The Northern Territory, in particular the Top End, is home to some of Australia’s best boat accessed and land based fishing. With most fishing destinations in the Northern Territory easily accessible from Darwin, this part of Australia is best known for the Barramundi, one of Australia’s most sought after fish both to catch and to eat.
The rivers and blue water of the Northern Territory are home to an abundance of wildlife including large saltwater crocodiles, mud crabs, and a broad range of fish. The Northern Territory is also home to Australia’s biggest Barramundi fishing competitions where each year, competitors in the Barra Nationals and Barra Classic fight it out on the Daly River for thousands of dollars worth of prizes.
Availability of fishing charters: The Northern Territory, and Darwin in particular, is home to a broad range of fishing charter businesses with services to cover a range of demands from half day and full day river charters, to deep sea fishing charters, billabong fishing charters, overnight live aboard fishing charters, mud crab tours and fly fishing tours. The most popular Northern Territory and Darwin based fishing charters are listed below.
Most common fish: Barramundi, Mangrove Jack, Threadfin Salmon, Saratoga, Mackerel, Tuna, Snapper, Jewfish, Estuary Cod, and Shark.
Best time of the year for recreational & charter fishing:
March-June (the best time for Barramundi in the rivers, harbours and billabongs).
October-December (also good for Barramundi although the weather is much more humid at this time of the year).
All year round for harbour fishing.
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Availability of fishing tackle shops: Darwin is well supported with tackle shops all stocking the most appropriate selection of lures for the various Top End rivers. The major tackle shops in Darwin include Fishing & Outdoor World (Australia’s longest running tackle shop), BCF, A-Mart, K-Mart, Got One Tackle, Tackleworld, and Happy Micks.
Katherine is serviced by Katherine Rod & Rifle.
Fishing regulations and licensing: Recreational fishing licenses are not required in the Northern Territory. Strict recreational bag limits apply and differ between species. More information can be obtained by visiting the NT FISHERIES & MARINE website.
Most popular types of recreational fishing: River fishing using lures (casting and trolling), billabong fishing using lures (casting and trolling), deep sea fishing (live and dead bait, trolling, jigging), land-based fishing (bait and lures), heli-fishing, and mud crabbing.
Jan 2010
Current Fishing Information for Darwin While the billabongs have slowed down, Shoal Bay continues to produce some big sized Barramundi with fish up to a meter still being caught at the mouth of King Creek. Land based fishing at Buffalo Creek on the neap tides has also seen several large Barramundi produced over the past week. The rock bar further up Buffalo Creek (also accessible from the land) also continues to produce fish on the last of the run in, and first of the run out tides.
