Arnhem Land
Submitted by Robpado on Wed, 2018-10-31 16:19
Gday fisho's,
In the planning stages of a trip to Arnhem land and am after info and stories from crew that have done the trip. Places you went /stayed and fished. Would love to take the bar crusher but not keen on the amount of dirt and off road needed to see the best parts so we will be taking a 480 topender which will do the job nicley.
Any advice from perople that have done the trip would be much appreciated.
Cheers.
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
I’ve been out to Nhulunbuy a couple of times, but only with work. Seen other people’s catches of which I’ve been very envious of, think they all barge their boats out to there.
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
Ayamigo
Posts: 25
Date Joined: 18/11/17
I've fished the east
I've fished the east alligator river over a few different years. It straddles the west edge of Arnhem. I learned a heap of lessons the hard way! Including being blasé about the tides and getting stuck 4 hours longer than I told the missus I'd be back (no mobile reception, I wasn't the most popular that night), taken chunks out of the prop from submerged rocks/trees (on two separate occasions), and ran out of fuel about 200m from the ramp which wasntt my proudest moment. Ive aways stayed in jabiru which isnt in arnem but close enough to do day trips in. you might be planning on heading to the other side though . m
Stop playin' with yourself, Hooper. Slow ahead, if you please.
derek
Posts: 94
Date Joined: 14/10/12
Don't swim
Keep an eye out for the lizzards--they get pretty big up there
Lavs
Posts: 174
Date Joined: 30/04/12
Do it.
Gday
Yep drove through Arnhem Land and Kakadu in June and flying back into Nhulunbuy this week for round two.
The waters off Nhulunbuy are epic. We fished offshore for three days and we boated a lot of good fish. You know it’s good water when you’re throwing back very decent “Perth fish” because “Nah, that’s a small one up here mate”. At that time of year the Mackie’s were going off with a few fairly large ones too. Hoping we may be able to get into some sailfish and swords this time round too.
We fished landbased for barra while inland at a few different spots unsuccessfully. Still good fun and the scenery is amazing. As Derek says, be very croc aware when fishing the creeks and even at the beach. If the water is clear you’re fairly safe (you’ll see anything coming)
Im going to say that you really need access to a boat in Nhulunbuy, but only because of how good the offshore fishing was. I didn’t bother trying land based there though for that reason. There are apparently some good charters available there too.
Be aware also that a lot of the areas in Arnhem Land outside of Nhulunbuy are on Aboriginal land that you really should have permission from the elders to fish on. And don’t forget all your permits from NLC including the one required to fish, but also the one allowing you to drink :)
If you’re planning to head to Nhulunbuy, I would avoid towing your boat in. The only track in (~650km) is pretty rough and it will 100% break your trailer. My mate who lives there towed his trailer in without the boat on it and it still ruined his trailer (think broken u-bolts, busted leafies, the lot). Unless of course you’ve got an off-road trailer - my 2c anyway.
Happy to post a few pics from our trip if you’re interested.
Lavs
Lavs
Posts: 174
Date Joined: 30/04/12
Do it.
Gday
Yep drove through Arnhem Land and Kakadu in June and flying back into Nhulunbuy this week for round two.
The waters off Nhulunbuy are epic. We fished offshore for three days and we boated a lot of good fish. You know it’s good water when you’re throwing back very decent “Perth fish” because “Nah, that’s a small one up here mate”. At that time of year the Mackie’s were going off with a few fairly large ones too. Hoping we may be able to get into some sailfish and swords this time round too.
We fished landbased for barra while inland at a few different spots unsuccessfully. Still good fun and the scenery is amazing. As Derek says, be very croc aware when fishing the creeks and even at the beach. If the water is clear you’re fairly safe (you’ll see anything coming)
Im going to say that you really need access to a boat in Nhulunbuy, but only because of how good the offshore fishing was. I didn’t bother trying land based there though for that reason. There are apparently some good charters available there too.
Be aware also that a lot of the areas in Arnhem Land outside of Nhulunbuy are on Aboriginal land that you really should have permission from the elders to fish on. And don’t forget all your permits from NLC including the one required to fish, but also the one allowing you to drink :)
If you’re planning to head to Nhulunbuy, I would avoid towing your boat in. The only track in (~650km) is pretty rough and it will 100% break your trailer. My mate who lives there towed his trailer in without the boat on it and it still ruined his trailer (think broken u-bolts, busted leafies, the lot). Unless of course you’ve got an off-road trailer - my 2c anyway.
Happy to post a few pics from our trip if you’re interested.
Lavs
samd
Posts: 36
Date Joined: 30/04/16
I lived and worked all over
I lived and worked all over that area for a number of years. Dont reccomend towing along the central arnhem road to Gove, its pretty nasty and can be impassable in anything other than dry season. In the dry, a solid 4WD trailer would make it as I drove a 2WD hilux across, only one river crossing that caused any issues. Same goes for the Maningrida road and Coburg peninsula roads.
There is some good barra fishing etc accessable from the bituman. The Alligator rivers in Kakadu are worth a look and my favourite was the Mary River at Shady Camp. Decent boat ramp just use common sense as the crocs are huge and everywhere there. Thankfully not that hungry in that area as they have plenty of food sources. Night fishing the fresh water side of Shady was always productive.
Can look at barging your boat to a location but that can be pretty slow and expensive. I had my 4.6m tinnie sent to Milingimbi for 6 months while I was there and very quicly learned never to understimate the tides. Always carry enough food and water to spend the night, it happens!
Make sure you get the appropriate permits also. Dundee beach out from Darwin is now bitumaised the whole way and has some great fishing, and if your willing to bash through some dirt, Leader Creek at the top end of Gun Point road can also be a good spot to launch and fish the Vernon Islands.
Best Barra fishing is the build up and run off. But anytime the barra are on the chew dirt roads are going to be flooded and some will be impassable. Dry season is the time to chase reefies and pelagics off the coast. Perhaps look at getting a permit to fish the Tiwi Islands and do a multi day trip ex darwin. But again, check the permits required and inaccessable areas as it was constantly changing even when I was there.
samd
Posts: 36
Date Joined: 30/04/16
Doc
Posts: 691
Date Joined: 29/05/16
We’ve been into Arnhem Land
We’ve been into Arnhem Land for a look a couple of times,but the area doesn’t really cater for us big rigs, one place I can highly recommend in King Ash Bay, terrific caravan park and the McArthur River at your feet. Good launching facilities. All the usual fish caught here, saw some big Barra there, both types of salmon, some big jacks too. Might have to make a diversion next year I think and go back there. Was only about a $100 a week with no power or water, which suits us fine.