Barra Nationals 2010

Not that long until the Barra Nationals 2010! It is in April so make sure that you have booked your Darwin Fishing Charter operator (if needed) as most of them are already filling up with happy anglers from last year.

The Barra nationals are Australia’s most renowned and largest Barramundi Fishing Competition run by Palmerston Game Fishing Club. This week is the highlight of many anglers fishing calendar and is held on the Daly River at the absolute height of the Barra season, at the start of the Dry Season. The Daly River is 300km from Darwin – not that far by local standards.

The competition is arranged by teams comprising 3 anglers per team and the competition runs over the full week from sunrise to 1700. The scoring is based on length and all fish are released after measuring – to be caught and measured again ?

This is a popular fishing event and there are competitors who have been fishing the river all their life. Many of the Fishing Charter companies have guides who have been fishing the area for over 30 years. This means that there are a lot of people with a lot of experience and they know the river like the back of their hand.. This means that in some of the more popular areas of the river it can get quite busy. Some years there are up to 45-50 boats, but everyone seems to find a place to fish. Nearly without fail fish are caught over 1m which means big points in this competition along with daily prizes given by the sponsors.

Its not all about fishing. At the end of the day the story telling begins. Sometimes it is much like the stories from the Dream Time and with the help of music, fire and beer the fish that got away grow past the 2m mark!

So whilst I have fished the river many times outside the Barra Nationals week nothing beats the week especially with new and old mates.
Don’t miss out. If you don’t have your own means check out the list of Darwin Fishing Charters above and send us the pictures and the stories afterwards.

Tight lines and big fish.