What is the best time of year to go Barramundi fishing?
Let me first qualify myself to answer this question. I live at a fishing club in remote Northern Territory. It is called King Ash Bay Fishing Club and is located near Borroloola on the McArthur River near the Gulf of Carpentaria. Most people come here for fishing, and in particular Barramundi fishing.
My wife and I run the kitchen here 7 days a week, which is located at the bar/clubhouse. Any afternoon, club members can come to the bar to weigh-in their fish to compete in various fishing comps. Because I am there every day, I can see what fish are being caught and when.
In any type of fishing, not just Barramundi fishing there are dozens of factors to take into consideration:
– Type of fishing – Bait, trolling, flicking lures.
– Then what type of bait, or size or type of lure etc.
– Which tide is best?
– What location to fish at?
– What time of day?
– Weather factors like wind or rain.
– I could go on and on.
All of the above factors are irrelevant if the fish aren’t biting. The single biggest factor you need to take into consideration is WATER TEMPERATURE! You know how bears and other animals hibernate during winter? Well Barramundi are similar. They can go for weeks without eating anything during winter.
Sure, people catch Barramundi here at King Ash Bay all year round. But it’s the months just before and just after the wet season that all the serious fishermen come here year after year. Why? Because that’s when the fishing is red hot.
The months I am talking about is April – May at the start of the season, and then October – November at the end of the season. Locally we call these months the “shoulders” of the season. This is because our main season here at King Ash Bay is between April and September when all of the grey nomads come up from down south for the winter.
At King Ash Bay there are privately owned houseboat companies, cabins and a lodge. In the shoulders of the season, these will all be booked out by groups of serious fishermen that came here every year. In the middle of the season (Winter) when there are literally hundereds of grey nomads here, the houseboats and accommodations will sit empty.
December to March is a write off because of the wet season. Flooding in the rivers and muddy roads make it hard to get here to go fishing.
Perhaps another long-winded article by me, but I have tried to back up my article with evidence. Quite simply I could have summed up the whole article by saying, the fishermen come here when the water is warm to catch Barramundi.
