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Heli Fishing Barra
By Warren 'Wazza' Smith
Going barra fishing out of a helicopter has always been on my 'must do' list and just recently my nephew scored a job with Heli Fish Darwin. The dream then became a reality. With Jezza's dad Ken (also part of the Tackle Tactics Team) turning up in Darwin on his annual 'running away from winter down in NSW' pilgrimage, we organized a half day trip on one of Jez's days off.
We checked out the tides as we were hoping to fish a small coastal creek last thing in the arvo and wanted to fish the last hour or so of run out tide. With our homework done, we arrived at Heli Fish's base around midday and loaded a small amount of tackle into the Robertson 44 chopper. The plan was to first fish a barrage on private property, that Heli Fish have access to, then move over to a small coastal creek for the last couple of hours of the arvo.
The flight out was around 30 minutes. If you had to drive and then boat from Darwin to get anywhere near the place it would involve four hours travelling. I was already loving this chopper thing. Because of a reasonably good wet this year, there was still plenty on fresh water laying across the flood plains (we did this trip mid-June) and the number of wild pigs we saw flying out was amazing. Buffalo and a huge amount of bird life were also dotted across the, still green, flood plains. Another bonus of flying as you never get this type of view driving around in a car or boat.
With the chosen barrage coming into view, Jezza soon had us gently touching down on one end of it and while we waited for the chopper to shut down, we couldn't help but notice the amount of fish activity going on the water. It was alive with mullet, tarpon and barramundi. This was going to be fun.
Jez and I went straight for the ZMan 3" MinnowZ paddle tails, rigged on 2/0 TT Lures ChinlockZ, so that we didn't have to worry about snagging or getting the plastics fouled with weed. Ken chose to fly fish this spot and it wasn't long before we started catching barramundi about every third or fourth cast. While we fished, I noticed a lot of activity going on about 50 metres further around, where the water narrowed and decided to make my way around the water's edge and check it out.
The incoming tide from the nearby creek was flowing across a floodplain drain and into the hole formed by the barrage. This had the barra really fired up! The water was rippling with bait and the barramundi were gorging on them, with fish boofing nonstop. Four fish for four casts and I yelled out to Ken and Jez to come over and join the action. So many times it was a triple hook-up and it really was a fish a cast. They weren't big barra, with just a few being legal size, but it sure was fun catching them.
We decided it was time for a move and we left them biting. A quick 15-minute flight and we touched down at the mouth of the small coastal creek that we planned to fish until home time. The tide was still pumping out pretty hard and we didn't get too much action to start. I hooked and dropped a small barra, then a small, metre long, shark took a liking to my lure and gave me the run around until luckily the hooks pulled. Jez had a hit from a barra, then suggested we move further up the creek.
Around 500 metres upstream we found a whole heap of mullet hanging out on a corner and that's when we started getting a better class of barra. A few barra around the 70cm size started appearing, mixed in with some 60cm ones as well. Ken hooked and landed a reasonable size threadfin and then Jez hooked a really nice thready but it managed to throw the hooks.
The coastal creek turned on some quality fishing for us, with around a dozen landed and about the same amount hooked and dropped. The sun was starting to get low in the evening sky and we climbed onboard for the short trip back to base.
While sitting back at the shed, having a beer brother Ken, he was calling it as possibly his best days fishing ever. He thought it was run-off fishing, however I politely said that you don't really have run-off fishing in mid-June. We had a quick think about numbers of fish landed between the two spots and came up with 80 odd fish landed for the half day trip. Anyone who chases barra will tell you that's fantastic fishing for any time of the year and maybe it was run-off like fishing.
If you're ever up Darwin way and want to try helicopter fishing, I'd definitely give the guys at Heli Fish a ring. With three people to share the costs it works out very affordable and it's an experience that you'll always remember. The guys fish a number of spots, including barrages (earthen dam walls), coastal creeks and even coastal rocks. They also have a good understanding of the best spots to take you to on your day or half day's fishing. Helicopters are the GO!
Cheers, Wazza
Gear Used:
ZMan 3" MinnowZ
TT Lures ChinlockZ - 2/0
Okuma Komodo Baitcast Reel - KDS-273
Platypus P8 Braid - 30lb
Platypus Hard Armour Leader - 20lb