TO MANGLE the nursery rhyme - rain, rain, go away, come again ... next year!
As I write this, in April, the Roper, Victoria, Adelaide, Mary, Finniss, East and South Alligator Rivers are in flood. This is the mother of all wet seasons. Or is it?The global La Nina weather pattern brought us the extra rain. But with global warming, is this the new normal? And if so, what does it mean for northern fishing? It might mean an added abundance of aquatic life, including fish such as barramundi and salmon. It might also mean big road repair bills and shorter tourist seasons.
Right now, it is frustrating for Top Enders, with so many roads closed, but the longer-term benefits will be huge.
In reports, on the www. fishingterritory.com FFF forums "Doors Off" posted some great aerial pictures of a car crossing the flooded Adelaide River floodplain.
"It was like an inland sea out there," he wrote.
Other FFF users reported mixed fishing, with several making the flooded Arnhem Highway crossing to hit Shady Camp and the South Alligator River. Those who knew where to look in the flooded conditions caught the fish. But there were perils.
"I had to pull the carpet out of my Discovery," wrote "Bullet", who had water leak in through his door seals while making the crossing.
Got One's Craig Grosvenor said the rain of 2011 was unbelievable.
"Can you believe the Arnhem Highway is closed yet again? The Daly, the bloody Daly, is up again, and it feels like 10 years since I've fished it. Maybe we should throw a huge party on the water to celebrate the start of the dry season when it finally arrives. Count me in."
Darwin local Peter Bader stocked up on big hot steel-coloured Rapala XRaps and hit Sampan Creek mouth for a trolling session. The results broke his personal drought of metre fish as the XRaps did the damage on a number of big fish to 106cm.
"Many fishos have been pleasantly surprised at the number of crabs showing up already, maybe the crabs are 'over it' just like us, and have given up on the dry season!
"Even reports in the harbour have included 'four in one pot' moments and they seem to be full of meat too.
"I know for a fact that large numbers of jewfish are now taking up residence on our harbour reefs and wrecks so those early evening assaults should now become productive. Remember the new possession limits and let's not take more than we need.
"The big spring tides also sparked up the odd barra frenzy as my mate Simo and I discovered last week (at the back of East Point).
"Just as the sun started to break we had a great little session and landed two in the 80s in quick succession; not bad for around town."
Fishing and Outdoor World's Ronald Voukolos said many big queenfish were being caught in the harbour. "Some guys at the Larrakeyah naval base have been catching queenfish and trevally too, near the rock wall," he said. "The boys from Fish Darwin charter company reported getting good jewfish in the harbour, and I have been hearing good reports of snapper and reef fish offshore.
"Many people will go to the Finniss River and Tommycut Creek mouth for the neap tides this weekend.
"I have heard of good mangrove jacks coming from the harbour arms and they have been caught on small live mullet and live prawns."
Top End Tackle World's Mal French said the fishing reports had been few because of access issues, but mud crabs were a highlight.
Top End Tackle World's Steve Compain said it had been hard for charter boats earlier in the week.
"My son Shane was out at Shady Camp for a night and a day - he said there were 15 boats at Marsh Creek on one day and only one boat caught three good fish.
"There has been too much water at the Adelaide River for good fishing. There have been good reports from the Finniss River, and that will be worth a look."
Katherine Rod and Rifle's Warren de With said the water was still high across the Top End.
"The Victoria River has been fishing well - the Vic is just starting to drop and fish well, with the biggest fish reported at 1.07m," he said.
"The Vic hotspots are all the usual creeks - Football Creek, the mouth of Angalarri - any colour change is worth a try.
"There are a lot of small fish being caught around Katherine from the culverts.
"I don't think the cool weather will knock out the barra fishing - there will be that much food about the fish will still be feeding.
"People are even reporting seeing spangled perch swimming across the roads."
Fish Darwin's Shaun Uden reports: "Our live-a-board charters started again for the season a couple of weeks ago. Our half-dayers in the harbour are getting good jewies and goldies.
"We had eight guys on board that had come up from Victoria and NSW and we headed over to Bathurst Island. (We) did really well with lots of different bluewater species, with some massive spanish mackerel and GTs, the biggest being a 30kg GT. Closer to the islands we had excellent jewie and goldie fishing. The only complaint was of sore arms!"
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