We started out with some lack of direction, although Brenton knew there was a good population of Barra and the areas to find them, we had no idea of the intenisty of stimulation required for the desired effect with flygear. In the end we found that effort returned results and in many other ways than just the fishing. This place has a magic door of its own and you just have to find the key.

I know there are other locations and operations in the NT where you can catch more Barra some places in the hundreds per day but I am not sure there is any such place as the Koolatong.Nor where you can jump on a quad bike and ride out on the flood plains to check out Buffalo, roos, dingoes or the abundant birdlife and other native creatures. Billabongs,creeks and estuaries are also close by and here you can see untouched ecosystems with mudcrabs, mangroves and of course the famous Australian Salt Water Crocodile.

We fished for 1/2 hour on a bad tide in the salt and caught Barra easily, we will be looking around the salt side more next trips. All of this with the comfort of knowing back at the permanent camp there is a hot shower, plumbed household toliets, spa pool, double bed, good food ,cold beer, great wine and friendly company!

NOTES:During this trip we had great flyfishing conditions and clear water(drinkable without purification). We were able to sight fish for all species and had several exciting boatside and visable underwater bites. We did take a lure casting outfit but only used them to take the final fish for each days fishing. Certainly using lures would be very effective here but not half as much fun as fly. We did sight cast to a couple of very large Barramundi but failed to boat any. Sinking type lines will be effective to fish deeper amongst he snags, we used WetTip and Quad tip SA line #8-#10. Insects were not a problem except for the occasional fly. Flying..My good friend Brenton is a experienced commercial pilot having worked the bush strips in NT for over a decade.After years as a professional fisherman plying the North Western Australian coast he took to the skies rather than stay on the sea. He has intimate knowledge of Arnhem Land and the aboriginal peoples of this area. The flight into the camp gives a great insight to this land and a real sense of being in the middle of nowhere. He was best described by Tom Miranda of ESPN as a cross between McGiver and Chuck Norris but boys reckon he is a dead ringer for Mick Dundee himself!

Randall Bryett BACK to PAGE 1 Photo gallery for this trip KOOLATONG GALLERY