a dozen good hits from barra on our lures but unfortunately theywernt hooking very well. we even saw a couple of nice barra grab the lures right alongside the boat but still would not hook up. we tried soft plastics and amall hard bodies with the spearhead getting lots of hits and the only landed fish for the weekend. very frustrating but still a pleasant weekend on the water.

How bad are the Mozzies out there?

schubz wrote:The misses and I spent last weekend at four mile. yes the weed goes all the way back across the swamps. the barra are in there, you can hear the boofing but the weed makes it impossible to get close. we got at least a dozen good hits from barra on our lures but unfortunately theywernt hooking very well. we even saw a couple of nice barra grab the lures right alongside the boat but still would not hook up. we tried soft plastics and amall hard bodies with the spearhead getting lots of hits and the only landed fish for the weekend. very frustrating but still a pleasant weekend on the water.

It really is a magic spot.

I didn't think the fishing would slow up so fast out there. I was using one particular lure each weekend I was there and the fish loved it. Of course that lure is going to remain a little secret.

Jackh wrote:How bad are the Mozzies out there?

They're a bit much early morning/evening. On the water they're not too bad.

Thermocells work well at camp, bushmans on the boat. Covering up is best for both, long sleeves and pants.

Closed due to salvinia