North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

A mate sent me a newspaper clipping from a recent fishing article, I don’t have access to the tabloid as its not delivered to the Daly River, and I don’t subscribe to the digital version of this local newspaper.

The article was based on the prospects of Barra fishing opportunities in the rivers of the top end. The focus was on the wet season rainfalls and the effect of the rain that occurred prior to the New Year.

There was an optimistic view that we are experiencing a fabulous start to the wet season and that the rivers are rising, the writer was obviously excited and went on to say the Barra fishing opportunities will benefit from the rain, a fair enough assumption.
The article also had a quote from the writing inserted as a large subtitle that I quote,

‘It’s now inevitable that the Daly River will go off during the Runoff and early-to-mid dry season.’

The river had peaked at 10 meters at the time and rose to 12 meters at the crossing for a few days. Regrettably the rain in the New Year has been below average, more importantly the rain was and continues to be patchy, isolated storms that have not saturated the greater catchment, the lower river flood plains have received below average falls and the rivers upstream of the Dorisvale crossing area are at an all-time seasonal low.

The river quickly dropped and has stayed below 6 meters for the bulk of January. At the moment there is no monsoon in site, the patchy storms continue, and the river keeps draining out.
Some will see this as a pessimistic view. So be it, however I only write what I see and describe the facts.

I’m sure there a few fish in the river and with enough effort by many anglers concentrating their time and money on catching a Barra or two will make photos in social media that can be interpreted into the river “going off.”
The lack of successful fishing bragging in social media is obvious.

The fact is the weather pattern we have experienced for the last several years is changing the river and all the life that has evolved in it.

Meanwhile the commercial harvest begins in a couple of days, no seasonal management considered.
Net as many Barra as they can. No bag limit regardless of the poor wet seasons that produce lower successful breeding numbers of Barra.

Take, take, take is not sustainable or acceptable in any fishery management future.

The only inevitable thing at the Daly River is a collapse of the recreational fishing tourism industry.

Changing weather patterns down here too, historically wet areas drying out.

That said, the Daly at its worst is 10x better than the river here at its best, but at least it is a pleasant place to have a swim and a beer, with no mozzies, lol.

"Meanwhile the commercial harvest begins in a couple of days, no seasonal management considered.
Net as many Barra as they can. No bag limit regardless of the poor wet seasons that produce lower successful breeding numbers of Barra."

This is the biggest travesty, we are seeing long closures on important fisheries interstate, but up here they are just too gutless to upset the netters.

Is it true that the majority of netting licenses are held by a couple of groups?

stroma wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 6:05 am “Wild Barramundi” own about 8 or 9 of the 14 licences as I understand.

Yep, close figure. WA based company. After the local deckies are paid, all profits go interstate.

So our fishing gets raped and the money leaves town. Great for tourism too.

Frogs are recognized as one of the primary markers of an ecosystem's health, lots of frogs (not toads) are signs of a good environment.

I’m sure that many people who live in the top end towns have experienced the sometimes-overwhelming songs of gangs of green tree frogs, particularly during a decent wet season.
I don’t have a manicured garden with lush, introduced plants and lawn that needs to be cared for. I despise pot plants. My garden is the natural bush with a few introduced fruit trees. No gangs of green tree frogs, but a variety of frog species doing their thing. They have been noticeably low in numbers for a few years. Poor wet seasons equals poorer ecosystems.

The current wet season and river flood are welcomed by the frogs. Their life cycle is rapid, eggs turn quickly into tadpoles and tadies turn quickly into frogs, in massive numbers. This all happens in still water, puddles, pig and buffalo wallows, waterholes and billabongs.

Tadpoles and frogs are fish food. When those bodies of still water get linked to flowing water some of the creatures who live in those places migrate, some by choice others by flowing water that they can’t resist.
At the moment the river is rising at about 300mm per 12 hours, it has broken the banks in many places and flowing over some of the flood plains.

Being so late in the Cherabin/ Barra cycle it’s not an ideal wet season. But I suppose it’s better than not having one. At least the frogs will be happy.

The river is alive with life.

The dominate species is most active during the daylight although there is a proportion that are active in the dark hours. Creeks and drains that flow into the river are the most likely place to find this species.

They often stay in a position for considerable time waiting for feeding opportunities, there are well known locations and feeding times that are guarded by this species by strategical placement of positioning for an ambush.

This behavior makes it difficult for other predators to hunt in those highly sought after and productive locations, to the advantage of the dominate species.
The species can be aggressive and confronting if there are attempts by other smaller predators to engage in a feeding position and time.

This domination is an evolution of size and speed, large fast and aggressive predators are creating a diminishing number of small and slower hunters.

The cycle of life starts with small things growing over time into larger things. Break that cycle and eventually the species disappear.

Easter was a wet one here, I'm sure all the campers would agree. Close to 100mm over the week, the cyclone to the west dragged the moisture over the top end and isolated storms continue.

The river prior to then was clearing up and the familiar green tinge of the water had begun, a good sign for fishing.
The rain was widespread over the catchment and with some heavy falls in the Katherine, Flora and Edith areas resulting in a sharp river rise of cool dirty fresh water, not a good sign for fishing.

Barra are often described as a hardy fish. The high catch and release survival rate even after being held out of the water for a considerable time for measuring, tagging and photo opportunities they seem to swim of and recover from the experience.

These fish are a Euryhaline species, they live in fresh and salt water. However, they don’t change from one to the other quickly if they can avoid too. It’s a gradual change as part of a Catadromous breeding cycle.

The river also has a gradual change in salinity. When the flooding river of freshwater volume begins to reduce, the salt water tidal influence pushes into the river along with the saltwater fish. These fish tend to travel up and down the river with the tide, avoiding significant change in the salinity and temperature.
The well-known saying that a rising river is not good for fishing is the result of the above observation and experience of anglers and scientists.

My own experience has been that dependent on the time of year and intensity of the wet season, the impact of a sudden river rises from rain in the upper catchment after the river had been stabilizing can, go either way.

The fish in the tidal reaches retreat from the surge of cool freshwater, it will take time for the river to start stabilizing again. Sometimes the fish come back, sometimes they don’t.
It depends on the available food source that is also impacted by salinity and temperature changes.