Report by: Guide Zatch Fuller
Most anglers dream of coming to the Top End to catch a barra, once they achieve this, they aim a little higher to join the meter plus club, and eventually, the 50 pound club. Two clients on this safari, Bruno and Alex, achieved this trifecta on their first ever fishing trip to the Top End. Bruno, Vince, Alex had never caught a barra before and John, the fourth member of the crew, was a seasoned barra angler.
On day one, everyone caught several good barras, but Alex scooped the prize fish with this 54lbs monster saltie he trolled up from one of the many rock bars. Soft plastics and deep divers were the tools needed to extract the big fish from their hidey holes and keeping your lure close to the bottom and not stuck to it was the key. If we were not hitting the bottom we were not catching fish.
 
Not to be outdone, Bruno landed this 52lbs, 120cm horse on the last day, making his dreams of coming to Kakadu National Park and catching a big barra a reality. There were plenty of other fish caught by the boys and other recreational anglers. We witnessed a young 12 year old fella land a 125cm monster, much to his fathers disbelief and anguish; we left them to the sounds of cheers and dad saying that he was going to leave the lucky little bugger at home next year.
 The fishing in the Top End has been harder this year with the lack of good rainfall, nevertheless, the big tidal rivers in Kakadu are still producing good fish. During a normal run off season, most of our big barra are caught by casting lures into to the color changes of creek mouths, created by the large amounts of freshwater running off the floodplains. Without this excess of water we have found the rock bars are holding good fish and the best way to target them is trolling.
Kakadu National Park is not only a barramundi haven but also an incredibly stunning location as can be seen in this picture of Turkey Dreaming.
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