North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

A question for southerners now living in Darwin: Do you miss any aspects of southern fishing?

I do miss catching a nice big red, which I managed to do at Kangaroo Island last chrissy. They are a bit like barra I reckon, something special about em.

chanos.

plus fresh oysters at $6 dozen straight off the rack unopened...mmmmmm

I miss being able to swim in the same water I fish in - without risking a most painful death........

being from king island originally we get salmon and gummy shark off the beaches ,flathead in the boat (not the big suckers) but most of all missed are the abalone and crayfish which are easily caught free diving in 2 mtrs of water and deeper,the clarity is unbelievable but freezing.theres not a lot of boat fishing there as the seas are usually huge.

Often when speaking to mates back home who are about to go away somewhere down there I tell them I'm jealous,they can't understand me saying that when I'm up here!

I love fishing for heaps of different species,so I definatly miss fishing at home at times. However at the end of the day,if I went home now,I know I'd miss this place ridiculously also,so I'm staying for the immediate future..

October-January is great at home,I'd rate the options above here at that time of year. However the winter does drag on,and the options aren't great.

I miss fishing for the natives along the Murray and close by.I miss the 2-3 big trout trips we do each year in the high country,nothing beats that scenery in the country! I miss Snapper season in PPB, 'Snapper fever' is a very contagious disease come October in Melbourne(almost got me sacked in 04!). I also miss fishing for Mulloway/bream/estuary perch in the estuary's in SW Vic.
It's also a lot more simpler and pleasant fishing at home. Not as stressful,don't have to worry about 7m tides,getting stuck at ramps,eatin by crocs,etc. It's more relaxing

However,the NT,when it's on,it's ON! Down there we can't match a hot session compared to here. I think the ruggedness,remoteness,the setbacks,it's all part of the Top End adventure. It's frustrating as hell at times when you're sweating profusily,scratching 40million mozzie bites,dinging up the boat,smashing the trailer,getting spectaculary overcharged for repairs,but at this point in my life,I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm not sure if i'll be here forever,as I'm just about the most parochial Victorian ever,and I miss the spiritual homeland of AFL each week,and my family and friends.However I said I'd be here for 6 months,which changed to 12 months,then to 15months,now I've pretty much committed to another 12 months. If I went home now I don't think I could bare reading the reports on here about the run off,etc! So I'm here for a bit longer yet.....eh!

don't miss anything about the fishing, but there are endless nice easy camping spots along the murray, with no sandflies, and usually less mozzies and is nice to be able to jump in for a swim, but have no regrets about leaving and am here to stay now.

I miss the big squid in Adelaide - they were good fun and good to eat.

Tommies (tommy ruffs or herring) were good fun too, even though they are tiny. I also enjoyed catching big stingrays in Adelaide, but I was in my teens then.

Brisbane estuary fishing never turned me on, I always felt it was stuck in the middle between the tropics and temperate water, but I didn't have a boat then and might have felt differently with a boat. I did do a lot of fishing and diving out of other people's boats and we had some good trips. I was fishing Brisbane's Somerset Dam before they put any fish in, and all I caught was eel-tailed Powertail and spangled perch.

My favourite 'southern' spot is Ningaloo. Ningaloo is also stuck in the middle between tropics and south but the water is clear and the reef and lagoons are fantastic. And there isn't one million people living there.

Ningaloo is a nice spot. Some beautiful coast line along there. Used to do alot of freediving down along the coast from Geraldton up to Exmouth and probably some of the most breathtaking spots. Lots of sharks but the visibility means you can keep an eye on them. Abrolhos Islands is another paradise that was just on the doorstep. Still dont think I will move back though so must be pretty good up here too.

I miss the crays from WA and diving along the west coast. we moved to WA after tracy wrecked darwin but been back home in the territory for 12yrs now and wouldn't swap it for anything. My dad lives in a beach shack around 400k's north of perth at green islets in the pinnacle NP and used to love going there for the wa dhuie fishing and crays but now he posts me crays and dhuie for barra and mud crabs so no need to go back there anymore

BEAR

i think this should say it all. but apart from family / friends thats all i miss.

Coming from the inland NSW with only mud flavoured mullet to catch I don't miss it very much at all. Since I left home they have stocked a couple close by dams since then which are fishing well. Mainly lived in capital cities since then with no boat an been at least an hour away from a good waterway didn't do much fishing. Had a good couple years in Townsville though. Been here four years now and have missed every run off for work reasons but wouldn't trade it for catching mullet.

There is a creek that runs right in front of my dads house and i do miss the run of yabbies that used to happen when the river flooded - not sure if i miss the great feeds or the drinking that normally accompanied the yabbying - thing is you CAN fall out of the boat or slip in the water down there - not up here though!!
Most of the good times we used to have down there have long since gone anyway - dad has plenty of time to get out now he is retired and he has to travel a long way to get a fish - cant convince him to come up here yet though.
Things are on the mend since they got rid of a lot of the pros out of there - mates of mine are starting to get cod on lures around so hopefully it can sort itself out.

Lived in Darwin pretty much all my life so dont really know what I would be missing if anything? Sorry

Howdy All,

I miss the 'ole Surfers Paradise spit. You used to catch some huge flathead, but sadly they're all but gone now too.

I did a lot of trout fishing in Victoria's mountain streams like the Howqua, Upper Goulbourn and Delatite Rivers.
I must say I miss wading up through the christel clear streams trying to read the river while casting a black celtas into likley trout habitat. With each bend in the river I would come accross a different hole or a another set of rapids that had the potential to hold brown or rainbow trout.
It was a beautiful form of fishing. I spent hours slowly wading the pristine, meandering stream amounst towering eucalypts overhead and lush green ferns linning the banks.