Barramundi season is officially off and running, and grey nomad anglers will once again be dreaming of catching the big one when they head north in a few months … unless they’re already there!
Up in the Gulf Country, there are already predictions that it’s going to be a very good year and visitors are being encouraged to pack their tackle boxes and start planning a trip to the region.
“With fishing predicted to go gangbusters this year due to the heavy rain and runoff we have had this summer now is the time to start planning your trip north,” a Carpentaria Shire Council spokesperson said.
And the council’s tourism officer Verena Olesch was eager to display the latest in large lures at the Barramundi Discovery Centre.
“Graduate to this monster lure and you might even need a bigger boat,” said the council spokesperson.
The excitement is also building in Queensland.
Rockhampton Region Mayor Tony Williams said the number of trophy Barra over the magic metre in length continues to grow each season.
“We are proud to have some of the best barra fishing in the country, right here on the mighty Fitzroy River,” he said. “A strong focus on sustainable fishing has helped to make our barra fishery the envy across Northern Australia with fishing related tourism netting more tourists year on year chasing their trophy barra PB right in the heart of our CBD”.
Council’s tourism officer Verena Olesch displayed the latest in large lures at the Barramundi Discovery Centre. PIC: Northwest Star
But some areas have already had a bit of a jump on the season.
The season closures do not apply to a handful of dams and lakes, including Lake Moondarra near Mount Isa in Outback Queensland. Lake Moondarra is an artificial lake stocked with about 10,000 fingerlings each year for recreational fishing … and there have been some whoppers caught in recent weeks.
Secretary of the Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group (MIFSG), Stephen Farnsworth, told the ABC that the recently caught fish could be record-breakers.
“The biggest we have officially caught and weighed was 26 kilograms, I think the fish that we’ve seen recently are bigger than that,” he said. “The dam hasn’t gone over for a long time so there’s a lot of big fish out there … when the storms and the heat come on, the fish start to move around and get active, … we definitely need some of those big ones out.”
Yes my wife and I are planning to get up by the end of April for a couple of months it’s been 26 years since when we last traveled up the top end looking forward to it cheers
Hope he put it back